diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index b3bb4eb26..5982307c0 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ api_tests
 ansible
 tests
 *.sh
+pictrs
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.drone.yml b/.drone.yml
index b86176082..9df1405a5 100644
--- a/.drone.yml
+++ b/.drone.yml
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ steps:
     environment:
       CARGO_HOME: .cargo
     commands:
+      - apt-get update
+      - apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends protobuf-compiler libprotobuf-dev
       - rustup component add clippy
       - cargo clippy --workspace --tests --all-targets --all-features -- 
           -D warnings -D deprecated -D clippy::perf -D clippy::complexity 
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 23e9c4033..ea0a25859 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -18,3 +18,6 @@ query_testing/**/reports/*.json
 
 # API tests
 api_tests/node_modules
+
+# pictrs data
+pictrs/
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 72876f85a..67a8b5cb2 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "futures-util",
  "log",
  "once_cell",
- "parking_lot",
+ "parking_lot 0.12.1",
  "pin-project-lite",
  "smallvec",
  "tokio",
@@ -84,6 +84,22 @@ dependencies = [
  "tokio-util 0.7.4",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "actix-form-data"
+version = "0.7.0-beta.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e721f3919cb43c566c0dbb6a9cb5ad5106ac42b6b3c0d21a7a3e762455de957a"
+dependencies = [
+ "actix-multipart",
+ "actix-rt",
+ "actix-web",
+ "futures-util",
+ "mime",
+ "thiserror",
+ "tokio",
+ "tracing",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "actix-http"
 version = "3.2.2"
@@ -129,6 +145,24 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 1.0.103",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "actix-multipart"
+version = "0.4.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c9edfb0e7663d7fe18c8d5b668c9c1bcf79176b1dcc9d4da9592503209a6bfb0"
+dependencies = [
+ "actix-utils",
+ "actix-web",
+ "bytes",
+ "derive_more",
+ "futures-core",
+ "httparse",
+ "local-waker",
+ "log",
+ "mime",
+ "twoway",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "actix-router"
 version = "0.5.1"
@@ -193,6 +227,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "actix-service",
  "actix-utils",
  "futures-core",
+ "http",
  "log",
  "pin-project-lite",
  "tokio-rustls",
@@ -294,6 +329,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "tokio",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "addr2line"
+version = "0.19.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a76fd60b23679b7d19bd066031410fb7e458ccc5e958eb5c325888ce4baedc97"
+dependencies = [
+ "gimli",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "adler"
 version = "1.0.2"
@@ -402,7 +446,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "derive_builder 0.10.2",
  "diligent-date-parser",
  "never",
- "quick-xml",
+ "quick-xml 0.22.0",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -411,6 +455,40 @@ version = "1.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d468802bab17cbc0cc575e9b053f41e72aa36bfa6b7f55e3529ffa43161b97fa"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "awc"
+version = "3.0.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "80ca7ff88063086d2e2c70b9f3b29b2fcd999bac68ac21731e66781970d68519"
+dependencies = [
+ "actix-codec",
+ "actix-http",
+ "actix-rt",
+ "actix-service",
+ "actix-tls",
+ "actix-utils",
+ "ahash",
+ "base64",
+ "bytes",
+ "cfg-if",
+ "derive_more",
+ "futures-core",
+ "futures-util",
+ "h2",
+ "http",
+ "itoa",
+ "log",
+ "mime",
+ "percent-encoding",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "rand 0.8.5",
+ "rustls",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_json",
+ "serde_urlencoded",
+ "tokio",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "axum"
 version = "0.5.17"
@@ -506,6 +584,21 @@ dependencies = [
  "uuid",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "backtrace"
+version = "0.3.67"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "233d376d6d185f2a3093e58f283f60f880315b6c60075b01f36b3b85154564ca"
+dependencies = [
+ "addr2line",
+ "cc",
+ "cfg-if",
+ "libc",
+ "miniz_oxide 0.6.2",
+ "object",
+ "rustc-demangle",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "base64"
 version = "0.13.1"
@@ -521,7 +614,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "async-trait",
  "futures-channel",
  "futures-util",
- "parking_lot",
+ "parking_lot 0.12.1",
  "tokio",
 ]
 
@@ -680,6 +773,43 @@ dependencies = [
  "inout",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "clap"
+version = "4.0.32"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a7db700bc935f9e43e88d00b0850dae18a63773cfbec6d8e070fccf7fef89a39"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags",
+ "clap_derive",
+ "clap_lex",
+ "is-terminal",
+ "once_cell",
+ "strsim",
+ "termcolor",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "clap_derive"
+version = "4.0.21"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0177313f9f02afc995627906bbd8967e2be069f5261954222dac78290c2b9014"
+dependencies = [
+ "heck 0.4.0",
+ "proc-macro-error",
+ "proc-macro2 1.0.47",
+ "quote 1.0.21",
+ "syn 1.0.103",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "clap_lex"
+version = "0.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0d4198f73e42b4936b35b5bb248d81d2b595ecb170da0bac7655c54eedfa8da8"
+dependencies = [
+ "os_str_bytes",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "clokwerk"
 version = "0.3.5"
@@ -699,6 +829,33 @@ dependencies = [
  "unicode-width",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "color-eyre"
+version = "0.6.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5a667583cca8c4f8436db8de46ea8233c42a7d9ae424a82d338f2e4675229204"
+dependencies = [
+ "backtrace",
+ "color-spantrace",
+ "eyre",
+ "indenter",
+ "once_cell",
+ "owo-colors",
+ "tracing-error",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "color-spantrace"
+version = "0.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1ba75b3d9449ecdccb27ecbc479fdc0b87fa2dd43d2f8298f9bf0e59aacc8dce"
+dependencies = [
+ "once_cell",
+ "owo-colors",
+ "tracing-core",
+ "tracing-error",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "color_quant"
 version = "1.1.0"
@@ -733,6 +890,25 @@ dependencies = [
  "xdg",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "config"
+version = "0.13.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d379af7f68bfc21714c6c7dea883544201741d2ce8274bb12fa54f89507f52a7"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-trait",
+ "json5",
+ "lazy_static",
+ "nom 7.1.1",
+ "pathdiff",
+ "ron",
+ "rust-ini",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_json",
+ "toml",
+ "yaml-rust",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "console-api"
 version = "0.4.0"
@@ -830,6 +1006,19 @@ dependencies = [
  "crossbeam-utils",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "crossbeam-epoch"
+version = "0.9.13"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "01a9af1f4c2ef74bb8aa1f7e19706bc72d03598c8a570bb5de72243c7a9d9d5a"
+dependencies = [
+ "autocfg",
+ "cfg-if",
+ "crossbeam-utils",
+ "memoffset",
+ "scopeguard",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "crossbeam-utils"
 version = "0.8.12"
@@ -1008,7 +1197,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "hashbrown",
  "lock_api",
  "once_cell",
- "parking_lot_core",
+ "parking_lot_core 0.9.4",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1208,6 +1397,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "dlv-list"
+version = "0.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0688c2a7f92e427f44895cd63841bff7b29f8d7a1648b9e7e07a4a365b2e1257"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "doku"
 version = "0.20.0"
@@ -1363,12 +1558,43 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 1.0.103",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "errno"
+version = "0.2.8"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f639046355ee4f37944e44f60642c6f3a7efa3cf6b78c78a0d989a8ce6c396a1"
+dependencies = [
+ "errno-dragonfly",
+ "libc",
+ "winapi",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "errno-dragonfly"
+version = "0.1.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "aa68f1b12764fab894d2755d2518754e71b4fd80ecfb822714a1206c2aab39bf"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "event-listener"
 version = "2.5.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "0206175f82b8d6bf6652ff7d71a1e27fd2e4efde587fd368662814d6ec1d9ce0"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "eyre"
+version = "0.6.8"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4c2b6b5a29c02cdc822728b7d7b8ae1bab3e3b05d44522770ddd49722eeac7eb"
+dependencies = [
+ "indenter",
+ "once_cell",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "fallible-iterator"
 version = "0.2.0"
@@ -1406,7 +1632,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "f82b0f4c27ad9f8bfd1f3208d882da2b09c301bc1c828fd3a00d0216d2fbbff6"
 dependencies = [
  "crc32fast",
- "miniz_oxide",
+ "miniz_oxide 0.5.4",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1439,6 +1665,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "percent-encoding",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "fs2"
+version = "0.4.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9564fc758e15025b46aa6643b1b77d047d1a56a1aea6e01002ac0c7026876213"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+ "winapi",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "funty"
 version = "1.1.0"
@@ -1544,6 +1780,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "slab",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "fxhash"
+version = "0.2.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c31b6d751ae2c7f11320402d34e41349dd1016f8d5d45e48c4312bc8625af50c"
+dependencies = [
+ "byteorder",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "generic-array"
 version = "0.14.6"
@@ -1576,6 +1821,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "wasi 0.11.0+wasi-snapshot-preview1",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "gimli"
+version = "0.27.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "dec7af912d60cdbd3677c1af9352ebae6fb8394d165568a2234df0fa00f87793"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "h2"
 version = "0.3.14"
@@ -1595,6 +1846,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "tracing",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "half"
+version = "1.8.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "eabb4a44450da02c90444cf74558da904edde8fb4e9035a9a6a4e15445af0bd7"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "hashbrown"
 version = "0.12.3"
@@ -1641,6 +1898,21 @@ dependencies = [
  "libc",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hermit-abi"
+version = "0.2.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ee512640fe35acbfb4bb779db6f0d80704c2cacfa2e39b601ef3e3f47d1ae4c7"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "hex"
+version = "0.4.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7f24254aa9a54b5c858eaee2f5bccdb46aaf0e486a595ed5fd8f86ba55232a70"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "hmac"
 version = "0.12.1"
@@ -1927,6 +2199,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "png",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "indenter"
+version = "0.3.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ce23b50ad8242c51a442f3ff322d56b02f08852c77e4c0b4d3fd684abc89c683"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "indexmap"
 version = "1.9.1"
@@ -1955,12 +2233,34 @@ dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "io-lifetimes"
+version = "1.0.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "46112a93252b123d31a119a8d1a1ac19deac4fac6e0e8b0df58f0d4e5870e63c"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+ "windows-sys 0.42.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ipnet"
 version = "2.5.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "879d54834c8c76457ef4293a689b2a8c59b076067ad77b15efafbb05f92a592b"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "is-terminal"
+version = "0.4.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "28dfb6c8100ccc63462345b67d1bbc3679177c75ee4bf59bf29c8b1d110b8189"
+dependencies = [
+ "hermit-abi 0.2.6",
+ "io-lifetimes",
+ "rustix",
+ "windows-sys 0.42.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "itertools"
 version = "0.10.5"
@@ -2005,6 +2305,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "wasm-bindgen",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "json5"
+version = "0.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "96b0db21af676c1ce64250b5f40f3ce2cf27e4e47cb91ed91eb6fe9350b430c1"
+dependencies = [
+ "pest",
+ "pest_derive",
+ "serde",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "jsonwebtoken"
 version = "8.1.1"
@@ -2267,8 +2578,9 @@ dependencies = [
  "lemmy_routes",
  "lemmy_utils",
  "opentelemetry 0.17.0",
- "opentelemetry-otlp",
- "parking_lot",
+ "opentelemetry-otlp 0.10.0",
+ "parking_lot 0.12.1",
+ "pict-rs",
  "rand 0.8.5",
  "reqwest",
  "reqwest-middleware",
@@ -2276,8 +2588,9 @@ dependencies = [
  "reqwest-tracing",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
+ "tokio",
  "tracing",
- "tracing-actix-web",
+ "tracing-actix-web 0.6.1",
  "tracing-error",
  "tracing-log",
  "tracing-opentelemetry 0.17.4",
@@ -2304,7 +2617,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "lettre",
  "once_cell",
  "openssl",
- "parking_lot",
+ "parking_lot 0.12.1",
  "percent-encoding",
  "rand 0.8.5",
  "regex",
@@ -2374,6 +2687,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "cc",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "linked-hash-map"
+version = "0.5.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0717cef1bc8b636c6e1c1bbdefc09e6322da8a9321966e8928ef80d20f7f770f"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "linux-raw-sys"
+version = "0.1.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f051f77a7c8e6957c0696eac88f26b0117e54f52d3fc682ab19397a8812846a4"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "local-channel"
 version = "0.1.3"
@@ -2512,6 +2837,15 @@ version = "2.5.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2dffe52ecf27772e601905b7522cb4ef790d2cc203488bbd0e2fe85fcb74566d"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "memoffset"
+version = "0.7.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5de893c32cde5f383baa4c04c5d6dbdd735cfd4a794b0debdb2bb1b421da5ff4"
+dependencies = [
+ "autocfg",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "migrations_internals"
 version = "2.0.0"
@@ -2564,6 +2898,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "adler",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "miniz_oxide"
+version = "0.6.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b275950c28b37e794e8c55d88aeb5e139d0ce23fdbbeda68f8d7174abdf9e8fa"
+dependencies = [
+ "adler",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "mio"
 version = "0.8.4"
@@ -2692,7 +3035,7 @@ version = "1.13.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "19e64526ebdee182341572e50e9ad03965aa510cd94427a4549448f285e957a1"
 dependencies = [
- "hermit-abi",
+ "hermit-abi 0.1.19",
  "libc",
 ]
 
@@ -2705,6 +3048,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "libc",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "object"
+version = "0.30.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "239da7f290cfa979f43f85a8efeee9a8a76d0827c356d37f9d3d7254d6b537fb"
+dependencies = [
+ "memchr",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "once_cell"
 version = "1.16.0"
@@ -2794,6 +3146,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "tokio-stream",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "opentelemetry"
+version = "0.18.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "69d6c3d7288a106c0a363e4b0e8d308058d56902adefb16f4936f417ffef086e"
+dependencies = [
+ "opentelemetry_api",
+ "opentelemetry_sdk",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "opentelemetry-otlp"
 version = "0.10.0"
@@ -2809,15 +3171,118 @@ dependencies = [
  "thiserror",
  "tokio",
  "tonic 0.6.2",
- "tonic-build",
+ "tonic-build 0.6.2",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "opentelemetry-otlp"
+version = "0.11.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d1c928609d087790fc936a1067bdc310ae702bdf3b090c3f281b713622c8bbde"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-trait",
+ "futures",
+ "futures-util",
+ "http",
+ "opentelemetry 0.18.0",
+ "opentelemetry-proto",
+ "prost 0.11.0",
+ "thiserror",
+ "tokio",
+ "tonic 0.8.2",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "opentelemetry-proto"
+version = "0.1.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d61a2f56df5574508dd86aaca016c917489e589ece4141df1b5e349af8d66c28"
+dependencies = [
+ "futures",
+ "futures-util",
+ "opentelemetry 0.18.0",
+ "prost 0.11.0",
+ "tonic 0.8.2",
+ "tonic-build 0.8.4",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "opentelemetry_api"
+version = "0.18.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c24f96e21e7acc813c7a8394ee94978929db2bcc46cf6b5014fc612bf7760c22"
+dependencies = [
+ "fnv",
+ "futures-channel",
+ "futures-util",
+ "indexmap",
+ "js-sys",
+ "once_cell",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "thiserror",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "opentelemetry_sdk"
+version = "0.18.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1ca41c4933371b61c2a2f214bf16931499af4ec90543604ec828f7a625c09113"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-trait",
+ "crossbeam-channel",
+ "dashmap",
+ "fnv",
+ "futures-channel",
+ "futures-executor",
+ "futures-util",
+ "once_cell",
+ "opentelemetry_api",
+ "percent-encoding",
+ "rand 0.8.5",
+ "thiserror",
+ "tokio",
+ "tokio-stream",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "ordered-multimap"
+version = "0.4.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ccd746e37177e1711c20dd619a1620f34f5c8b569c53590a72dedd5344d8924a"
+dependencies = [
+ "dlv-list",
+ "hashbrown",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "os_str_bytes"
+version = "6.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9b7820b9daea5457c9f21c69448905d723fbd21136ccf521748f23fd49e723ee"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "overload"
 version = "0.1.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b15813163c1d831bf4a13c3610c05c0d03b39feb07f7e09fa234dac9b15aaf39"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "owo-colors"
+version = "3.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c1b04fb49957986fdce4d6ee7a65027d55d4b6d2265e5848bbb507b58ccfdb6f"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "parking_lot"
+version = "0.11.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7d17b78036a60663b797adeaee46f5c9dfebb86948d1255007a1d6be0271ff99"
+dependencies = [
+ "instant",
+ "lock_api",
+ "parking_lot_core 0.8.6",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "parking_lot"
 version = "0.12.1"
@@ -2825,7 +3290,21 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "3742b2c103b9f06bc9fff0a37ff4912935851bee6d36f3c02bcc755bcfec228f"
 dependencies = [
  "lock_api",
- "parking_lot_core",
+ "parking_lot_core 0.9.4",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "parking_lot_core"
+version = "0.8.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "60a2cfe6f0ad2bfc16aefa463b497d5c7a5ecd44a23efa72aa342d90177356dc"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "instant",
+ "libc",
+ "redox_syscall",
+ "smallvec",
+ "winapi",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2847,6 +3326,12 @@ version = "1.0.9"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b1de2e551fb905ac83f73f7aedf2f0cb4a0da7e35efa24a202a936269f1f18e1"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pathdiff"
+version = "0.2.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8835116a5c179084a830efb3adc117ab007512b535bc1a21c991d3b32a6b44dd"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pem"
 version = "1.1.0"
@@ -3010,6 +3495,60 @@ dependencies = [
  "siphasher",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pict-rs"
+version = "0.4.0-beta.9"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "fe0e3978ae576cdd6a4e62676a581a8a9153c6b01c8b70ee93fc489de2684265"
+dependencies = [
+ "actix-form-data",
+ "actix-rt",
+ "actix-server",
+ "actix-web",
+ "anyhow",
+ "async-trait",
+ "awc",
+ "base64",
+ "clap",
+ "color-eyre",
+ "config",
+ "console-subscriber",
+ "dashmap",
+ "futures-util",
+ "hex",
+ "md-5",
+ "mime",
+ "num_cpus",
+ "once_cell",
+ "opentelemetry 0.18.0",
+ "opentelemetry-otlp 0.11.0",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "quick-xml 0.26.0",
+ "rusty-s3",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_cbor",
+ "serde_json",
+ "serde_urlencoded",
+ "sha2",
+ "sled",
+ "storage-path-generator",
+ "thiserror",
+ "time 0.3.15",
+ "tokio",
+ "tokio-util 0.7.4",
+ "toml",
+ "tracing",
+ "tracing-actix-web 0.7.1",
+ "tracing-awc",
+ "tracing-error",
+ "tracing-futures",
+ "tracing-log",
+ "tracing-opentelemetry 0.18.0",
+ "tracing-subscriber",
+ "url",
+ "uuid",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pin-project"
 version = "1.0.12"
@@ -3057,7 +3596,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "bitflags",
  "crc32fast",
  "flate2",
- "miniz_oxide",
+ "miniz_oxide 0.5.4",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -3110,6 +3649,16 @@ version = "0.1.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "925383efa346730478fb4838dbe9137d2a47675ad789c546d150a6e1dd4ab31c"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "prettyplease"
+version = "0.1.22"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2c8992a85d8e93a28bdf76137db888d3874e3b230dee5ed8bebac4c9f7617773"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2 1.0.47",
+ "syn 1.0.103",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "proc-macro-error"
 version = "1.0.4"
@@ -3192,6 +3741,28 @@ dependencies = [
  "which",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "prost-build"
+version = "0.11.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "276470f7f281b0ed53d2ae42dd52b4a8d08853a3c70e7fe95882acbb98a6ae94"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytes",
+ "heck 0.4.0",
+ "itertools",
+ "lazy_static",
+ "log",
+ "multimap",
+ "petgraph",
+ "prettyplease",
+ "prost 0.11.0",
+ "prost-types 0.11.1",
+ "regex",
+ "syn 1.0.103",
+ "tempfile",
+ "which",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "prost-derive"
 version = "0.9.0"
@@ -3248,6 +3819,26 @@ dependencies = [
  "memchr",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "quick-xml"
+version = "0.24.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "37dddbbe9df96afafcb8027fcf263971b726530e12f0787f620a7ba5b4846081"
+dependencies = [
+ "memchr",
+ "serde",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "quick-xml"
+version = "0.26.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7f50b1c63b38611e7d4d7f68b82d3ad0cc71a2ad2e7f61fc10f1328d917c93cd"
+dependencies = [
+ "memchr",
+ "serde",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "quote"
 version = "0.6.13"
@@ -3538,6 +4129,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ron"
+version = "0.7.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "88073939a61e5b7680558e6be56b419e208420c2adb92be54921fa6b72283f1a"
+dependencies = [
+ "base64",
+ "bitflags",
+ "serde",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rosetta-build"
 version = "0.1.2"
@@ -3567,9 +4169,25 @@ dependencies = [
  "atom_syndication",
  "derive_builder 0.10.2",
  "never",
- "quick-xml",
+ "quick-xml 0.22.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rust-ini"
+version = "0.18.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f6d5f2436026b4f6e79dc829837d467cc7e9a55ee40e750d716713540715a2df"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "ordered-multimap",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "rustc-demangle"
+version = "0.1.21"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7ef03e0a2b150c7a90d01faf6254c9c48a41e95fb2a8c2ac1c6f0d2b9aefc342"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rustc_version"
 version = "0.4.0"
@@ -3579,6 +4197,20 @@ dependencies = [
  "semver",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rustix"
+version = "0.36.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a3807b5d10909833d3e9acd1eb5fb988f79376ff10fce42937de71a449c4c588"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags",
+ "errno",
+ "io-lifetimes",
+ "libc",
+ "linux-raw-sys",
+ "windows-sys 0.42.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rustls"
 version = "0.20.7"
@@ -3597,6 +4229,25 @@ version = "1.0.9"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "97477e48b4cf8603ad5f7aaf897467cf42ab4218a38ef76fb14c2d6773a6d6a8"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rusty-s3"
+version = "0.3.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "13332fd1e9538328a80183b9c0bde0cd7065ad2c4405f56b855a51a0a37fffd4"
+dependencies = [
+ "base64",
+ "hmac",
+ "md-5",
+ "percent-encoding",
+ "quick-xml 0.24.1",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_json",
+ "sha2",
+ "time 0.3.15",
+ "url",
+ "zeroize",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ryu"
 version = "1.0.11"
@@ -3693,6 +4344,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde_derive",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_cbor"
+version = "0.11.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2bef2ebfde456fb76bbcf9f59315333decc4fda0b2b44b420243c11e0f5ec1f5"
+dependencies = [
+ "half",
+ "serde",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "serde_derive"
 version = "1.0.147"
@@ -3760,7 +4421,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "futures",
  "lazy_static",
  "log",
- "parking_lot",
+ "parking_lot 0.12.1",
  "serial_test_derive",
 ]
 
@@ -3849,6 +4510,22 @@ dependencies = [
  "autocfg",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "sled"
+version = "0.34.7"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7f96b4737c2ce5987354855aed3797279def4ebf734436c6aa4552cf8e169935"
+dependencies = [
+ "crc32fast",
+ "crossbeam-epoch",
+ "crossbeam-utils",
+ "fs2",
+ "fxhash",
+ "libc",
+ "log",
+ "parking_lot 0.11.2",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "smallvec"
 version = "1.10.0"
@@ -3888,6 +4565,12 @@ version = "1.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "a2eb9349b6444b326872e140eb1cf5e7c522154d69e7a0ffb0fb81c06b37543f"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "storage-path-generator"
+version = "0.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7f11d35dae9818c4313649da4a97c8329e29357a7fe584526c1d78f5b63ef836"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "string_cache"
 version = "0.8.4"
@@ -3896,7 +4579,7 @@ checksum = "213494b7a2b503146286049378ce02b482200519accc31872ee8be91fa820a08"
 dependencies = [
  "new_debug_unreachable",
  "once_cell",
- "parking_lot",
+ "parking_lot 0.12.1",
  "phf_shared 0.10.0",
  "precomputed-hash",
  "serde",
@@ -4124,7 +4807,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "memchr",
  "mio",
  "num_cpus",
- "parking_lot",
+ "parking_lot 0.12.1",
  "pin-project-lite",
  "signal-hook-registry",
  "socket2",
@@ -4177,7 +4860,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "futures-channel",
  "futures-util",
  "log",
- "parking_lot",
+ "parking_lot 0.12.1",
  "percent-encoding",
  "phf 0.11.1",
  "pin-project-lite",
@@ -4317,7 +5000,20 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "9403f1bafde247186684b230dc6f38b5cd514584e8bec1dd32514be4745fa757"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2 1.0.47",
- "prost-build",
+ "prost-build 0.9.0",
+ "quote 1.0.21",
+ "syn 1.0.103",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "tonic-build"
+version = "0.8.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5bf5e9b9c0f7e0a7c027dcfaba7b2c60816c7049171f679d99ee2ff65d0de8c4"
+dependencies = [
+ "prettyplease",
+ "proc-macro2 1.0.47",
+ "prost-build 0.11.4",
  "quote 1.0.21",
  "syn 1.0.103",
 ]
@@ -4398,6 +5094,20 @@ dependencies = [
  "uuid",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tracing-actix-web"
+version = "0.7.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d16c2a0c52b267d46ea9a46012a28b3513ce166c28eaeaa875829ed2f8debd19"
+dependencies = [
+ "actix-web",
+ "opentelemetry 0.18.0",
+ "pin-project",
+ "tracing",
+ "tracing-opentelemetry 0.18.0",
+ "uuid",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tracing-attributes"
 version = "0.1.23"
@@ -4409,6 +5119,23 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 1.0.103",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tracing-awc"
+version = "0.1.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ab0b57d9e4b25f3d5f17d705c11c13c333b26dc062c02a9dedfe6a26f750a99e"
+dependencies = [
+ "actix-http",
+ "actix-service",
+ "awc",
+ "bytes",
+ "futures-core",
+ "opentelemetry 0.18.0",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "tracing",
+ "tracing-opentelemetry 0.18.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tracing-core"
 version = "0.1.30"
@@ -4477,6 +5204,30 @@ dependencies = [
  "tracing-subscriber",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tracing-opentelemetry"
+version = "0.18.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "21ebb87a95ea13271332df069020513ab70bdb5637ca42d6e492dc3bbbad48de"
+dependencies = [
+ "once_cell",
+ "opentelemetry 0.18.0",
+ "tracing",
+ "tracing-core",
+ "tracing-log",
+ "tracing-subscriber",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "tracing-serde"
+version = "0.1.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bc6b213177105856957181934e4920de57730fc69bf42c37ee5bb664d406d9e1"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde",
+ "tracing-core",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tracing-subscriber"
 version = "0.3.16"
@@ -4487,12 +5238,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "nu-ansi-term",
  "once_cell",
  "regex",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_json",
  "sharded-slab",
  "smallvec",
  "thread_local",
  "tracing",
  "tracing-core",
  "tracing-log",
+ "tracing-serde",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -4501,6 +5255,16 @@ version = "0.2.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "59547bce71d9c38b83d9c0e92b6066c4253371f15005def0c30d9657f50c7642"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "twoway"
+version = "0.2.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c57ffb460d7c24cd6eda43694110189030a3d1dfe418416d9468fd1c1d290b47"
+dependencies = [
+ "memchr",
+ "unchecked-index",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "typed-arena"
 version = "1.7.0"
@@ -4530,6 +5294,12 @@ version = "0.1.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "9e79c4d996edb816c91e4308506774452e55e95c3c9de07b6729e17e15a5ef81"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "unchecked-index"
+version = "0.2.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "eeba86d422ce181a719445e51872fa30f1f7413b62becb52e95ec91aa262d85c"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "unicase"
 version = "2.6.0"
@@ -4986,6 +5756,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "markup5ever 0.11.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "yaml-rust"
+version = "0.4.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "56c1936c4cc7a1c9ab21a1ebb602eb942ba868cbd44a99cb7cdc5892335e1c85"
+dependencies = [
+ "linked-hash-map",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "zeroize"
 version = "1.5.7"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 8b62bedcb..bf3dec591 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ strip = "symbols"
 debug = 0
 
 [features]
-console = ["console-subscriber", "opentelemetry", "opentelemetry-otlp", "tracing-opentelemetry",
-    "reqwest-tracing/opentelemetry_0_16"]
+embed-pictrs = ["pict-rs"]
+console = ["console-subscriber", "opentelemetry", "opentelemetry-otlp", "tracing-opentelemetry", "reqwest-tracing/opentelemetry_0_16"]
 default = []
 
 [workspace]
@@ -144,3 +144,5 @@ actix-rt = "2.6"
 rand = { workspace = true }
 console-subscriber = { version = "0.1.8", optional = true }
 opentelemetry-otlp = { version = "0.10.0", optional = true }
+pict-rs = { version = "0.4.0-beta.9", optional = true }
+tokio.workspace = true
diff --git a/config/defaults.hjson b/config/defaults.hjson
index e2ad2b41a..2f4fc57a0 100644
--- a/config/defaults.hjson
+++ b/config/defaults.hjson
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
   # Pictrs image server configuration.
   pictrs: {
     # Address where pictrs is available (for image hosting)
-    url: "http://pictrs:8080/"
+    url: "http://localhost:8080/"
     # Set a custom pictrs API key. ( Required for deleting images )
     api_key: "string"
   }
diff --git a/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs b/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs
index d32f3dc26..e5dac10d0 100644
--- a/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs
+++ b/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs
@@ -45,8 +45,8 @@ pub struct Settings {
 #[serde(default)]
 pub struct PictrsConfig {
   /// Address where pictrs is available (for image hosting)
-  #[default(Url::parse("http://pictrs:8080").expect("parse pictrs url"))]
-  #[doku(example = "http://pictrs:8080")]
+  #[default(Url::parse("http://localhost:8080").expect("parse pictrs url"))]
+  #[doku(example = "http://localhost:8080")]
   pub url: Url,
 
   /// Set a custom pictrs API key. ( Required for deleting images )
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 68294989c..79a813c52 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -4,5 +4,31 @@ use lemmy_utils::{error::LemmyError, settings::SETTINGS};
 #[actix_web::main]
 pub async fn main() -> Result<(), LemmyError> {
   init_logging(&SETTINGS.opentelemetry_url)?;
-  start_lemmy_server().await
+  #[cfg(not(feature = "embed-pictrs"))]
+  start_lemmy_server().await?;
+  #[cfg(feature = "embed-pictrs")]
+  {
+    pict_rs::ConfigSource::memory(serde_json::json!({
+        "server": {
+            "address": "127.0.0.1:8080"
+        },
+        "old_db": {
+            "path": "./pictrs/old"
+        },
+        "repo": {
+            "type": "sled",
+            "path": "./pictrs/sled-repo"
+        },
+        "store": {
+            "type": "filesystem",
+            "path": "./pictrs/files"
+        }
+    }))
+    .init::<&str>(None)
+    .expect("initialize pictrs config");
+    let (lemmy, pictrs) = tokio::join!(start_lemmy_server(), pict_rs::run());
+    lemmy?;
+    pictrs.expect("run pictrs");
+  }
+  Ok(())
 }