sharing

sharing

Instantly move files, folders, and clipboard text between your computer and any phone — no app, no account, no cloud. Just run a command and scan the QR code.

npx easy-sharing ~/Photos      # share a folder — scan the QR on your phone — done

That’s the whole idea. Your phone opens a normal web page over your own Wi-Fi. Nothing to install on the other device, nothing leaves your network.

Why sharing?

If you’ve ever tried to get a file from your laptop to your phone, you know the options are all a little painful: cloud uploads are slow and nosy, AirDrop is Apple-only, and “real” tools want an app installed on both ends. sharing takes the simplest path that always works: a tiny web server and a QR code. Any phone with a browser can use it.

	sharing	python -m http.server	npx serve	qrcp	AirDrop / LocalSend
No app on the phone	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌ (app both ends)
QR code to connect	✅	❌	❌	✅	❌
Receive files from the phone	✅	❌	❌	✅	✅
Receive multiple files / drag-drop	✅	❌	❌	➖	✅
Download a whole folder as .zip	✅	❌	❌	✅	➖
Share clipboard text and receive text back	✅	❌	❌	➖	✅
Built-in auth and HTTPS	✅	❌	➖	➖	✅
One-flag private share (--secure)	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅
Picks the right network address automatically	✅	❌	➖	✅	✅

sharing is the one that does all of it from a single command, in a browser, with nothing to install on the device in your hand.

Getting Started

Requirements: Node.js v14.17 or later.

Try it without installing

npx easy-sharing /path/to/file-or-directory

Install globally

npm install -g easy-sharing

macOS users: macOS already ships a built-in /usr/sbin/sharing command, so use easy-sharing instead of sharing. Example: easy-sharing /path/to/file

Quick Start

# Share a file or directory
sharing /path/to/file-or-directory

# Share clipboard content
sharing -c

# Receive files from another device
sharing /destination/directory --receive

# Share privately — secret link + password + HTTPS, in one flag
sharing /path/to/file-or-directory --secure

Scan the QR code shown in your terminal with your phone. Both devices just need to be on the same Wi-Fi.

QR code won’t scan? (Some Windows terminals and unicode paths can’t draw it.) Open the link the terminal prints, or run with --open to pop the QR up in a browser window on your computer — then scan that.

Features

📤 Share anything

• Files and directories over your local network, with a clean browsable listing.
• Download a whole folder as a single .zip — one tap on the phone instead of saving files one by one.
• Clipboard text (-c) opens on the phone with a one-tap Copy button.

📥 Receive just as easily

• Turn your machine into a drop target with --receive.
• Multiple files at once, with drag-and-drop and a live progress bar.
• Send a note or link back from the phone straight to your terminal (and your clipboard).

🔒 Private when you need it

• --secure — the easy button: a secret unguessable link + an auto-generated password + HTTPS, all at once.
• Or mix and match: -U/-P for a password, --token for a secret link, -S for HTTPS.
• Auto HTTPS: -S now generates a certificate for you — no more fiddling with OpenSSL. (Bring your own with -C/-K if you prefer.)

⏱️ Ephemeral by choice

• --once — stop sharing automatically after the first transfer.
• --timeout 10m — auto-stop after a set time (30s, 10m, 1h).

🎯 It just works

• Smart network detection: sharing advertises your real Wi-Fi address and skips Docker/VPN/WSL adapters — the #1 reason “the QR scans but the page won’t load.” Pin one explicitly with --interface en0 or --ip.
• QR fallback: --open shows the QR as an image in a browser for terminals that can’t render it.
• Internet sharing: --tunnel walks you through exposing a share beyond your LAN.

Usage examples

# Receive a batch of photos from your phone (multi-file + drag & drop)
sharing ~/Downloads --receive

# Share a folder and let the recipient grab it all as one zip
sharing ~/project        # the listing shows a "Download as .zip" button

# Copy a snippet to your phone, or send a link from the phone to your terminal
sharing -c               # then use the Copy button on the page
sharing ~/x --receive    # the upload page also has a "Send text" box

# A private, self-destructing share
sharing report.pdf --secure --once

# Pick a specific network interface (multi-homed / VPN machines)
sharing ~/x --interface en0

# Share over HTTPS with your own certificate
sharing ~/x -S -C cert.pem -K key.pem

Options

$ sharing --help

sharing — quickly share files, directories, and clipboard content from your
terminal to any device with a browser.

Examples:

  Share file or directory
  $ sharing /path/to/file-or-directory

  Share clipboard content
  $ sharing -c

  Receive files from another device
  $ sharing /destination/directory --receive

  Share with basic authentication
  $ sharing /path/to/file-or-directory -U user -P password

  Share privately (secret link + password + HTTPS)
  $ sharing /path/to/file-or-directory --secure

  Share over HTTPS
  $ sharing /path/to/file-or-directory -S -C cert.pem -K key.pem

Options:
      --version                     Show version number                [boolean]
      --debug                       Enable debug logging  [boolean] [default: false]
  -p, --port                        Set the server port (default: auto-assigned) [number]
      --ip                          Specify your machine's public IP address [string]
  -i, --interface                   Network interface/adapter name to advertise
                                    (e.g. en0, eth0)                    [string]
  -c, --clipboard                   Share clipboard content            [boolean]
  -w, --on-windows-native-terminal  Enable QR code rendering in Windows native terminal [boolean]
      --open                        Open the QR code in a browser window on this computer [boolean]
  -r, --receive                     Receive files from another device  [boolean]
  -q, --receive-port                Set the port for receiving files    [number]
  -U, --username                    Set username for basic authentication
                                                      [string] [default: "user"]
  -P, --password                    Set password for basic authentication [string]
  -S, --ssl                         Enable HTTPS (auto self-signed cert when
                                    -C/-K are not given)               [boolean]
  -C, --cert                        Path to SSL certificate file        [string]
  -K, --key                         Path to SSL private key file        [string]
      --token                       Add a secret token to the share URL so it is
                                    unguessable                        [boolean]
      --secure                      Private share preset: secret link +
                                    generated password + HTTPS         [boolean]
      --once                        Stop sharing after the first completed transfer [boolean]
      --timeout                     Auto-stop the share after a duration (e.g.
                                    30s, 10m, 1h)                       [string]
      --tunnel                      Show guide for sharing over the internet via
                                    tunnel services                    [boolean]
      --help                        Show help                          [boolean]

A note on security

By default a share is open to everyone on your Wi-Fi — perfect for your own devices at home, less so on a café or office network. sharing reminds you of this on startup and gives you one-flag protection:

sharing ~/private --secure

This generates a secret link (so the share isn’t browsable by IP alone), a random password, and turns on HTTPS — printed for you when the server starts.

Sharing Over the Internet (Tunneling)

To share with someone who is not on your local network, pair sharing with a tunnel service — no public IP required.

Run sharing --tunnel for a quick setup guide, or:

1. Start sharing as usual: sharing /path/to/files
2. In a separate terminal, run one of the tunnel commands below
3. Share the public URL the tunnel gives you

Service	Command	Documentation
ngrok	ngrok http 7478	Getting started
localtunnel	npx localtunnel --port 7478	Docs
cloudflared	cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:7478	Docs
SSH	ssh -R 80:localhost:7478 your-server	—

Replace 7478 with the port shown when you start sharing.

Development

npm test    # runs the test suite (no external test framework)

License

MIT