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Show HN: Fireproof – local-first database with Git-like encrypted sync

(fireproof.storage)
95 points jchanimal | 3 comments | 19 Nov 24 15:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.763s | source

Hi, HN! As a cofounder of Couchbase, I pioneered mobile sync, and I’ve always wanted to bring the speed and reliability of local-first data to the web, incubating PouchDB among other efforts. I learned the constraints of real world financial applications at McKinsey & Company FinLab, and Merkle integrity research at Protocol Labs taught me smart contract data structures. As part of the JavaScript community (and early hosting provider for NPM) I’ve been waiting, and now with the availability of APIs like Passkeys and Origin Private Filesystem, I’m happy to say the browser is ready to support embedded databases.

Front-ends are a lot easier to write when your database handles live sync for you, but the existing solutions rely on heavyweight cloud APIs instead of putting the smarts at the edge, where it belongs. I started from a different set of constraints, and arrived at a lightweight embedded database that uses a git-like data model to offer cryptographic causal consistency across browsers, edge functions, and anywhere TypeScript runs.

It’s designed to make building full-featured apps as simple as calling `db.put({ hello: "world" })` and syncing them as easy as calling `connect(db, remote)`. People are using Fireproof for AI character chat[1], personal finance[2], and hedge funds[3], and we aim to be simple enough for novice coders to build enterprise-critical apps. Fireproof makes product owners dangerous, because just a little bit of code can define an application’s workflow and data model. See the code sample below.

The reactive APIs[4] are designed for live collaboration so your user interfaces update automatically, making it an easy way to add query collaboration to legacy dashboards, or write new interactive tools for your team. Merkle CRDTs[5] provide multi-writer safety while maintaining tamperproof data provenance, conflict tracking, and deterministic merges. The storage engine writes content-addressed encrypted files that can be synced via commodity backends like S3 or Cloudflare[], without sacrificing data integrity.

Our contributors include legends like Damien Katz, Meno Abels, Mikeal Rogers, and Alan Shaw. Fireproof is open source (Apache/MIT) and we know there are rough edges, so we hope this post stirs up collaborators![6] Please `npm install @fireproof/core` and give us feedback[7]. We are on the stable side of beta, so it’s a great time for the adventurous to join. I’m excited to see all the apps people write now that it’s easy!

[1] https://github.com/fireproof-storage/catbot/tree/main

[2] https://fireproof.storage/posts/quickcheck:-print-checks-at-...

[3] https://fireproof.storage/posts/contributor-spotlight:-danie...

[4] https://use-fireproof.com/docs/react-tutorial

[5] https://fireproof.storage/posts/remote-access-crdt-wrapped-m...

[6] https://github.com/fireproof-storage/fireproof/issues

[7] https://discord.gg/DbSXGqvxFc

1. bburns_km ◴[19 Nov 24 18:34 UTC] No.42186686[source]▶
I had recently been experimenting with pouch/couchdb, and got it working locally, then came across a post on reddit about Fireproof. I really liked how it sounded - like the evolution of pouch/couch.

So I set it up on a node app - it works great locally -

  import { fireproof } from '@fireproof/core'

  const db = fireproof(dbname)

  db.put(doc)

  async read(id) {
    if (id) return await db.get(id)
    return await db.allDocs()
  }
Then I wanted to sync the data to the cloud - just the simplest thing possible, but I got lost in all the connector options and descriptions. I tried setting up PartyKit, but got bogged down in it all and eventually went on to something else.

So it would be great if the home page included a simple demo with a connector - Amazon S3 or PartyKit - including setting up the cloud db.

Thanks, and good luck with everything - it looks amazing...

(side note: HackerNews doesn't let you format code with ``` ??)

replies(1): >>42186927 #
2. jchanimal ◴[19 Nov 24 19:01 UTC] No.42186927[source]▶
Thanks for the feedback. That is a bridge we are crossing now. We started with open source backends for maximum coverage, and are standing up Fireproof Cloud now as the easy default. If you click "inspect data" in the demo CodePen app, it will show you a live replication in our dashboard.

We'll be adding auth and sharing controls soon, so you should be able to build basic apps with just Fireproof and an HTML host.

replies(1): >>42188156 #
3. bburns_km ◴[19 Nov 24 21:14 UTC] No.42188156[source]▶
Thanks, looking forward to all that - will keep an eye out.