local-collab

A lightweight, secure real-time collaboration tool for local network file synchronization. Perfect for pair programming, collaborative writing, or any scenario where multiple users need to work on files simultaneously in a local network environment.

Features

• 🔄 Real-time file synchronization across multiple devices
• 🔐 Optional password protection for secure sessions
• 🎯 Automatic session code generation for easy connection
• 👀 Live file change watching and broadcasting
• 🚀 Zero configuration required
• 💻 Works across all major platforms

Installation

npm install -g local-collab

Quick Start

Starting a New Session

local-collab start

With password protection:

local-collab start -p mypassword

Joining an Existing Session

local-collab join SESSION-CODE

With password:

local-collab join SESSION-CODE -p mypassword

Usage Guide

Session Host

1. Navigate to the directory you want to share
2. Run local-collab start
3. Share the generated session code with collaborators
4. Start collaborating!

Session Participant

1. Create or navigate to your working directory
2. Run local-collab join SESSION-CODE
3. Files will automatically sync with the host

Command Line Options

| Command | Option | Description | |---------|--------|-------------| | start | -p, --password <password> | Set a session password | | join | -p, --password <password> | Provide session password |

How It Works

local-collab uses WebSocket connections to establish real-time communication between peers on the same local network. File changes are detected using efficient file system watchers and synchronized across all connected clients.

Technical Details

• Built with TypeScript for type safety
• Uses WebSocket for real-time communication
• Implements file system watching with chokidar
• Supports binary file synchronization
• Minimal network overhead

Requirements

• Node.js 14.0.0 or higher
• npm 6.0.0 or higher

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the ISC License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions, please file an issue on the GitHub repository.

Security

Please note that local-collab is designed for use within trusted local networks. While we implement basic security measures like password protection, you should not use it over untrusted networks without additional security measures.