Files Sharing

Files Sharing is a lightweight, self-hosted file sharing application built on Laravel. It provides WeTransfer-like bundles that can be previewed or downloaded and stores bundle metadata as JSON files in storage to avoid a full database dependency.

Key Features

• Bundle-based sharing with two link types: preview (view & ZIP) and direct download
• JSON-based storage for bundle metadata (no mandatory database) and optional SQLite support
• Authorization codes and optional password protection for bundle access
• Uploader access control via IP allowlist and/or user login credentials
• Expiration, max-download counters and a background garbage collector to remove expired bundles
• Download rate limiting and optional ZIP archive download of an entire bundle
• Drag-and-drop uploads with support for multiple files and incremental additions to existing bundles
• Multilingual UI (English, French, German, Korean) and Docker / Docker Compose deployment

Use Cases

• Securely send large files to external recipients with expiring, code-protected links
• Temporary client delivery of assets where download counts and expirations must be enforced
• Internal transfers in small teams or projects without deploying a full database-backed file service

Limitations and Considerations

• Designed for small-to-medium workloads: JSON file metadata and synchronous ZIP creation can limit scalability under heavy concurrent use
• Large-file handling requires tuning PHP and webserver settings (post_max_size, upload_max_filesize, client_max_body_size) and appropriate memory limits
• Background cleanup relies on the Laravel scheduler or cron to run periodic purge commands
• Some optional features (hashing for duplicate detection) are limited by configurable file-size thresholds to avoid high CPU/memory costs

Files Sharing provides a pragmatic, easy-to-deploy solution for temporary file distribution and controlled uploads. It is suitable for self-hosted use where simplicity and minimal infrastructure are priorities, with Docker images and a straightforward standalone install path.