LANServer

A self-hosted file drop for your home network. Drag files in from your phone or laptop, they land on a server you control — no cloud, no accounts.

• Chunked uploads (handles large files without choking the browser or server)
• Automatic video compression and audio extraction via ffmpeg
• Lightweight vanilla JS/HTML frontend, no build step
• Single Node/Express process, easy to run on a Raspberry Pi, NAS, or spare machine

Getting started

npm install
npm start

The server listens on http://localhost:3000 by default. Set a PORT environment variable to change it:

PORT=8080 npm start

Open the printed URL from any device on the same network to upload and browse files.

⚠️ Security notice

This is built for a trusted local network, not the public internet. There is currently no authentication — anyone who can reach the server can upload and download files. Do not port-forward this or expose it directly to the internet without adding your own auth layer (reverse proxy with basic auth, VPN/Tailscale, etc.).

How it works

• The frontend uploads files in chunks to POST /upload, tagging each chunk with an upload UUID so the server can reassemble it.
• Uploaded files are stored in app/uploads/; metadata (original filename, size, type, timestamps) is tracked server-side and exposed read-only via GET /filesuploaded.
• GET /makeCompressedVideoServerFilename and GET /makeAudioExtractedServerFilename kick off an ffmpeg job against an uploaded video and write the result alongside the original.

Requirements

• Node.js
• No system ffmpeg install needed — ffmpeg-static bundles a binary for you.