curl -fsSL -o docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/clip-fish/web/master/docker-compose.yml
curl -fsSL -o config.json https://raw.githubusercontent.com/clip-fish/web/master/public/config.template.json
docker compose up -d

1. What Is Clip Fish?
2. Features
3. FAQ
4. Self-Hosting
5. Using Firestore
6. Local Development
7. Runtime Configuration
8. Scripts
9. License

Clip Fish is a web‑based app for quickly sharing links, text snippets, and files. Open the site on one device, scan the QR code with another, and you instantly get a private, end‑to‑end‑encrypted WebRTC tunnel with no installs, no sign‑ups, and no middleman servers ferrying your data.

Try it out at https://clip.fish.

• Fast & Secure Transfers: Direct peer‑to‑peer via WebRTC.
• End‑to‑End Encryption: Messages encrypted on your device.
• No Installs or Signups: Just open the page and scan.
• User‑Controlled Sessions: Sessions stay active until you clear them.
• Pluggable Back‑ends: Defaults to Express+WebSocket; also supports Firestore.
• MIT‑licensed: Free to fork, remix, and use commercially.

Q. Is Clip Fish free to use?
A. Yes. Use it for free at https://clip.fish and the code is MIT‑licensed.

Q. Where is my data stored?
A. Message content stays in your browser’s storage (IndexedDB); only minimal session metadata is sent to the server.

Q. What if a device loses connection?
A. Re‑open the same session URL or rescan the QR code to reconnect instantly.

Q. How long does a session stay active?
A. Indefinitely, until you click Clear Session or open a new session URL.

You can run the full Clip Fish stack (front‑end, signaling, API, and MongoDB) with a single docker compose up. All you need are two files.

# Grab the top‑level Docker Compose file
curl -fsSL \
  -o docker-compose.yml \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/clip-fish/web/master/docker-compose.yml

# Grab the runtime config template
curl -fsSL \
  -o config.json \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/clip-fish/web/master/public/config.template.json

Open config.json and edit the values as desired. See Runtime Configuration for details.

The docker-compose.yml assumes you are using the WebSocket signaling server and the Express + MongoDB server. If you prefer a serverless setup, you can configure the front-end to use Firebase Firestore instead. For more details on this, see Using Firestore.

docker compose up -d

You’ll now have four services:

• web – front‑end served by Nginx on port 80
• ws – WebSocket signaling on port 3000
• api – Express + MongoDB session store on port 2000
• mongo – MongoDB data store on port 27017

To shut down & remove containers, run:

docker compose down

Instead of running multiple servers for signaling & session storage, you can choose to use Cloud Firestore. Firebase Hosting is also a convenient option for hosting the front-end.

• A Firebase project
• Firebase CLI installed
• Your config.json ready with signaling: "Firestore" and sessionStore: "Firestore"

git clone https://github.com/clip-fish/web.git
cd web
npm install

Download your Firebase SDK snippet, then in config.json set:

{
  "signaling": "Firestore",
  "sessionStore": "Firestore",
  "firebase": { /* your project keys */ }
}

See Initialize a Firebase project for more details about initializing a project.

firebase login
firebase init hosting firestore
# When prompted:
#  • Pick your Firebase project
#  • Set public directory to "dist"
#  • Configure as a single‑page app? Yes
npm run build
firebase deploy --only hosting,firestore:rules

Your site is now live on Firebase, using Firestore.

You’ll need three repos (only web if using Firestore):

git clone https://github.com/clip-fish/web.git
git clone https://github.com/clip-fish/ws-server.git
git clone https://github.com/clip-fish/session-api.git

Then in three terminals:

1. Web UI

   cd web
   npm install
   npm run dev
   # serves on http://localhost:5173

2. WebSocket server

   cd ws-server
   npm install
   npm run dev
   # listens on ws://localhost:3000

3. Session API

   cd session-api
   npm install
   npm run dev
   # listens on http://localhost:2000

Now open your browser to http://localhost:5173 and start sharing.

These are all the configuration values you can set in config.json.

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.