Vault — Cloud Workspace & File Manager

The next-generation, self-hosted cloud storage experience.
Blazing-fast direct S3 uploads, in-browser notebook editing, file sharing, zero-trust private vaults, and instant multi-format previews.

Features • Installation • Customizations • Deployment • Environment

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Why Vault?

Most S3 file managers are clunky administrative consoles built for devops, or sluggish cloud drives that funnel multi-gigabyte uploads through overloaded proxy servers.

Vault is different. It combines the polished user experience of a modern desktop operating system with enterprise-grade storage engineering:

• Zero-Proxy Direct Streaming: Small and multi-gigabyte files stream directly between the browser and your S3-compatible storage (RustFS, MinIO, Ceph, AWS S3) with no server bottleneck.
• Built-In Notebook Editor: Create, draft, and modify .env, Markdown, code, and config files directly in the browser with syntax highlighting, line numbers, and instant save.
• True In-Browser Previews: View PDFs with a high-DPI canvas reader, preview Word .docx and Excel .xlsx files, watch videos, stream audio with ID3 album art, and inspect .env secrets with automatic masking.
• Zero-Trust Private Vaults: Individual password-protected buckets that auto-lock after 15 minutes of inactivity and keep private files hidden from other users and administrators in the app (see the note on hardware-level access).

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Product Tour & Live Showcase

1. Unified Command Center & File Manager

Manage unlimited buckets, navigate nested directories with instant breadcrumbs, drag-and-drop uploads, and search through thousands of objects with instant filtering.

Custom File Type Icons for different types of files

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2. Integrated Notebook Editor (Create & Edit)

Create brand-new files or edit existing ones directly within Vault. Includes line numbers, 2-space tab indentation, live character/word/byte statistics, format dropdowns, and ⌘S / Ctrl+S keyboard shortcuts with unsaved-changes protection.

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3. Smart .env Secrets Inspector & Code Preview

Auto-detects sensitive credential keys (API_KEY, SECRET, PASSWORD, DSN) and masks them by default (••••••••••). Toggle reveal on demand, copy individual values, copy all, or jump straight into the editor.

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4. Rich Markdown & Document Reader

Renders GitHub-flavored Markdown with formatted tables, code blocks, lists, and links, plus estimated reading times. Toggle between rendered view and raw source in a single click.

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5. Public Share URLs

Share files and folders via public URLs with time-limited token access. Revoke access at any time for peace of mind.

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Key Features

Category	Capability	Highlight
High-Speed Transfers	Direct S3 Client Uploads	Small files use signed PUTs; files larger than 8 MiB use parallel S3 multipart uploads up to 5 TiB.
Upload Monitoring	Real-Time Telemetry	Rolling speed meter (MB/s), estimated time remaining (ETA), pause/resume, and cancellation.
In-Browser Notebook	Create & Edit Files	Line-numbered gutter, Tab indentation, live stats, ⌘S quick save, custom file extensions.
Security & Vaults	Password-Protected Buckets	Dedicated "Only Me" buckets with bcrypt passwords and 15-minute auto-locking.
Universal Previews	Document & Media Viewers	High-DPI PDF.js reader, DOCX (Mammoth), XLSX/CSV (SheetJS), video and audio with ID3 covers.
Public Sharing	Expiring Public Links	Share files or folders with 1-hour to 10-year expiry, bearer tokens, AES-256 encrypted storage, and instant revocation.
Personalization	Appearance & Particle Engine	Dark/Light themes, curated typography, custom accent colors, and hardware-accelerated CSS rain/leaf effects.

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Appearance & Customizations

Vault treats aesthetics and comfort as first-class citizens. Open Account Settings → Preferences to tailor your workspace:

Customization Options

• Theme Modes: True Dark Mode (high-contrast, deep blacks) and Clean Light Mode.
• Font Typography: Switch between curated font stacks (Inter, Outfit, Fira Code, JetBrains Mono, Roboto, System).
• Accent Palettes: Tailor the brand glow across Cyan, Indigo, Violet, Rose, Emerald, and Amber.
• Particle Engine: An ambient background particle simulation (Rain or Falling Leaves) powered by GPU-accelerated CSS animations:
  • Direction: Downward, angled right, or angled left.
  • Speed: Adjustable from 0.5× to 2.0×.
  • Drop Dimensions: Fine-tune droplet height (12–120 px) and width (1–4 px).
  • Effects: Optional water splash impacts along the bottom viewport edge.
  • Density: Light (16 particles), Balanced (32), or Full (56), throttled automatically on mobile viewports.

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Architecture & Data Flow

Vault connects your browser directly to your storage infrastructure:

flowchart TD
    subgraph Client["Browser (React 19 + TypeScript)"]
        UI["Vault UI & Notebook Editor"]
        DirectUpload["Direct-to-S3 Multipart Engine"]
        PreviewEngines["PDF.js / SheetJS / Mammoth / Audio"]
    end

    subgraph Backend["Vault Server / Vercel Serverless"]
        AuthService["Auth & Zero-Trust Lock Manager"]
        Presigner["S3 Presigned URL & Ticket Issuer"]
        ShareService["Share Link & Token Vault"]
    end

    subgraph Storage["Object Storage"]
        S3["RustFS / MinIO / AWS S3 Storage"]
    end

    subgraph Database["MongoDB Database"]
        Mongo[("Users, Buckets, Preferences & Shares")]
    end

    UI -->|"1. Request presigned URL"| Presigner
    Presigner -->|"Verify auth & lock status"| AuthService
    AuthService --> Mongo
    Presigner -->|"2. Issue signed S3 URL"| DirectUpload
    DirectUpload -->|"3. PUT chunks directly, bypassing the server"| S3
    UI -->|"4. Complete upload ticket"| Presigner
    Presigner -->|"Verify ETags & publish"| S3
    PreviewEngines -->|"Stream media directly via 307"| S3

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Installation & Quickstart

Prerequisites

• Node.js: 24.x LTS or higher
• MongoDB: 7.0+ (local instance or MongoDB Atlas)
• Object Storage: Any S3-compatible storage (RustFS, MinIO, AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, Ceph)

1. Clone & Install Dependencies

git clone https://github.com/Fcatilizer/file-manager.git
cd file-manager
npm ci

2. Configure Environment

Copy the example configuration file:

cp .env.example .env

Generate a secure random JWT secret:

node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(48).toString('hex'))"

Update .env with your database and storage credentials:

PORT=3000
NODE_ENV=development

# Database
MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/vault
MONGO_DB=vault
JWT_SECRET=your_generated_random_secret_here

# Object Storage (RustFS / MinIO / S3)
MINIO_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:9000
MINIO_PUBLIC_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:9000
MINIO_ACCESS_KEY=your_minio_access_key
MINIO_SECRET_KEY=your_minio_secret_key
MINIO_BUCKET=public-files
MINIO_PRIVATE_BUCKET=shared-files
MINIO_REGION=us-east-1

# Optional: Initial Administrator (the setup wizard at /setup runs if omitted)
ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com
ADMIN_PASSWORD=change_this_secure_password

3. Launch the Development Server

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

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🚢 Deployment Options

Vault can be deployed as a Docker container, a standard Node.js persistent process, or a Vercel serverless application.

Option A: Docker (Recommended for Production)

A multi-stage production Dockerfile is included:

# Build the optimized production image
docker build -t vault-file-manager .

# Run the container with your environment configuration
docker run -d \
  --name vault \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  --env-file .env \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  vault-file-manager

Option B: Node.js Host (Render / Railway / VPS)

# Compile the client bundle and serverless entry
npm run build

# Start the production server
npm start

Option C: Vercel Serverless Function

Vault includes built-in Vercel configuration (vercel.json and the server/vercel.ts adapter):

1. Import the repository into your Vercel Dashboard.

2. Set the environment variables in the Vercel project settings (MONGO_URI, JWT_SECRET, MINIO_ENDPOINT, MINIO_ACCESS_KEY, etc.).

3. Configure RustFS/MinIO CORS: Add your deployed Vercel domain to your storage server's CORS settings so the browser can perform direct PUT requests:

   RUSTFS_CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS="https://your-vault-app.vercel.app"

4. Verify CORS readiness:

   curl -i -X OPTIONS 'https://your-storage-api.com/bucket/cors-check' \
     -H 'Origin: https://your-vault-app.vercel.app' \
     -H 'Access-Control-Request-Method: PUT' \
     -H 'Access-Control-Request-Headers: content-type'

5. Click Deploy.

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Environment Variables Reference

Variable	Required	Default	Description
MONGO_URI	Yes	—	MongoDB connection string (e.g. mongodb+srv://...)
MONGO_DB	No	vault	Database name
JWT_SECRET	Yes (prod)	—	Cryptographically random string for session tokens
SHARE_TOKEN_SECRET	No	JWT_SECRET	Secret used to encrypt public share link tokens with AES-256-GCM
SESSION_TTL	No	7d	User session duration
ADMIN_EMAIL	No	—	Seeds the default administrator account
ADMIN_PASSWORD	No	—	Seeds the default administrator password
SETUP_TOKEN	No	—	Optional token required during the first-run /setup wizard
MINIO_ENDPOINT	Yes	—	S3/RustFS endpoint URL for server operations
MINIO_PUBLIC_ENDPOINT	No	MINIO_ENDPOINT	Browser-reachable HTTPS URL for client presigned uploads
MINIO_ACCESS_KEY	Yes	—	S3 storage access key
MINIO_SECRET_KEY	Yes	—	S3 storage secret key
MINIO_BUCKET	No	public-files	Default shared bucket name
MINIO_PRIVATE_BUCKET	No	shared-files	Default private bucket selection
MINIO_REGION	No	us-east-1	S3 region identifier
PORT	No	3000	Port for the HTTP server
HOST	No	0.0.0.0	Bind host address

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Testing & Code Quality

# Run the unit & integration test suite (122 tests)
npm test

# Check code formatting & lint rules
npm run lint

# Compile TypeScript and production client/server bundles
npm run build

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Note

Note

Vault does not guarantee encryption of files and folders at the hardware level. The person hosting the storage may still be able to read all bucket contents directly from the drives.

Vault is intended for managing your own files in a bucket you host yourself, shared among family and friends.

Tip

This is a work in progress. Features are added and removed frequently.Suggestion for improvents are appreceated.

[Developer Note] This project i've started to be able to share files with my family and friends. I wanted to have full control over my data and also have full control over who can access my data. I think this project achieves both of these goals.

This project was based on an idea of simple file manager + modern UI and some extra features that i wanted to have in a file manager.

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License

Vault is open-source software licensed under the MIT License.