SaraView/README.md

# SaraView

A self-hosted web file previewer/editor. Obsidian's look, without the parts
you don't use, plus image and video previewing. Read-only integration with
SaraTag's per-file Book tags is included.

It's made by Sarah, hence the name. :3

---

## Usage

SaraView is for people who want an Obsidian-style notes app they host
themselves, people who want to preview and edit files from any browser, and
people who want multiple accounts with their own private directories.

Example use-cases:

- Browsing and editing markdown notes from your phone, without installing
  anything.

- Previewing images and videos that live next to your notes.

- Giving a friend or family member their own login, with a directory only
  they can see.

---

## Dependencies

Docker + Docker Compose. That's it for running it.

For local development instead: Python 3.11+, and Node.js + npm.

---

## Installation

Here's a step-by-step tutorial.

1. Clone or download this repository.
2. Edit `SaraViewConf.toml` at the project root. Set your `[Roots]`,
   `[SaraTag]`, and `[Storage]` paths. (See Config Info below for what each
   field does.)
3. Edit `docker-compose.yml`. Add a `volumes:` line for every root you
   declared, mount your SaraTag `.saratag` folder read-only, and bind the
   port to your Tailscale interface's IP instead of `0.0.0.0` if you want it
   reachable only over the tailnet.
4. Run ```docker compose up --build -d```.

The backend serves the built frontend directly, so the whole app is on one
port (`8420` by default).

---

## Config Info

Paths in `SaraViewConf.toml` are resolved as given. Use absolute container
paths when running via Docker (see `docker-compose.yml`), matching whatever
you mount the volumes to.

```toml
[SaraView]
ConfigVersion = 1
ApplicationVersion = "0.1.0-beta"

[Server]
Host = "0.0.0.0"
Port = 8420

[Storage]
DataDirectory = "/data/SaraViewData"

[Roots]
Notes = "/data/notes"

[SaraTag]
Enabled = true
CoreModulePath = "/data/SaraTag/.saratag"
HideInternalFiles = true
InternalPatterns = [".saratag", ".SaraTag*", "*.book.toml"]
```

- `[Storage] DataDirectory` is where SaraView keeps its own data - Settings,
  Users, Themes, and so on. This is NOT one of the `[Roots]` below, so it's
  structurally unreachable from the file browser regardless of any
  hidden-file setting. Give it its own persistent volume (see
  `docker-compose.yml`) so it survives rebuilds.

- `[Roots]` lists the named roots the browser can navigate. Add as many as
  you like; each becomes a top-level entry point in the frontend's root
  switcher.

- `[SaraTag]`, if `Enabled`, makes SaraView import SaraTag's own `Core.py`
  directly (by file path, not by installing it as a package) to resolve
  Book tag files exactly the way SaraTag itself does. This is read-only -
  SaraView never writes Book or Lexicon files.

---

## Local Development

Backend:

```bash
cd Backend
pip install -r requirements.txt
uvicorn Main:Application --reload --port 8420
```

Frontend, in a second terminal. Vite proxies `/api` to the backend.

```bash
cd Frontend
npm install
npm run dev
```

---

## Directories as Files

Every directory gets its own note file. It's a hidden `.sv_{DirectoryName}.md`,
created automatically the moment you make the directory. Any extension works
if you rename the note later; markdown is just the default.

Click a directory the same way you'd click a file, and its note opens with
the same edit/view/save toolbar. There's no separate "directory mode."
Renaming or moving a directory keeps its note's name in sync automatically.
Deleting a directory takes its note with it.

Browsing what's actually inside a directory is a sidebar-only action.
Expand a folder there to see its contents. The "Open directory file on
click" setting in Settings decides whether expanding a directory in the
sidebar also opens its note in the main pane, or leaves the main pane alone.

Note files are hidden from listings by default, since their name starts
with `.sv_`. This is independent of the regular "show hidden directories"
setting. Flip on "Show directory note files (.sv_*)" in Settings if you
want to see and manage them directly, like any other file.

---

## SaraTag Integration

SaraView never writes to Book or Lexicon files. It only reads them, by
loading SaraTag's own `Core.py` directly (by file path, not as an installed
package), so tag resolution always matches what SaraTag itself would show.

Editing tags from SaraView isn't implemented yet. SaraTag's own TUI remains
the place to do that for now.

---

## Settings and Themes

Settings (font, font size, active theme, hidden-folder visibility,
breadcrumb visibility) and themes live in `Settings.toml` and
`Themes/*.toml` inside the `saraview_data` volume. Not in any of your
`[Roots]`, so they're never browsable from the app itself.

Three themes ship built in: CatppuccinMocha, Gruvbox, and Forest. Every
theme is just a flat set of named color roles (Background, Surface, Text,
Red, Orange, ... Purple), so creating a custom theme from Settings, or
hand-writing a new file in `Themes/`, only needs those same role names
filled in.

This is all per-user. Each account gets its own `Settings/<Username>.toml`
inside the data volume, seeded from the same defaults the first time that
user logs in. Themes themselves are shared across everyone (there's only
one copy of each theme file), but which theme is active is a per-user
choice.

---

## Accounts and Login

On first launch, with no accounts yet, SaraView shows a one-time "create
the admin account" screen instead of a normal login. Whoever sets that up
first becomes an admin. After that, it's a normal username/password login
screen for everyone.

Accounts live in `Users.toml` in the same `saraview_data` volume as
Settings and Themes. Passwords are hashed with PBKDF2-SHA256, never stored
in plain text. Admins get a "Users" section inside Settings to create
additional accounts, including other admins.

Sessions are currently in-memory only, so restarting the container logs
everyone out. Fine for now with a small, trusted set of tailnet users.

---

## Running on the Server

SaraView runs on SpineS as a **Portainer stack built straight from this
repo**. Portainer clones the repo, builds the image from the `Dockerfile`
and starts it, using `docker-compose.server.yml`. There's no image registry
and no CI: pushing a commit is all a release takes.

Config and data live in plain directories on the server (by default
`/media/ZimaOS-HD/AppData/SaraView`, holding `SaraViewConf.toml` and
`Data/`), not in a Docker volume, so redeploying or removing the stack never
touches them. The files SaraView serves are mounted at `/data/files`
(default `/media/ZimaOS-HD/Storage/Files`); the Roots in the server's
`SaraViewConf.toml` point inside it.

### Setting up the stack

1. `SaraViewConf.toml` has to exist in the config directory before the first
   deploy: Docker would otherwise create a *directory* with that name.
2. In Portainer: **Stacks** → **Add stack** → **Repository**, on the
   SpineS environment.
   - Repository URL: this repo on Gitea (`http://git.srhtnin.garden/sarah/SaraView`)
   - Repository reference: `refs/heads/main`
   - Compose path: `docker-compose.server.yml`
   - Environment variables: none needed on SpineS. Set `SaraViewDir` and/or
     `FilesDir` to use other directories.
   - **GitOps updates** on, with polling (e.g. every 5 minutes), so new
     commits on `main` redeploy on their own.
3. Stop anything else using port 8420 (e.g. an older SaraView install), then
   **Deploy the stack**. The first build takes a few minutes.

### Updating

Push to `main`. With GitOps updates on, Portainer notices the new commit
and rebuilds and redeploys by itself. Otherwise, press **Pull and redeploy**
on the stack.

---

## Groups and Access Control

Admin isn't a hardcoded flag. It's the built-in "Admin" group, which can't
be deleted but is otherwise just a group like any other. Manage groups
(create, delete, edit membership) from Settings → Groups (admin-only).

Setting access on a file or directory is **not** admin-only. Anyone can
restrict a file or directory to specific users and/or groups, whether at
creation time (the New File/New Directory dialog includes a search-and-
checkbox picker) or afterwards via the 🔒 button next to any entry, in
either the sidebar tree or the directory-browse pane. If you can currently
see something, you're trusted to change who else can.

Admins do not bypass restrictions. Admin is a management group (creating
users, managing groups, and so on), not a way to view everyone's private
directories. Only direct access to the server's files can see everything.

Restricting is per-file-or-directory. Locking a directory covers everything
inside it automatically (there's only ever one restriction record per
locked directory; reaching anything underneath still requires being
permitted on that ancestor), while locking an individual file affects only
that file.

Anyone without access gets a plain 404, both for direct requests and for
that entry showing up in a directory listing. A restricted item's existence
isn't revealed to people who can't see it. Admins get a global overview of
every current restriction from Settings → Locked Directories.

---

## Blame Privacy

Each person can turn off "Show my edits in others' blame view" in their own
Settings. When that's off, other users still see that lines were changed,
just with the identity redacted, rather than attributing it to someone who
asked not to be shown. You can always see your own attribution regardless
of this setting.

There's also a per-viewer toggle for showing avatars instead of usernames
in the blame gutter, using each author's chosen colour either way.