rustpad/README.md

RustPad

RustPad is a collaborative Markdown editor with standalone notes and workspaces.

Development setup

./dev.sh

The script creates data/db and data/files, refreshes the generated browser libraries, builds the project, and starts it with Cargo. If Cargo is unavailable, it runs docker compose up --build instead; the Docker build downloads the libraries in a separate stage.

Interface languages

Frontend translations live in the top-level lang/ directory and are embedded into the Rust binary during the build. There is no separate language manifest: every *.json file is discovered automatically and its meta block is used to populate the language selector in the profile.

{
  "meta": {
    "code": "pl",
    "name": "Polish",
    "native_name": "Polski",
    "locale": "pl-PL"
  },
  "translations": {
    "common.save": "Zapisz"
  }
}

lang/en.json is the required fallback and source language. Every language file must have the same translation keys as en.json; invalid metadata, non-string values, duplicate codes, or mismatched keys are rejected when the embedded language catalog is initialized. To add a language, copy lang/en.json, translate the values, and set meta.code, meta.name, meta.native_name, and meta.locale. The filename must match meta.code (for example de.json and "code": "de").

The selected interface language is stored in the browser and can be changed from the profile without reloading the page. API responses remain in their original English form; the browser client translates known messages only when presenting them in the UI.

Workspace features

• Real-time collaborative editing over WebSocket.
• Nicknames stored in localStorage.
• Change authors shown in history.
• Line numbering enabled by default, with per-account preferences stored separately for each note or pad.
• The formatting toolbar can be collapsed; the state is saved per account and per note or pad.
• Signed-in users with read/write access can save personal compact view, line, font, size, authorship, and color preferences; resource-linked rows are removed with the note, pad, or account.
• Signed-in users can favorite standalone notes and workspace notes; favorites are shown only while current account, share-link, or password access still permits the resource.
• Owner color displayed next to each line.
• Image and file uploads to data/files/pads/<id>_<token>/ or data/files/notes/<id>_<token>/.
• Compact attachment aliases are inserted after upload: [file=name.ext,label], [image=name.ext,alt], and [video=name.ext,label]. Video uploads can be inserted as an embedded player or a forced-download link.
• Standalone YouTube links are rendered as responsive privacy-enhanced players.
• Markdown and Mermaid diagram rendering.
• History with snippets, previews, and version restore.
• Alert blocks: success, info, warning, and danger.
• Table of contents generated with [TOC], using headings after the marker and nesting them by level.
• Permalinks to Markdown headings, including custom heading IDs and duplicate heading names.
• Inline @nickname colored mentions for active account owners and users directly granted access to a note/pad.
• Mentioned users are listed below the participant/author badges with a count of matching mentions; repeated clicks jump to the next occurrence and cycle through them in editor, split, or preview views.
• Indented fenced code blocks shift their whole preview block rather than just the code text.
• Optional line numbers in fenced code blocks.
• PDF export with selectable A5/A4/A3, Letter, 16:9, and 4:3 page formats; optional color/background preservation keeps syntax highlighting, alerts, quotes, highlights, and table styling; [PAGEBREAK] creates an explicit hard PDF page break while --- remains a normal Markdown horizontal rule.

PDF export and page breaks

Use the PDF button in the editor header to choose the page format and margins, then generate a browser-native PDF print view. The export supports A5/A4/A3, Letter, 16:9, and 4:3 layouts. Enable Preserve colors and backgrounds to keep syntax highlighting, alerts, quotes, highlighted text, table headers, inline code, links, and other styled Markdown elements. The exporter re-applies Highlight.js to the print copy and uses a print-safe light color palette so code colors do not depend on the editor theme. The end of the exported document includes one subtle localized RustPad footer.

A Markdown line containing only [PAGEBREAK] creates an explicit page break during PDF export. Insert it from More → Page break (PDF) or with Ctrl/Cmd+Enter. A normal --- remains a Markdown horizontal rule and no longer forces a new PDF page.

Fenced code blocks and language aliases

RustPad recognizes common language names and aliases, including:

• JavaScript: js, javascript, jsx
• TypeScript: ts, typescript, tsx
• Python: py, python
• PHP: php
• Rust: rs, rust
• Shell: sh, shell, bash, zsh
• C and C++: c, h, cpp, c++, cxx, hpp
• C#: cs, c#, csharp
• Java, Kotlin, Go, Swift, Dart, Scala
• HTML, XML, SVG, CSS, SCSS, Sass, Less
• JSON, YAML, TOML, INI, SQL, GraphQL
• Markdown, Dockerfile, Makefile, PowerShell
• Lua, Perl, R, MATLAB, Nginx, Apache, Diff, and plain text

Standard code block:

```python
print("Hello")
```

Code block with line numbers starting from line 1:

```python=
print("Hello")
```

Code block with line numbers starting from a custom value:

```python=101
print("Hello")
```

The =number suffix is a RustPad extension and may not be supported by other Markdown renderers.

Indent the opening and closing backtick fences and their content to move the entire displayed code block right by the same number of columns; RustPad strips the common indentation from the code itself.

Heading links and member mentions

In Markdown preview, each heading includes a # link. Use regular Markdown links to jump to the section, for example:

- [Run the upgrade](#run-the-upgrade)

## Run the upgrade
Step-by-step instructions here.

Heading IDs are created from the heading text (for example, ## Run the upgrade becomes #run-the-upgrade). Repeated headings receive -2, -3, etc. You can also specify a stable ID with ## Instructions {#upgrade-steps} and link to it using [Instructions](#upgrade-steps). Opening a heading link scrolls the preview to that heading or the editor to its source line when in edit view. The existing [TOC] also links to these anchors.

A typed @nickname is shown with a colored badge only when the nickname belongs to an active registered owner or user with an accepted direct share of this pad or workspace. The list is retrieved only for logged-in owners and directly shared accounts; guests and users without a direct grant do not receive a member directory. In the Markdown source editor, typing @ or a partial nickname such as @do opens an autocomplete menu of these authorized members. Use Up/Down to choose, Enter or Tab to insert the complete @nickname, Esc to dismiss, or click/tap a name. The list is refreshed after login or a resource reload and is never shown to guests. Mentions are visual only and do not send notifications.

The Mentioned row below the author/participant badges lists the recognized users currently mentioned in the note, with counts. Click @nickname to jump to the first mention, then click it again to cycle through the next occurrences (returning to the start). The editor selects the mention, the preview highlights it, and collapsed Markdown details sections open for a matching mention. Mentions in fenced/inline code, Markdown links, URLs, and emails are ignored. Only members returned by the resource access API are shown; the row disappears when none are mentioned or access is lost.

Data

• SQLite database: data/db/rustpad.db
• Attachments: data/files/pads/<id>_<token>/ and data/files/notes/<id>_<token>/
• Public attachment URL: /f/<token>/<filename>

In Docker, both directories are located under /data.

Publishing a note as a page

Use the Page button in the editor. RustPad creates a permanent public /s/<token> URL, copies it to the clipboard, and opens it in a new tab. The page displays the current note and renders Markdown, images, video players, YouTube embeds, links, and Mermaid diagrams. Its header can toggle source line numbers and expand the document to the full browser width.

Publishing a protected note requires its password, but the generated public page itself is accessible without that password.

Upload limit

Configure the maximum size of a single uploaded file for signed-in users with UPLOAD_MAX_SIZE_MB in .env, for example:

UPLOAD_MAX_SIZE_MB=50

The default limit is 20 MB. Uploads by guests are disabled by default. Enable them deliberately and set their separate per-file limit with:

GUEST_UPLOAD_ENABLED=true
GUEST_UPLOAD_MAX_SIZE_MB=5

Guest uploads still require read-write access to the note or workspace. Restart the project with ./dev.sh after changing these values.

Database selection

RustPad selects the database engine through DATABASE_URL:

• SQLite: sqlite:///data/db/rustpad.db?mode=rwc&journal_mode=WAL&busy_timeout=5000
• PostgreSQL: postgres://rustpad:rustpad@postgres:5432/rustpad
• MySQL: mysql://rustpad:rustpad@mysql:3306/rustpad

SQLite remains the default for development and small installations. WAL mode allows reads during writes, but SQLite still performs only one write at a time. busy_timeout=5000 waits briefly instead of immediately returning a database is locked error. PostgreSQL or MySQL is recommended for many concurrent editors or multiple application instances.

Optional databases in Docker Compose:

# PostgreSQL
docker compose --profile postgres up -d pgsql
DATABASE_URL=postgres://rustpad:rustpad@postgres:5432/rustpad docker compose up -d rustpad

# MySQL
docker compose --profile mysql up -d mysql
DATABASE_URL=mysql://rustpad:rustpad@mysql:3306/rustpad docker compose up -d rustpad

Migrations are stored in migrations/sqlite, migrations/postgres, and migrations/mysql. Runtime SQL statements are centralized in src/queries.rs, while src/database.rs selects the driver and configures the connection.

Optional user accounts and password reset

Nicknames can be used anonymously while they remain unregistered. Registering a nickname reserves it and requires a valid login session before it can be used in editor WebSocket connections.

Configure PUBLIC_URL, SMTP_HOST, SMTP_PORT, SMTP_SECURITY, SMTP_USERNAME, SMTP_PASSWORD, and SMTP_FROM to enable password-reset emails. SMTP_FROM accepts both RustPad <no-reply@example.com> and a value wrapped in one matching pair of single or double quotes, as may be passed literally by container env-file implementations. SMTP_SECURITY accepts none (plain SMTP, typically an internal relay on port 25), starttls, or tls (implicit TLS, commonly port 465). When omitted, it defaults to tls for port 465, starttls for port 587, and none for port 25 or any other port. SMTP authentication is enabled only when both SMTP_USERNAME and SMTP_PASSWORD are non-empty. Reset links expire after 30 minutes and can be used only once.

Browser libraries

static/libs/rustpad-player is project-owned and stays in the repository. Mermaid and Highlight.js are generated locally and ignored by Git. Refresh or restore them with:

python3 scripts/update_browser_libs.py

The standard-library-only updater checks the current stable npm releases, verifies tarball integrity, and stores each license beside the generated files. ./dev.sh runs it before local Cargo development. Docker performs the same download in the browser-libs stage; dev.sh sets BROWSER_LIBS_REFRESH so Docker does not reuse a stale dependency layer.

The editor serves all browser libraries through /assets and never loads Mermaid or Highlight.js directly from a public CDN.

Diagnostics and logging

Server logs use tracing. Configure verbosity with RUST_LOG, for example:

RUST_LOG=rustpad=debug,tower_http=info

Important lifecycle, database, authentication, password-reset, and WebSocket events are logged. Passwords, session tokens, reset tokens, SMTP credentials, and authorization headers are never logged.

Browser diagnostics are configured separately with FRONTEND_LOG_LEVEL. Supported values are off, error, warn, info, and debug; the default is warn. URL parameters cannot enable diagnostics. Use debug only in trusted development environments. Production should normally use warn or error.

Registration and SMTP

Set REGISTRATION_ENABLED=true to enable registration. After an account is created, the application sends an SMTP message containing the nickname and PUBLIC_URL.

Set ACCOUNT_CONFIRMATION_REQUIRED=true to require users to click a confirmation link before signing in. This option is disabled by default and requires SMTP configuration.

Attachment storage

RustPad supports two interchangeable attachment backends selected in .env:

• STORAGE_DRIVER=local stores files under FILES_DIR and is the default.
• STORAGE_DRIVER=s3 uses an S3-compatible service such as AWS S3, Garage, Ceph RGW, OpenStack, or MinIO.

Stored attachment paths remain /f/{token}/{filename} for both backends. RustPad validates access and streams objects through the API, so the bucket does not need to be public and existing database records do not require migration.

RustPad automatically selects one of two file-serving modes:

• Single domain (default): leave FILES_PUBLIC_URL unset. /f/{token}/{filename} is served on APP_PORT (default 3000), with application-relative attachment links. FILES_PORT is ignored and no second listener starts.
• Dedicated file domain: set FILES_PUBLIC_URL=files.note.example.com. RustPad generates attachment links on that origin and starts a separate attachment-only router on FILES_PORT (default 3001, same APP_HOST). The application router on APP_PORT no longer serves /f/.... The file router serves GET/HEAD /f/{token}/{filename} and the health checks GET/HEAD /health and /healthz (both return HTTP 200 and ok for GET); all other paths return an empty 404 response. The original link-based file access, local/S3 storage, and stored database paths remain unchanged.

Bare domains are normalized to HTTPS; http:// is allowed for local testing. For a dedicated origin, point its reverse proxy directly at APP_HOST:FILES_PORT (e.g. rustpad:3001 from another container in the same network). There is no need for proxy path deny-lists. For monitoring, request http://rustpad:3001/health (or /healthz) from inside the network. The application origin continues to point at APP_HOST:APP_PORT.

Upgrading an existing file-subdomain deployment: change the subdomain's proxy upstream from port 3000 to port 3001 before/when installing this release. Existing attachment URLs and database records do not change. Without the proxy change, old attachment requests will return 404 at the application port. FILES_PORT must be between 1 and 65535 and differ from APP_PORT when the separate domain is enabled. Both listeners must be reachable from their respective proxies.

With Docker Compose, containers on the same network can proxy directly to app:3001 without additional published ports. If your reverse proxy runs on the host/outside the Compose network, publish the file listener explicitly:

docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.files.yml up -d --build

This optional override maps ${RUSTPAD_FILES_PORT:-3001} on the Docker host to ${FILES_PORT:-3001} in the container. Do not use it if you do not need a host-published attachment port. Example reverse-proxy configurations are in docker/example_files_vhost.conf and docker/example_hahproxy_files.conf.

Set ASSET_CACHE_MAX_AGE_SECONDS=0 or FILE_CACHE_MAX_AGE_SECONDS=0 to disable browser caching. RustPad then sends Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate; positive values use public, max-age=<seconds>.

For the optional Docker Garage service, configure the S3 variables shown in .env.example, use strong unique credentials, and run:

docker compose --profile s3 up -d --build

Garage runs as a separate Compose service. Existing PostgreSQL and MySQL profiles remain unchanged. The included single-node setup is intended for local or self-hosted development without redundancy. Production Garage deployments should use a properly designed multi-node configuration.

Authentication: local, LDAP, LDAPS, or Active Directory

Choose exactly one authentication backend:

AUTHORIZATION_TYPE=local

Supported values:

• local - built-in registration and password login
• ldap - OpenLDAP-compatible directory
• ad - Microsoft Active Directory defaults

For ldap and ad, RustPad searches the directory with the service account, validates the password by binding as the user, and automatically provisions a local account. Existing sessions, ownership, sharing, and other account functions continue to use the existing users table. Local registration and guest nickname access are disabled.

The nickname is generated as LDAP_ORGANIZATION/displayName, for example example/Mateusz Testowy. Directory accounts are stored using a stable entryUUID (LDAP) or objectGUID (AD), while e-mail, nickname, and DN are synchronized after every successful login.

OpenLDAP

AUTHORIZATION_TYPE=ldap
LDAP_URL=ldap://10.87.2.6:389
LDAP_STARTTLS=false
LDAP_BIND_DN=cn=admin,dc=example,dc=org
LDAP_BIND_PASSWORD=admin
LDAP_BASE_DN=ou=people,dc=example,dc=org
LDAP_ORGANIZATION=example

In ldap mode the defaults are:

LDAP_USER_FILTER=(uid={username})
LDAP_USERNAME_ATTRIBUTE=uid
LDAP_EMAIL_ATTRIBUTE=mail
LDAP_DISPLAY_NAME_ATTRIBUTE=displayName

Active Directory

AUTHORIZATION_TYPE=ad
LDAP_URL=ldaps://ad.example.org:636
LDAP_STARTTLS=false
LDAP_BASE_DN=DC=example,DC=org
LDAP_BIND_DN=CN=rustpad-bind,OU=Service Accounts,DC=example,DC=org
LDAP_BIND_PASSWORD=secret
LDAP_ORGANIZATION=example

In ad mode the defaults are:

LDAP_USER_FILTER=(|(sAMAccountName={username})(userPrincipalName={username}))
LDAP_USERNAME_ATTRIBUTE=sAMAccountName
LDAP_EMAIL_ATTRIBUTE=mail
LDAP_DISPLAY_NAME_ATTRIBUTE=displayName

All LDAP attributes and filters can still be overridden explicitly. By default TLS certificates are verified. For a trusted internal or test server using a self-signed certificate, LDAP_TLS_VERIFY=false keeps LDAPS/StartTLS encryption enabled without requiring a custom CA file. Do not disable verification on untrusted networks.

Additional directory options:

LDAP_EXTERNAL_ID_ATTRIBUTE=entryUUID
LDAP_EMAIL_REQUIRED=true
LDAP_LINK_EXISTING_BY_EMAIL=false
LDAP_TLS_VERIFY=true
LDAP_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=5
LDAP_OPERATION_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=10

For Active Directory, the default external identifier is objectGUID. Set LDAP_LINK_EXISTING_BY_EMAIL=true only during an intentional migration of existing local or legacy LDAP accounts; otherwise an e-mail collision is rejected.

Test LDAP on 10.0.0.1 (example)

cd docker/ldap
docker compose up -d

Test users:

• admin / test1234
• user / test1234

phpLDAPadmin: http://10.0.0.1:8088

Administrator: cn=admin,dc=example,dc=org / admin

CLI and YAML configuration

RustPad reads .env as before and can additionally load a YAML file. Environment variables have higher priority than YAML values.

rustpad --version
rustpad --help
rustpad --config /etc/rustpad/rustpad.yaml check-config
rustpad --config /etc/rustpad/rustpad.yaml migrate
rustpad --config /etc/rustpad/rustpad.yaml

check-config validates YAML syntax, supported keys, value types, required LDAP/S3/SMTP fields, database URL scheme, paths and dependent settings. It does not connect to the database or LDAP server. Example deployment files are in systemd/.

Database query layout

SQL is selected explicitly by database engine. Application code uses logical query identifiers from src/queries/mod.rs; complete engine-specific statements live in:

• src/queries/sqlite.rs
• src/queries/postgres.rs
• src/queries/mysql.rs

PostgreSQL statements use native $1, $2, ... placeholders. Query text is not rewritten at runtime, and result-shape casts are defined independently for each engine.

Random API test data

tests/random_data.py creates data only through RustPad's HTTP API. It logs in, obtains a CSRF token, creates workspaces and notes, and can seed the initial Markdown content from generated text or cached snapshots of random Wikipedia pages with Wikimedia images.

export RUSTPAD_TEST_PASSWORD='test1234'
python3 tests/random_data.py \
  --ip localhost \
  --port 3000 \
  --source wikipedia \
  --notes 10000 \
  --workspaces 10 \
  --notes-in-workspaces 1000 \
  --user test

--notes-in-workspaces is applied to every workspace. The example creates 10,000 standalone notes and another 10,000 notes inside 10 workspaces. Wikipedia mode never falls back to generated content. Use --wikipedia-images, --wikipedia-attempts, --workers, --source-pool-size, --scheme https, --base-url, or --dry-run as needed. The login value may be a local account e-mail or an LDAP/AD username.

HTTP response compression

Rustpad optionally supports Brotli and gzip for HTTP responses. Add to .env (or the YAML config):

HTTP_COMPRESSION=true

Defaults to false. When enabled, the server selects Brotli or gzip supported by the browser via Accept-Encoding, and sends ordinary responses otherwise. This does not compress live WebSocket messages. When a reverse proxy already applies HTTP compression, avoid double configuration where possible.