README.md

SnippetBox2

Description

SnippetBox2 is a self-hosted application for organizing your code snippets. It is an evolved version of the original Snippet Box project, adding key features such as a complete user management system, roles, and enhanced security for a multi-user environment.

It allows you to easily create, edit, search, and manage your snippets in various languages. With built-in Markdown support, SnippetBox2 makes it easy to add notes or documentation to your code.

Key Improvements Over the Original

• User Management and Authentication: A complete user registration and login system using a secure JWT (JSON Web Tokens) based system.
• User Roles (Admin and User):
  • Admin: Has full control over all snippets and users in the system.
  • User: Can only manage their own snippets.
• Admin Panel: A dedicated view for administrators to manage all users on the platform.
• Enhanced Security:
  • Secure management of secrets (like JWT_SECRET) through environment variables and .env files, preventing keys from being exposed in the source code.
  • Updated Docker base image and dependencies to fix known vulnerabilities.
• Dockerized Production Environment: The Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml have been optimized to build a single, secure, and robust image for production.

Technology

• Backend
  • Node.js (v24)
  • TypeScript
  • Express.js
  • Sequelize ORM + SQLite
• Frontend
  • React
  • TypeScript
  • Bootstrap
• Deployment
  • Docker & Docker Compose

Development

To set up a local development environment with hot-reloading for the frontend and backend.

Requirements: Docker and Docker Compose.

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/danielgap/SnippetBox2.git
cd SnippetBox2

# 2. Start the development containers
# This will use the 'docker-compose.working.yml' file
docker compose -f docker-compose.working.yml up --build

• The frontend will be available at http://localhost:3000.
• The backend will be available at http://localhost:5000.

Production Deployment (with Docker)

These instructions use the pre-built, secure image available on Docker Hub.

Requirements: Docker and Docker Compose.

1. Create the .env file

Create a file named .env in the project root. This file will contain environment variables, such as the secret for signing authentication tokens. It is ignored by Git for security.

# Generate a random secret of 32 characters or more.
# Do not use the '$' character to avoid issues with Docker Compose.
JWT_SECRET=bZ8pD3kF7gRjWnQ4tYvA1xLhS9mC6uE2

2. Use Docker Compose (Recommended)

Create a docker-compose.yml file with the following content:

services:
  snippetbox2:
    image: danielgap/snippetbox2:latest
    container_name: SnippetBox2
    ports:
      - "5000:5000"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - JWT_SECRET=${JWT_SECRET}
    restart: unless-stopped

And start the container:

docker compose up -d

The application will be available at http://localhost:5000.

3. Build the image manually (Optional)

If you prefer to build and manage your own image instead of using the one from Docker Hub.

# Build the image
docker build -t your-docker-user/snippetbox2:latest .

# Push the image to your repository
docker push your-docker-user/snippetbox2:latest

Functionality

• Search: Search your snippets with built-in language and tag filters.
• Pinned Snippets: Pin your favorite or important snippets to the home screen for quick access.

• Snippet Library: Manage your snippets and filter by tags.

• Snippet Details: View your code with syntax highlighting, details, and documentation. Perform actions like editing, pinning, or deleting from a single place.

• Editor: Create and edit your snippets from a simple and easy-to-use editor.

Usage

Search functionality

Visit wiki for search functionality and available filters reference: Search functionality