CloudVault

A minimal, secure cloud storage service with a focus on privacy and accessibility.

Table of Contents

• The Problem
• The Solution
• Key Features
• Tech Stack
• Architecture & Core Concepts
• Getting Started
  • Prerequisites
  • Installation
• Challenges Faced
• Future Scope
• Contributing

The Problem

Most major cloud storage platforms require tying your account to a personal identity (like a Google or Apple account), which can lead to privacy concerns. Furthermore, the risk of forgetting to log out on a shared or public computer is a significant security liability.

The Solution

CloudVault offers a straightforward and secure file storage solution using traditional email and password authentication with JWT. It provides a familiar, intuitive user interface similar to Google Drive’s navigation, ensuring a private and accessible user experience without relying on external identity providers.

Key Features

• JWT-Based Authentication: Secure and private login using only an email and password.
• Full File Management: Supports file upload, delete, rename, and folder creation.
• Intuitive Navigation: Features a breadcrumb-based navigation system, mimicking the user experience of Google Drive.
• Modern UI/UX: A fully responsive layout with a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface for file uploads.
• Privacy-Focused: No external identity providers or tracking analytics.
• Isolated Storage: Each user's files and folder hierarchy are completely isolated from other users.

Tech Stack

Frontend	Backend	Auth	Storage	Deployment
React	Node.js	JWT	Supabase	Vercel
Tailwind CSS	Express	bcrypt		Netlify

Architecture & Core Concepts

The application is built with a classic client-server architecture, focusing on secure, stateless authentication and isolated file management.

• High-Level Architecture: An overview of the client, server, and storage interactions.
• Database Schema: The ERD for the user and file metadata.

For a deeper dive into the core logic, visit here

Getting Started

Follow these instructions to get a local copy of the project up and running for development.

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or newer)
• npm or Yarn
• PostgreSQL database

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/addy118/cloudvault.git
   cd cloudvault

2. Install dependencies: You will need to do this for both the client and server directories.

   # Install server dependencies
   cd server
   npm install
   
   # Install client dependencies
   cd ../client
   npm install

3. Set up environment variables: In the server directory, create a .env file and populate it with your credentials.

   How to Generate Secrets: For ACCESS_TOKEN, REFRESH_TOKEN, and SECRET, you can generate secure random strings by running the following command in your terminal:

     node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('hex'))"

   # --- General Settings ---
   PORT=3000
   IS_PROD=false
   
   # --- JWT Secrets (Generate these yourself) ---
   # Run `openssl rand -hex 32` in your terminal to generate secure secrets
   ACCESS_TOKEN=your_generated_access_token_secret
   REFRESH_TOKEN=your_generated_refresh_token_secret
   SECRET=your_generated_jwt_secret
   
   # --- Development Database ---
   # Your local PostgreSQL connection string
   DATABASE_URL="postgresql://YOUR_DB_USER:YOUR_DB_PASSWORD@localhost:5432/cloud-vault?schema=public"
   
   # --- Supabase (Optional, if you use it for storage/DB) ---
   # Get these from your Supabase project settings
   SUPABASE_URL=your_supabase_project_url
   SUPABASE_KEY=your_supabase_anon_key
   SUPABASE_DB_PASS=your_supabase_db_password
   PROJECT_ID=your_supabase_project_id
   
   # A default password if needed for seeding or other scripts
   USER_PASS=a_strong_default_password

4. Run database migrations: From the server directory, apply the database schema.

   cd server
   npx prisma migrate dev

5. Start the development servers: You need to run the backend and frontend servers in separate terminals.

   # In your first terminal, from the /server directory
   npm run dev
   
   # In your second terminal, from the /client directory
   npm run dev

Challenges Faced

• Ensuring secure, stateless access control without creating persistent login sessions that could be a liability on shared devices.
• Structuring the file storage system to support nested folders while guaranteeing strict user isolation.
• Building a responsive and dynamic breadcrumb navigation component that correctly syncs with the file path state.

Future Scope

• File Previews: Add in-app previews for common file types like PDF, images, and text documents.
• Cloud Storage Integration: Migrate the storage backend from the local filesystem to a cloud service like AWS S3 or Cloudinary for scalability.
• Sharing Features: Enable multi-user file/folder sharing and secure, link-based access.
• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Implement 2FA for an additional layer of account security.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please fork the repository and create a pull request with your changes. For major updates, please open an issue first to discuss the proposed change.