Nearcloud

Local-first, zero-configuration peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing platform bypassing the cloud entirely. Fast, secure, and works offline.

Nearcloud establishes direct, high-throughput TLS connections over local network interfaces (Wi-Fi or Ethernet). Discovery is entirely decentralized, removing the requirement for static IP allocation, internet access, or external orchestration.

                       [ LAN / Wi-Fi Network ]
                                  │
           ┌──────────────────────┴──────────────────────┐
           ▼ (mDNS Discovery)                            ▼ (mDNS Discovery)
 ┌───────────────────┐                         ┌───────────────────┐
 │   Nearcloud (A)   │                         │   Nearcloud (B)   │
 │ ┌───────────────┐ │                         │ ┌───────────────┐ │
 │ │   Wails GUI   │ │                         │ │   Wails GUI   │ │
 │ └───────┬───────┘ │                         │ └───────▲───────┘ │
 │         │ (File)  │                         │         │ (File)  │
 │ ┌───────▼───────┐ │   TLS Tunnel over TCP   │ ┌───────┴───────┐ │
 │ │  Go Engine    ├─┼────────────────────────►│  Go Engine    │ │
 │ └───────────────┘ │      (Direct Stream)    │ └───────────────┘ │
 └───────────────────┘                         └───────────────────┘

Features & Architecture

1. Zero-Config Peer Discovery (mDNS)

Devices continuously advertise and browse for the specialized service _nearcloud._tcp in the local. multicast domain using Multicast DNS (RFC 6762). No central registry, no setup.

2. High-Speed Zero-Copy Transfers

Files are read sequentially and piped directly into the network socket stream using a pooled memory architecture. This guarantees near-wire gigabit speeds while maintaining a minimal and stable RAM footprint.

3. Mutual TLS Security

All traffic is encrypted in transit using TLS 1.3 with ephemeral keys. Self-signed certificates are generated dynamically on startup, protecting payloads from eavesdropping or tampering even on untrusted public Wi-Fi networks.

---

Roadmap

Phase 1: Core Network Engine (CLI MVP)

• Implement mDNS-based peer discovery and service registration.
• Develop a lightweight TCP server/client architecture.
• Implement TLS 1.3 with dynamic self-signed certificate generation.
• Establish a basic framing protocol for file metadata exchange.
• Add a CLI interactive CLI prompt for transfer confirmation.

Phase 2: Desktop GUI & Integration

• Initialize Wails v2 project structure with TS + React.
• Connect Go backend handlers to frontend state.
• Implement a visual "radar" showing available local peers.
• Design drag-and-drop file staging area.
• Add native OS system tray integration and notifications.

Phase 3: Performance & Robustness

• Support directory transfers (recursive compression/archiving on the fly).
• Implement transfer pause, resume, and cancellation mechanics.
• Optimize buffer pools (sync.Pool) for multi-gigabyte files.
• Automatic fallback to alternative network interfaces (e.g., ethernet over Wi-Fi).

---

Tech Stack

• Core Daemon: Go (optimized networking, zero-allocation pooling, cross-platform)
• Frontend UI: TypeScript, React, TailwindCSS
• Application Wrapper: Wails v2 (native OS webviews, no Chromium memory overhead)

Development

Prerequisites

• Go 1.22+
• Node.js 20+
• OS-specific C compilers (GCC on Linux, MSVC on Windows)

Build CLI (MVP)

go build -o nearcloud ./cmd/cli

Run Desktop App

go install [github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/cmd/wails@latest](https://github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/cmd/wails@latest)
wails dev