inSANE is a functional, modern web frontend for NAPS2.Sdk. It simplifies multi-user access to scanners and supports direct output to a paperless-ngx consume directory. Most NAPS2 functionality is included, with focused omissions that keep the interface centred on a streamlined scanning process.

A screenshot of the inSANE demo environment

Features

• NAPS2-backed SANE and eSCL/AirScan device discovery.
• Device-reported source discovery for flatbed, feeder, and hardware duplex, with resolution, bit-depth, and page-size choices recalculated per source.
• Exact NAPS2 page sizes, including US Letter at 8.5 x 11 inches, plus automatic sizing when the driver reports a maximum scan area. Automatic mode scans that area and removes a contrasting scanner background from each page.
• Full per-device profile management: create, rename, update, duplicate, delete, apply, and choose a physical-button default.
• Advanced NAPS2 scan controls for brightness, contrast, blank-page white threshold, and blank-page coverage threshold.
• Asynchronous scan jobs whose pages accrue into persistent document sessions.
• A live page filmstrip, selected-page canvas, single- and multi-page 90-degree rotation, normalised crop, persisted drag-to-reorder, page removal, PDF completion, direct browser download, and document history.
• Atomic PDF and multi-page TIFF publication.
• ZIP export with one processed PNG or JPEG per page, preserving document order, rotation, and crop settings for both bind-mount saves and browser downloads.
• Structured scan failures with recovery guidance and one-click retry; pages received before an interruption remain in the current document.
• Experimental support for hardware scan buttons.

Docker Compose

Minimal demo

This is the smallest useful Compose file for trying inSANE without a scanner. It preserves sessions and completed documents in local bind mounts:

services:
  insane:
    image: docker.io/angeladmerkel/insane:latest
    ports:
      - "51234:8080"
    volumes:
      - ./data/state:/data/state
      - ./data/output:/data/output
    environment:
      InSane__Scanner__EnableDemo: "true"

The latest image publishes native linux/amd64 and linux/arm64 manifests; Docker selects the appropriate architecture automatically.

Physical USB scanner

For a scanner attached directly to a Linux Docker host, disable the demo by omitting InSane__Scanner__EnableDemo and grant the container USB access:

services:
  insane:
    image: docker.io/angeladmerkel/insane:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    privileged: true
    ports:
      - "51234:8080"
    volumes:
      - ./data/state:/data/state
      - ./data/output:/data/output
    environment:
      PUID: "568"
      PGID: "568"

privileged: true is not required for the demonstration scanner or for a network eSCL/AirScan device.

Compose service options

Option	Required	Purpose
image	Yes, unless using build	Image to run. The current multi-architecture image is docker.io/angeladmerkel/insane:latest.
build	No	Builds from a local repository checkout. Use this instead of the published image workflow; do not combine it with pull_policy: always.
ports	Yes for direct browser access	Maps a host port to inSANE's container port 8080, for example 51234:8080.
volumes	Strongly recommended	/data/state stores profiles, sessions, page images, and recovery state. /data/output receives completed documents.
restart	No	unless-stopped is recommended for an unattended server.
privileged	USB only	Grants broad hardware access for scanners attached to the Docker host. Omit it for demo and network-only scanning.
platform	No	The image publishes native linux/amd64 and linux/arm64 manifests. Omit this option so Docker selects the host architecture automatically.
pull_policy	No	Docker pulls latest when required. Add always only when you want Compose to check the registry on every start.
init	No	Adds a small PID 1 that forwards signals and reaps child processes. The image runs without it.
container_name	No	Assigns a fixed Docker container name. Compose otherwise generates one from the project and service names.

The image supplies a health check and defaults its internal storage paths to /data/state and /data/output, so these do not need to be repeated in Compose.

inSANE environment variables

Variable	Default	Purpose
PUID	568	UID used to run inSANE and own files in the mounted directories. Set it to the host identity that should own the files.
PGID	568	GID used to run inSANE and provide shared access to mounted directories.
InSane__Storage__StatePath	/data/state	Absolute container path for persistent application state. Change it only when also changing the volume target.
InSane__Storage__OutputPath	/data/output	Absolute container path for completed documents. It may be a consume directory shared with another application.
InSane__Scanner__EnableDemo	false	Enables the hardware-free demonstration scanner.
InSane__Scanner__EsclSearchTimeoutMilliseconds	5000	Maximum time in milliseconds allowed for eSCL/AirScan discovery.
InSane__Scanner__PhysicalButtonEnabled	false	Enables the authenticated scanner-button HTTP action used by an external scanbd/scanbm bridge.
InSane__Scanner__PhysicalButtonToken	empty	Shared token for the scanner-button action. A non-empty token is required when physical-button integration is enabled.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Cmd/Ctrl + N	Start a new document
Cmd/Ctrl + S	Save to the configured output mount
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + S	Download the current document
Cmd/Ctrl + Enter	Start or cancel scanning
Cmd/Ctrl + A	Select every page
Cmd/Ctrl + / Cmd/Ctrl -	Zoom the document canvas in or out
Left / Right	Move between pages
Shift + Left / Shift + Right	Extend the page selection
[ / ]	Rotate the current page or selected pages left or right
C	Open or close crop mode
Enter	Apply the active crop
Escape	Cancel crop mode or clear the page selection
Backspace / Delete	Remove the current page

Licence

inSANE is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2 or any later version (GPL-2.0-or-later) to remain compatible with the directly linked NAPS2 SDK. NAPS2 and other dependency notices are recorded in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.