Self-Hosted Snapdrop - LAN ONLY VERSION - DO NOT EXPOSE TO THE INTERNET

A simple, self-hosted version of the classic Snapdrop, designed to run on your local network.

This fork preserves the original Snapdrop experience for private, local-only file sharing. It has been simplified to run without Docker or a reverse proxy like Nginx.

⚠️ CRITICAL SECURITY WARNING: LAN ONLY
This server is designed for Local Area Network (LAN) use only. The code intentionally places all connecting clients into the same room. If you expose this server to the public internet, any user on the internet will be able to see and send files to your devices. This is a major security and privacy risk. DO NOT EXPOSE THIS TO THE INTERNET.

✅ Peer naming, icons, file and text transfer all work.
✅ All devices on your LAN are automatically placed in the same "room" for easy discovery.
✅ Requires no external services or complex setup.

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About the Original Snapdrop

Snapdrop is a local file sharing solution inspired by Apple's Airdrop. The original project was acquired, and the public website has changed. This repository maintains the classic experience for self-hosting.

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How It Works

This project consists of two main parts:

1. A Node.js WebSocket server (/server): Manages peer connections and signaling.
2. A static web client (/client): The user interface you interact with in your browser.

To get it running, you need to run the server and serve the client files separately.

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Local Setup and Running

Prerequisites

• Node.js (which includes npm and npx)

1. Run the Backend Server

The server handles the WebSocket connections that allow devices to find each other.

# Navigate to the server directory
cd server

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start the server
npm start

The server will now be running and listening on port 3000.

2. Serve the Frontend Client

The client is a set of static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. You can use any simple web server to serve the client directory. A great, easy option is the serve package.

In a new terminal window, run the following command from the project's root directory:

# Serve the 'client' folder on port 8080
npx serve client -l 8080

3. Access Snapdrop

You can now access Snapdrop by opening your web browser and navigating to:

http://localhost:8080

To connect from other devices on your network, use your computer's local IP address, for example: http://192.168.1.10:8080. All devices that connect will see each other.

Reminder: This setup is for your private network. Do not configure your router (e.g., via port forwarding) to expose these ports to the internet.

⚠️ Troubleshooting

If the client doesn't connect to the server (e.g., you don't see other devices), you may need to update the WebSocket URL in the client-side code. The client needs to connect to the server on port 3000.

• Find: The JavaScript file in the client/ directory that contains new WebSocket(...).
• Change: The connection URL to point to your server's hostname and port 3000, like this: new WebSocket('ws://' + location.hostname + ':3000').

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Tech Stack

• Vanilla HTML5 / ES6 / CSS3 frontend
• WebRTC / WebSockets
• Node.js backend

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Advanced: Running with a Reverse Proxy (Nginx)

⚠️ CRITICAL SECURITY WARNING: DO NOT EXPOSE TO THE INTERNET
This server is designed for Local Area Network (LAN) use only. The code intentionally places all connecting clients into a single, shared room.

If you expose this server to the public internet (e.g., through a router's port forwarding), any user on the internet will be able to see your devices and attempt to send you files. This is a severe privacy and security risk.

The Nginx configuration below is provided only to show how to harden access within a private LAN. It is not for enabling public internet access.

The Node.js server is fully compatible with being run behind a reverse proxy like Nginx. This is an advanced setup useful for managing access on your local network.

You would need to:

1. Run the Node.js backend server as described above (cd server && npm start). It will listen on localhost:3000.
2. Configure Nginx to serve the static files from the client directory and proxy WebSocket requests to the Node.js server, while restricting access to your LAN.
3. Update the client-side JavaScript to connect to the correct WebSocket path provided by your proxy.

Example LAN-Only Nginx Configuration

Here is a sample Nginx configuration that serves the application while restricting access to devices on the 192.168.1.0/24 local network.

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name snapdrop.local; # Or your server's IP

    # --- LAN Access Control ---
    # Allow traffic from your local network.
    # Adjust the IP range to match your network's subnet.
    allow 192.168.1.0/24;
    # Deny all other traffic
    deny all;
    # --------------------------

    # Serve the static client files
    location / {
        root /path/to/your/snapdrop/client;
        try_files $uri /index.html;
    }

    # Proxy WebSocket requests to the Node.js backend
    location /ws/ {
        # Note: The same access control from the server block applies here.
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "Upgrade";
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
    }
}

With this Nginx config, you would then need to find the new WebSocket(...) call in the client's JavaScript and point it to ws://your-domain.com/ws/.