A modern, minimalist, and lightning-fast self-hosted file sharing solution.
SnapFileThing is a lightweight, database-less, and performant file sharing platform designed for simplicity and speed. It lets you securely upload, manage, and share files from your own server, with a beautiful and responsive interface. Whether you need direct URLs for your files, thumbnails for your assets, or a complete file explorer, SnapFileThing has you covered—without any of the bloat or restrictions of other solutions.
Inspired by Picsur and UploadThing, but built to fit my own needs.
While exploring existing solutions to host pictures for my Portfolio, I found that paid tiers, missing UI features, and unnecessary complexity got in the way of my workflow. I needed a tool to simply host files on my own server, serve them directly (with thumbnails!), and manage everything through a modern, minimalist interface. SnapFileThing is the answer—a tool that just works, with no restrictions.
- Instant File Sharing: Upload and share files in seconds, with direct URLs for easy embedding anywhere.
- Beautiful File Explorer: Sleek, modern, and fully responsive interface to browse, preview, and manage your files.
- Thumbnail Generation: Automatic thumbnail creation for images, including QOI, JPEG, PNG, and WebP.
- Seamless Multi-Device Experience: Works great on desktop, tablet, and mobile.
- Secure by Default: Local API and admin interface are protected, with authentication and rate limiting.
- Dual-Port Architecture: One port for the secure API, uploads, Swagger docs, and file explorer; a second port dedicated to fast, isolated static file serving.
- Database-less: No database required—just run and go.
- Written in Rust: Blazing fast, memory-safe, and reliable.
- Simple & Not Overly Complex: Focused on doing one thing well.
- Performant: Handles large files and many requests with ease.
- Direct URLs & Thumbnails: Serve files directly with thumbnails, perfect for embedding across your websites.
- Advanced Image Support: Native QOI (Quite OK Image) support for ultra-fast, lossless images.
- OpenAPI/Swagger Docs: Built-in API documentation for easy integration and automation.
- Tiny Docker Image: All-in-one image under 40MB for easy deployment anywhere.
- Open Source: MIT licensed and ready for your contributions.
- Dual-Port Architecture: The Rust server runs on two separate ports:
- Main Port: Hosts the secure local API, file upload endpoints, Swagger documentation, and the modern file explorer interface.
- Static File Port: Dedicated to serving files only, providing a clean, fast, and isolated endpoint for direct file access.
- QOI Format Integration: QOI files are supported natively, offering faster and smaller lossless images compared to PNG, ideal for efficient storage and transfer.
- Security by Design: The separation of API/UI and static file serving minimizes attack surface and allows for fine-grained access control.
# Move the .env.example file to .env and configure it
cp ./backend/.env.example /.env
docker run -d \
-p 8080:8080 \
-v /your/files:/data \
ghcr.io/Eric-Philippe/snapfilething:latest- Replace
/your/fileswith the path where you want to store your files. - The Docker image is under 40MB and contains everything you need.
You can also run the Docker image inside a Docker Compose setup or with custom ports and environment variables:
version: "3.8"
services:
snapfilething:
build:
context: .
dockerfile: Dockerfile
ports:
- "8080:8080" # Web Interface + API
- "8081:8081" # Static files
volumes:
- ./uploads:/app/uploads
environment:
- RUST_LOG=info
env_file:
- backend/.env
restart: unless-stopped
healthcheck:
test:
[
"CMD",
"wget",
"--no-verbose",
"--tries=1",
"--spider",
"http://localhost:8080/api/health",
]
interval: 30s
timeout: 10s
retries: 3
start_period: 40s
volumes:
uploads:
driver: localdocker-compose up -d-
Clone the repo:
git clone https://github.com/Eric-Philippe/snapfilething.git cd snapfilething -
Build and run (requires Rust):
cargo run --release
-
Access the app:
- Open http://localhost:8080 in your browser.
- All configuration is handled via environment variables.
# Environment variables for SnapFileThing
# Server configuration
WEB_PORT=8080
STATIC_PORT=8081
UPLOAD_DIR=./uploads
MAX_FILE_SIZE=104857600 # 100MB in bytes
# BASE_URL=https://yourdomain.com:8081 # Optional: Override the base URL for file URLs
# Authentication configuration
AUTH_MODE=protected # "protected" (requires auth) or "local" (no auth)
ADMIN_USERNAME=admin
ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme
JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-jwt-key-change-this-in-production
# Image processing configuration
THUMBNAIL_SIZE=200
JPEG_QUALITY=85
WEBP_QUALITY=80
QOI_ENABLED=true
# CORS configuration
ALLOWED_ORIGINS=http://localhost:3000,http://127.0.0.1:3000
ALLOWED_METHODS=GET,POST,DELETE
ALLOWED_HEADERS=Content-Type,Authorization
# Rate limiting configuration
RATE_LIMIT_DISABLED_ROUTES=/health,/docs,/api-docs
# Auth routes rate limiting
RATE_LIMIT_AUTH_ENABLED=true
RATE_LIMIT_AUTH_RPM=10
RATE_LIMIT_AUTH_BURST=3
# Upload routes rate limiting
RATE_LIMIT_UPLOAD_ENABLED=true
RATE_LIMIT_UPLOAD_RPM=60
RATE_LIMIT_UPLOAD_BURST=10
# Static routes rate limiting
RATE_LIMIT_STATIC_ENABLED=true
RATE_LIMIT_STATIC_RPM=1000
RATE_LIMIT_STATIC_BURST=100
SnapFileThing natively supports the QOI (Quite OK Image) format—a fast, lossless image format designed for simplicity and performance. QOI files are smaller and quicker to encode/decode than PNG, making them ideal for efficient image storage and transfer.
Contributions, issues, and feature requests are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md.
MIT License. See LICENSE for details.
SnapFileThing – File sharing, reimagined for simplicity.