Self hosted, easy to install end to end encrypted storage drive
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Hoodik is a lightweight, self-hosted, end-to-end encrypted cloud storage server. All encryption and decryption happens in your browser β the server never sees your plaintext data. Built with Rust (Actix-web) on the backend and Vue 3 on the frontend.
π hoodik.ioβ β Website Β |Β βοΈ Hoodik Cloudβ Β |Β π± Android Appβ Β |Β π iOS & macOS Appβ Β |Β β‘ Self-Hosting Guideβ
Each user gets an Ed25519 identity key pair (for signing) and an X25519 + ML-KEM-768 wrapping key pair (for wrapping file keys) on registration. File keys are wrapped under both algorithms at once β a hybrid that stays secure even if a future quantum computer breaks the elliptic-curve half. Login uses OPAQUE, so your password never leaves the device; the private keys are stored envelope-encrypted under a key derived from the OPAQUE export_key, which only your password can produce β the server cannot read them. Accounts created before this scheme used an RSA-2048 key pair and are still supported; they migrate to the new keys automatically on the next login.
β οΈ Store your private key somewhere safe (e.g. a password manager). If you forget your password, the private key is the only way to recover your account and decrypt your files.
When you upload a file:
Chunks move over one of two HTTP endpoints, both client-side encrypted:
POST /api/storage/{file_id}?chunk=N&checksum=... β upload one encrypted chunk; the server verifies the CRC16 per chunk and stores it.POST /api/storage/{file_id}?format=tar β upload many chunks in one request as an uncompressed tar archive whose entries are named {index:06}.enc. Fewer HTTP round-trips on slow networks; the per-chunk integrity check is skipped (TLS + the file-level hash still cover transport and content).Download mirrors the same split: GET /api/storage/{file_id}?chunk=N streams a single chunk, while GET /api/storage/{file_id}?format=tar streams every chunk as a single tar archive.
Searchable metadata (file names, and the contents of notes) is tokenized in the browser and each token is tagged with HMAC under a key derived from your private key. Only those tags are stored. When you search, the same tagging is applied to your query and the tags are matched server-side. No plaintext leaves the browser, and the key never does either, so the index cannot be read back into words by anyone holding the database.
When you share a file:
https://β¦/links/{id}#link-key.The recipient's browser uses the fragment to decrypt the metadata and file key locally and does all decryption itself β the link key in the fragment never reaches the server. The server only ever serves encrypted bytes and never decrypts anything for a public link.
| Primitive | Algorithm |
|---|---|
| Identity / signing | Ed25519 (legacy accounts: RSA-2048 PKCS#1) |
| Key wrapping | hybrid X25519 + ML-KEM-768 (post-quantum) β HKDF-SHA256 combiner, AEGIS-256 wrap AEAD (legacy accounts: RSA-2048) |
| Symmetric (default) | AEGIS-128L β hardware-accelerated AEAD via WASM SIMD128/relaxed-simd |
| Symmetric (supported) | AEGIS-256, Ascon-128a, ChaCha20-Poly1305 |
| Login | OPAQUE (RFC 9807, ristretto255-SHA512), Argon2id KSF β password never crosses the wire |
| Private-key wrap | envelope encryption under a KEK derived (HKDF-SHA512) from the OPAQUE export_key |
The cipher used to encrypt each file is stored in the database (files.cipher), so the correct algorithm is always used for decryption regardless of what the current default is.
If you'd rather not run a server, Hoodik Cloudβ is the managed version, run by us on the same publicly auditable code. The encryption is identical β files are encrypted in the browser and the server only ever stores ciphertext. There is no lock-in: you can export your whole instance at any time and get a runnable copy of Hoodik with your encrypted data inside, ready to self-host with Docker.
docker run --name hoodik -d \
-e DATA_DIR='/data' \
-e APP_URL='https://my-app.example.com' \
--volume "$(pwd)/data:/data" \
-p 5443:5443 \
hudik/hoodik:latest
This runs with a self-signed TLS certificate generated automatically in DATA_DIR. For production, provide your own certificate (see Configurationβ ) or put Hoodik behind a reverse proxy such as Nginx Proxy Managerβ .
docker run --name hoodik -d \
-e DATA_DIR='/data' \
-e APP_URL='https://my-app.example.com' \
-e SSL_CERT_FILE='/data/my-cert.crt.pem' \
-e SSL_KEY_FILE='/data/my-key.key.pem' \
-e MAILER_TYPE='smtp' \
-e SMTP_ADDRESS='smtp.gmail.com' \
-e SMTP_USERNAME='[email protected]' \
-e SMTP_PASSWORD='your-app-password' \
-e SMTP_PORT='465' \
-e SMTP_DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL='[email protected]' \
-e SMTP_DEFAULT_FROM_NAME='Hoodik Drive' \
--volume "$(pwd)/data:/data" \
-p 5443:5443 \
hudik/hoodik:latest
Tip: Set
JWT_SECRETto a stable random string so sessions survive container restarts.
All configuration is done through environment variables. A full reference is in .env.exampleβ .
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
DATA_DIR | (required) | Directory for the database and stored files |
DATABASE_URL | (SQLite) | PostgreSQL connection string β omit to use SQLite |
APP_URL | https://localhost:5443 | Public URL of the application |
APP_CLIENT_URL | APP_URL | URL of the frontend (set to Vite dev server during development) |
HTTP_PORT | 5443 | Port the server listens on |
HTTP_ADDRESS | localhost | Bind address (0.0.0.0 in Docker) |
Database note: SQLite and PostgreSQL databases are not interchangeable. Switching after data has been written will result in data loss.
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
SSL_DISABLED | false | Disable TLS entirely β for development/testing only |
SSL_CERT_FILE | DATA_DIR/hoodik.crt.pem | Path to TLS certificate (auto-generated self-signed cert if missing) |
SSL_KEY_FILE | DATA_DIR/hoodik.key.pem | Path to TLS private key (auto-generated if missing) |
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
JWT_SECRET | (random) | Secret for signing JWTs β set this or all sessions are invalidated on restart |
LONG_TERM_SESSION_DURATION_DAYS | 30 | How many days an idle session stays alive |
SHORT_TERM_SESSION_DURATION_SECONDS | 120 | How many seconds the short-lived access token lives; refreshed automatically while the user is active |
SESSION_COOKIE | hoodik_session | Name of the session cookie |
REFRESH_COOKIE | hoodik_refresh | Name of the refresh token cookie |
COOKIE_HTTP_ONLY | true | Hide the session cookie from JavaScript |
COOKIE_SECURE | true | Only send cookies over HTTPS |
COOKIE_SAME_SITE | Lax | SameSite policy: Lax, Strict, or None |
COOKIE_DOMAIN | (from APP_URL) | Override the cookie domain when your setup requires it |
USE_HEADERS_FOR_AUTHBy default, Hoodik uses HttpOnly cookies for authentication. If your frontend and backend are on different domains (or you want to access the API from a separate app), cookies won't work reliably. Set:
USE_HEADERS_FOR_AUTH=true
With this enabled:
Authorization: Bearer <token> header.Security note: localStorage-based tokens are accessible to any JavaScript on the page (XSS risk). Only enable this when a cookie-based setup is not possible. When using a single domain, leave it at the default
false.
When MAILER_TYPE=none (the default), accounts are activated automatically and no emails are sent. Set MAILER_TYPE=smtp to enable email verification and file-share notifications.
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
MAILER_TYPE | none | smtp to enable email, none to disable |
SMTP_ADDRESS | SMTP server hostname | |
SMTP_USERNAME | SMTP login | |
SMTP_PASSWORD | SMTP password | |
SMTP_PORT | 465 | SMTP port (TLS mode is auto-detected from the port if SMTP_TLS_MODE is not set) |
SMTP_TLS_MODE | (auto) | implicit (port 465), starttls (port 587), or none (port 25) |
SMTP_DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL | Sender email address | |
SMTP_DEFAULT_FROM_NAME | Sender display name (optional, defaults to Hoodik) |
By default, encrypted file chunks are stored on the local filesystem inside DATA_DIR. Set STORAGE_PROVIDER=s3 to use any S3-compatible object storage instead.
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
STORAGE_PROVIDER | local | local or s3 |
TAR_TRANSFER_DISABLED | false | Refuse ?format=tar so clients transfer one chunk per request. Set this behind a proxy that caps request size β Cloudflare Tunnel stops at 100 MB |
S3_BUCKET | Bucket name | |
S3_REGION | us-east-1 | AWS region |
S3_ENDPOINT | (AWS default) | Custom endpoint for S3-compatible services (MinIO, Backblaze B2, Wasabi, etc.) |
S3_ACCESS_KEY | Access key ID | |
S3_SECRET_KEY | Secret access key | |
S3_PATH_STYLE | false | Path-style addressing (required for MinIO) |
S3_PREFIX | Optional key prefix to namespace objects within a shared bucket | |
S3_DIRECT_TRANSFER | false | Let clients read and write chunks straight from the bucket. See Direct transferβ β it has requirements your bucket must meet |
S3_DIRECT_EXPIRY_SECS | 604800 | How long a presigned chunk URL stays valid. Maximum is 604800 (7 days) |
S3_DIRECT_ALLOW_INSECURE | false | Skip the HTTPS, certificate and private-address checks. For deployments where clients share a network with the bucket |
Note:
DATA_DIRis still required when using S3 β it holds the SQLite database (if not using PostgreSQL) and other local state. Only the encrypted file chunks move to S3.
Example with MinIO:
docker run --name hoodik -d \
-e DATA_DIR='/data' \
-e APP_URL='https://my-app.example.com' \
-e STORAGE_PROVIDER='s3' \
-e S3_BUCKET='hoodik' \
-e S3_ENDPOINT='http://minio:9000' \
-e S3_ACCESS_KEY='minioadmin' \
-e S3_SECRET_KEY='minioadmin' \
-e S3_PATH_STYLE='true' \
--volume "$(pwd)/data:/data" \
-p 5443:5443 \
hudik/hoodik:latest
This example puts MinIO on a container hostname over plain HTTP, which is fine for the default setup where Hoodik relays every chunk. It cannot be used with
S3_DIRECT_TRANSFER: browsers refuse plain HTTP from an HTTPS page, and no client outside the Docker network can resolveminio. See below.
With S3_DIRECT_TRANSFER=true, Hoodik hands clients short-lived signed URLs and
they move chunks to and from the bucket themselves. The server stops relaying
file data, which removes it as a bandwidth bottleneck. Encryption is unchanged:
the bucket only ever holds ciphertext, and file keys never leave the client.
Your bucket has to be usable by the client, not just by the server:
| Requirement | Why |
|---|---|
| Reachable from clients | A signed URL is useless if it points somewhere only the server can reach |
| HTTPS | A page served over HTTPS cannot fetch plain HTTP, and there is no way for the user to override that |
| Publicly trusted certificate | Browsers and phones do not have your internal CA. Hoodik checks against public roots, not the host's trust store, because that is what a client does |
CORS allowing your APP_URL, with GET and PUT | Without it the browser discards the response |
| One endpoint hostname that works from both sides | The signature covers the hostname, so the server cannot sign for an internal name and have the client substitute an external one |
Hoodik verifies all of this at startup, including a real CORS preflight against
your bucket. If anything fails it logs the reason, leaves the feature switched
off, and keeps relaying transfers as before β so a wrong setting costs you a log
line, not a broken client. Check what it decided at /api/readiness:
curl -s https://my-app.example.com/api/readiness
Set S3_DIRECT_ALLOW_INSECURE=true to skip the first three checks. That is
meant for a bucket on your own network with clients on that same network β a
home NAS, say. CORS is still required, because browsers enforce it regardless of
where the bucket sits.
If you already have data stored locally and want to switch to S3:
Important: Stop the Hoodik server before running the migration to avoid data inconsistencies. If files are being uploaded while chunks are being migrated, some chunks may be missed.
Stop the running Hoodik instance.
Add the S3 environment variables to your docker-compose.yml (keep STORAGE_PROVIDER=local for now).
Run the migration:
docker exec hoodik hoodik migrate-storage
Or as a one-off container:
docker run --rm \
-v hoodik-data:/data \
-e DATA_DIR=/data \
-e S3_BUCKET=my-bucket \
-e S3_REGION=eu-central-1 \
-e S3_ACCESS_KEY=... \
-e S3_SECRET_KEY=... \
hudik/hoodik migrate-storage
The command uploads all chunk files from DATA_DIR to S3. It is idempotent β already-uploaded files are skipped, so it is safe to re-run if interrupted.
Set STORAGE_PROVIDER=s3 and restart:
docker compose up -d
Verify everything works. The local chunk files can be kept as a backup until you are confident.
See DEVELOPMENT.mdβ for setup instructions, available just recipes, testing, and CI.
CC BY-NC 4.0β β free for personal and non-commercial use. For commercial licensing, contact [email protected]β .
Created and maintained by Tibor Hudikβ .
Community patches are welcome and appreciated. Everyone who has sent one is listed in the contributors graphβ .
Logo design by Nikola MatoΕ‘eviΔ β Your Dear Designerβ β€οΈ
Content type
Image
Digest
sha256:28165c43aβ¦
Size
27.8 MB
Last updated
10 days ago
docker pull hudik/hoodik