LocalPaste.rs

A fast, localhost-only pastebin with a modern editor, built in Rust.

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Features

• Native Desktop App - egui-based editor with palette-matched theming
• Automatic Language Detection - cached detection + offline syntax highlighting
• Auto-Save - debounce to disk; manual export for sharing
• Semantic Naming - auto-generates memorable names (e.g., "mythic-ruby")
• Folder Organization - nested folders with context dialogs and cycle-safe parenting
• Keyboard Shortcuts - Ctrl/Cmd+S (save), Ctrl/Cmd+N (new), Ctrl/Cmd+Delete (delete), Ctrl/Cmd+F or Ctrl/Cmd+K (filter)
• Zero Runtime Dependencies - single binary, embedded Sled database

Quick Start

LocalPaste.rs provides multiple ways to interact with your pastes:

• localpaste-gui - Native egui desktop application (primary experience, bundles the API)
• localpaste - Axum HTTP API server (headless, JSON only)
• lpaste - Command-line interface for terminal usage

Run the Desktop App

cargo run --bin localpaste-gui --features="gui"

Add --release once you’re ready to ship or benchmark; during development the command above starts the latest GUI build immediately.

Run the Web Server / API

# Run with cargo (development)
cargo run --bin localpaste --release

# Or build and run the binary (production)
cargo build --release
./target/release/localpaste

The server exposes a JSON API on http://localhost:3030. Use the CLI or your own tooling to interact with it.

CLI Usage

The CLI tool (lpaste) interacts with the running server (or the desktop app, which hosts the same API locally):

# Build the CLI binary (requires the `cli` feature)
cargo build --release --bin lpaste --features cli

# List all pastes
./target/release/lpaste list

# Create a new paste
echo "Hello, World!" | ./target/release/lpaste new

# Get a specific paste
./target/release/lpaste get <paste-id>

# Search pastes
./target/release/lpaste search "rust"

# Delete a paste
./target/release/lpaste delete <paste-id>

Configuration

Copy .env.example to .env to customize settings:

cp .env.example .env

Available environment variables:

• PORT - Server port (default: 3030)
• DB_PATH - Database path (default: ~/.cache/localpaste/db)
• MAX_PASTE_SIZE - Maximum paste size in bytes (default: 10MB)
• AUTO_BACKUP - Enable automatic backups on startup (default: false)
• RUST_LOG - Logging level (default: info)

For advanced configuration and security settings, see docs/security.md.

Running as a Background Service

LocalPaste can run automatically in the background. See docs/deployment.md for headless/server instructions:

• systemd (Linux)
• launchd (macOS)
• Task Scheduler (Windows)
• Docker setup
• Process managers (PM2, Supervisor)
• Auto-restart scripts

Development

See docs/dev.md for development documentation, including desktop build steps.

Architecture

• Backend: Axum web framework with Sled embedded database
• Desktop Frontend: egui/eframe (Rust native) with cached syntax highlighting
• Web Frontend: Legacy static assets (optional, served by localpaste)
• Storage: Embedded Sled database (no external DB required)
• Deployment: Per-platform binaries, GUI behind --features gui

License

MIT