A modern web application for viewing SMS and MMS message backups. Import your messages from "SMS Backup & Restore" XML files and browse them in a texting app-like interface.

Run the latest stable version:

docker run -d \
  -p 8081:8081 \
  -v $(pwd)/data:/data \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  ghcr.io/lowcarbdev/sbv:stable

services:
  sbv:
    image: ghcr.io/lowcarbdev/sbv:stable
    ports:
      - "8081:8081"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
    restart: unless-stopped

• Multi-user - Create a username/password to log in
• Import SMS Backup & Restore XML - Upload XML files from the web interface.
• Idempotent imports - Upload the same messages without duplicates.
• Tested with large backups - Works with multi-GB backups
• SMS, MMS, and call logs support - Read all types of call and message records.
• Inline image and video - View images or watch videos as you browse. Even works with Apple HEIC and 3gp videos.
• Fast conversation filtering - Skip to the right conversation.
• Full-text search - Find what you want fast.
• Activity view - See it as it happened.
• vCard preview - Preview the contents of contact cards (vCards)

• Backend: Go with SQLite database
• Frontend: React with Vite and Bootstrap CSS
• Database: SQLite (stores messages, including media as BLOBs)

• PUID - User ID to run the application as (default: 1000)
• PGID - Group ID to run the application as (default: 1000)

Note on PUID/PGID: Setting these to match your host user ensures that files created in the mounted volume have the desired permissions. Find your UID/GID with id -u and id -g.

The Docker setup uses a bind mount to persist the database:

• Host path: ./data/sbv*.db
• Container path: /data/sbv*.db

This ensures your data survives container restarts and updates.

One sqlite database is created per user.

MIT

• Please submit any issues to github issues
• PRs are welcome, but for anything over ~100 lines, please submit a github discussion first

Q: What backups does this program support?

XML backups from the SMS Backup & Restore app. Android devices are supported. iPhone (iOS) devices are not supported by SMS Backup & Restore.

Q: What media and attachments can be previewed?

SBV supports most images formats (jpg, png, gif, heic), video formats (mp4, 3gp), audio (mp4). Contact cards (aka vCard or VCF) are supported.

• Imports are somewhat slow for large imports on Linux
• In group MMS, the sender label only shows the phone number (not contact name) because the contact name is not available in the XML file