Index your bookmarks and find them again from one clean, customizable search page... it's your Intranet after-all.

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Screenshots

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What it does

ProtoEngine is a self-hosted search page for the websites you actually use. Add links, tag them, and search across everything from a completely, customizable webapp. It runs as a single container and keeps all its data in one SQLite file, so there's nothing else to set up.

Features

🔍 Search	Find sites by name, URL, description, or tag. Click a tag to filter. Sorting and autocomplete are built in.
👥 Accounts	Register, log in, log out. The first account becomes the admin. There are three roles: User, Moderator, and Admin.
➕ Add sites	A + button (when signed in) opens a form for the name, URL, description, tags, and a favicon.
🧩 ProtoEngine Assistant	A Chrome extension (included in the repo) that saves the page you're on with one click. It fills in the title, URL, and favicon for you.
⭐ Favorites	Pin sites to your own favorites panel. Reorder them by dragging, switch between grid and list view, and remove them in edit mode. Your layout is remembered.
📰 RSS feeds	Add feeds and sort them into groups. Switch groups from the feed panel. Entries are pulled together and shown newest first. Supports RSS 2.0 and Atom.
🎨 Branding	Admins can change the name, tab title, taglines, and pick from 15 title animations. No restart needed.
🖼️ Personalization	Set your own profile picture and background. Results sit on a frosted-glass panel over your wallpaper, and with Custom Theme's you can add even more to your own unique flair.
🔑 API	Each account can create a personal API key for adding or managing sites from scripts, used primarily for the Browser Extension "Proto Assistant".
🛡️ Security	Passwords are hashed. Sessions and forms are protected. Uploads are checked, and writes go through SQLite transactions.
💾 Backups	Download a .zip of all your sites, taglines, and favicons, and restore it later.

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Quick start

Run it locally:

npm install
cp .env.example .env        # edit .env and set the two secrets
npm start

Go to http://localhost:3000 and register. The first account you make is the admin.

You need two secrets in .env. Generate one like this:

node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('hex'))"

Run it twice and use the results for SESSION_SECRET and CSRF_SECRET. If you skip this, the app makes temporary ones and your logins reset every restart.

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Run with Docker

cp .env.example .env        # set SESSION_SECRET and CSRF_SECRET
docker compose -f compose.docker.yaml up -d --build

Then open http://localhost:3000 and register.

These folders are mounted so your data survives a rebuild:

Folder	What's in it
./data	the SQLite database and session files
./public/icons	uploaded favicons
./public/avatars	profile pictures
./public/backgrounds	background images

The container runs as a normal user, not root. If it can't write to those folders, set PUID and PGID in .env to your own user (run id to find them), or take ownership of the folders once:

sudo chown -R $(id -u):$(id -g) ./data ./public/icons ./public/avatars ./public/backgrounds

To use it outside your home network, put it behind a reverse proxy with HTTPS, keep NODE_ENV=production, and set SECURE_COOKIES=true. On plain HTTP, leave SECURE_COOKIES=false or logins won't stick.

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Browser extension

The repo includes ProtoEngine Assistant, a Chrome extension that saves the current page to your site in one click. It reads the page's title, URL, and favicon, you add a description and tags, and it sends everything over using your API key.

To install it:

1. Open chrome://extensions and turn on Developer mode (top right).
2. Click Load unpacked and pick the extension folder from the repo.
3. Open the extension and fill in two things:
   • Base URL - where your site runs, like http://localhost:3000.
   • API key - make one under Settings → Developer and paste it in.
4. Visit any site, click the icon, adjust the details, and hit Add.

Anything it adds belongs to your account. It works in Chrome, Edge, Brave, and other Chromium browsers.

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Settings

All your settings live on one page with tabs down the side:

• Account - profile picture, username, password.
• Customization - your background image.
• RSS - your feeds, groups, and how often they refresh.
• Developer - your API key.
• Admin Panel - branding, users, listings, and backups (admins only).

RSS feeds and groups

Add feed URLs under Settings → RSS, then make groups and drop any feed into any group. On the feed panel, click the group name to switch between groups, or pick All Feeds to see everything. Your choice is remembered. Feeds are fetched on the server and can't be pointed at internal addresses.

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Configuration

Everything is set with environment variables in .env:

Variable	Default	What it's for
SESSION_SECRET	(required)	Signs session cookies. Use 32+ random bytes.
CSRF_SECRET	(required)	Signs form tokens. Use 32+ random bytes.
PORT	3000	The port the app listens on.
SECURE_COOKIES	false	Set to true only when you're behind HTTPS.
SQLITE_JOURNAL_MODE	DELETE	Leave as is. Only use WAL on a local disk.
PUID / PGID	1000	The user the container writes files as.

The name, tab title, taglines, and title animation are all set inside the app on the Admin → Branding page, not here.

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API

Make an API key under Settings → Developer. You only see it once, so copy it then. Send it as a Bearer token:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer lmn_xxxx_yyyy" \
  https://your-host/api/sites?q=docs

A key acts as your account, with your permissions. Keys are stored hashed, and you can revoke one any time (admins can revoke anyone's).

Main endpoints:

Method	Endpoint	Notes
GET	/api/sites	search and list (public)
POST	/api/sites	add a site
PATCH / DELETE	/api/sites/:id	edit or remove a site
GET	/api/config	name, taglines, animation

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Roles

Role	What they can do
User	Manage their own sites and account, favorites, feeds, and API key.
Moderator	Everything a user can, plus edit or delete any site.
Admin	Everything, plus the Admin panel: users, roles, branding, and backups.

The first person to register becomes the admin automatically.

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How it's built

server.js            the Express app: security, sessions, routing
data-store.js        the SQLite data layer
util.js              validation and cleanup helpers
middleware/auth.js   login and permission checks
routes/
  auth.js            register, login, account, favorites
  sites.js           list, search, add, edit, delete sites
  admin.js           users, roles, branding, backups
  rss.js             feeds, groups, entries
public/
  index.html         the page shell
  app.js             the whole frontend (plain JavaScript)
  styles.css         the dark theme
extension/           ProtoEngine Assistant (the Chrome add-on)
data/                the database and sessions (made at runtime)

Data lives in one SQLite file (data/protoengine.db). It's a real database with tables and indexes, but it's still just a single file in your data folder with no separate server to run.

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
Logins don't stick	On plain HTTP, set SECURE_COOKIES=false. Use true only with HTTPS.
Logins reset on restart	Set real values for SESSION_SECRET and CSRF_SECRET.
Can't write to ./data	Set PUID/PGID to your user, or chown the folders.
Saving or importing hangs	Keep SQLITE_JOURNAL_MODE on DELETE.
First Docker build is slow	Normal. It builds the database module once.
Extension won't add pages	Check the Base URL and API key in its popup.

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ProtoEngine · self-hosted search for the sites you actually use.