Nook — Local Encrypted Personal Data System

Self-hosted, password-protected vault for organizing personal data into flexible user-defined structures. No cloud, no third-party services, no password recovery.

Stack

• Frontend: React + Vite (dev server on port 3000)
• Backend: Node.js + Express (dev server on port 3001)
• Database: SQLite + SQLCipher (encrypted at rest)
• Security: Argon2id (KDF), AES-256-GCM (file encryption), in-memory session key

Quick Start

Install dependencies

npm install

Run dev servers (both backend + frontend)

npm run dev

Frontend: http://localhost:3000 Backend: http://localhost:3001

Project Structure

nook/
├── backend/          # Express server
│   ├── src/
│   │   └── index.js
│   └── package.json
├── frontend/         # React app
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── App.jsx
│   │   ├── main.jsx
│   │   └── index.css
│   └── package.json
├── meta/             # Project docs
│   ├── projectBrief.md
│   └── buildOrder.md
└── package.json      # Root workspace config

Build Phases

See meta/buildOrder.md for the full build roadmap.

• Phase 1: Project scaffold ✓ (current)
• Phase 2: Security core (key derivation, encryption, session management)
• Phase 3: Lock screen & session UX
• Phase 4+: Data model, UI, bulk ops, customization

Security Policy

• Single password; no recovery mechanism (forgotten password = permanent data loss)
• All data encrypted at rest (SQLCipher + AEAD file encryption)
• Session auto-locks after 15 minutes
• No plaintext secrets ever written to disk, logs, or crash dumps
• Exponential backoff on failed unlock attempts (persists across restarts)

Development

Backend uses ES modules ("type": "module" in package.json). Frontend uses Vite with React + JSX.

For details on dependencies and security, see meta/projectBrief.md.