FAQ · 030
Including the awkward ones. If you do not see your question, ask it when you request a demo.
Is Lumina ready for production use?
Lumina is a new product at version 0.1.0. The API, web app and mobile apps are built and heavily tested, but nothing has been deployed to a public host yet, and it has not been run against a real, production-sized Koha database.
The sensible path today is a pilot: a demo, a rehearsal import of a copy of your data, and a parallel run before you commit.
How is Lumina different from Koha?
Koha is the mature, proven open-source ILS with a community of about twenty years, a large plugin ecosystem and wide standards support. Lumina is deliberately Koha-compatible: it reads Koha data and keeps the concepts librarians already know.
Where it differs is the experience and the foundations: a keyboard-first desk, typed settings instead of about 910 untyped preferences, a mobile staff app, a guard gate-check, events and room booking, a report builder, and Postgres full-text search with nothing to rebuild. The full 188-feature comparison is here.
Can I really move from Koha in a day?
The import itself is fast: 42 entity types, a dry run, and a reconciliation report. For a small or mid-sized library, "a day" is realistic for the mechanical move once you have rehearsed it.
What takes time is the rehearsal, checking the reconciliation report, and training staff. Plan a rehearsal on a copy first and a parallel run if you can. The step-by-step plan is here.
Have you tested the Koha import on a live Koha server?
Not yet, and we say so plainly. The SQL dump and CSV paths run end to end in the test suite against a generated, synthetic Koha dataset. The direct MySQL and the REST adapters have been exercised against in-memory fakes, not a live Koha server.
That is why the guidance is to rehearse on a copy, read the reconciliation report, and use the SQL dump path for the actual cutover.
Will my members keep their passwords?
For the MySQL, SQL dump and file sources, yes: Koha password hashes are carried over and verified at first sign-in, then replaced with a stronger hash. The Koha REST API cannot expose password hashes, so members imported that way will need a reset.
Some older Koha hash schemes are weak at rest until the first sign-in converts them, so treat the migrated database as sensitive.
Can I undo an import?
Yes. Every row written is recorded against the import batch, so a rollback is exact, and re-running the same import is idempotent. You can also preserve Koha ids so references in your other systems stay valid.
What is not built yet?
These are planned and not available today: SIP2, a Z39.50/SRU server, OAI-PMH, NCIP, EDIFACT, RFID, a plugin system and Koha's many translations. Lumina ships in English and Hindi.
If one of those is essential to you (for example SIP2 for third-party self-checkout hardware), tell us when you request a demo so we can be straight about timing. See the full list.
Does it work in Hindi?
Yes: the interface is available in Hindi and English, and search is built to handle Devanagari. Koha has many more translations, and Lumina does not yet.
Where can it run?
Lumina is a Postgres-backed NestJS API with a Vite/React web app, so you can self-host it. A Cloudflare Worker and Pages hosting option is part of the design. The Koha import module currently runs from a Node host, not from the Worker build.
What does it cost?
We have not published prices, and we will not invent them here. The model is open to discussion: self-hosted setup, migration and support. Read how we think about it, then talk to us.
Is it secure? Has it been audited?
The engineering controls are real: scrypt password hashes, short-lived tokens with refresh-token rotation, per-account lockout, optional TOTP two-factor, role-based permissions, an audit log, HMAC-signed webhooks and restricted SQL reports. There has been no independent penetration test or security audit yet. The details and the gaps are on the security page.
Does it help with NAAC, UGC or other reporting?
Lumina supports the data you need for such reports: collection counts, circulation and usage statistics, accession numbers, and a report builder with CSV and Excel export. It is not a certification and does not produce accreditation report packs yet; those are on the roadmap.
Does it support INR, UPI and Razorpay?
Fines and fees are in INR. Payments can be taken at the desk (cash, UPI, card) and online through Razorpay, with a sandbox mode for testing, and receipts are numbered per payment.
Do you have customers I can talk to?
No. Lumina is new and has no customers to quote, so there are no testimonials or logos on this site. We would rather show you the product and the code-verified facts, and let you rehearse on your own data.
Is there a self-checkout kiosk?
There is a kiosk flow in the web app for members to scan their card and books. Third-party self-checkout hardware that speaks SIP2, and RFID, are not supported yet.
Who builds Lumina?
Lumina is built by Wendor, an India-based company. See About.
Can I see the documentation?
Yes. The product documentation is a folder of self-contained HTML pages in the repository (user guides, Koha migration, security, API reference and more). Here is what it contains.
How do I get started?
Request a demo. Bring a few questions and, if you like, tell us which Koha version you run and roughly how many records and members you have.
Next step
See your library in Lumina.
Thirty minutes, your questions, and a walk through the desk, the catalogue and the Koha import. No slides.