⚡ Dead Drop

Real-time. Ephemeral. Secure. Share files and text across devices instantly. Everything self-destructs after 2 hours of inactivity.

🌐 Live Demo

👉 https://deaddropexe.vercel.app/

📖 About

Live Drop is a lightweight, browser-based dead drop for digital content. It solves the problem of quickly moving a file or a snippet of text from Phone A to Laptop B (or to a friend) without logging in, emailing yourself, or using permanent cloud storage.

The catch? It’s ephemeral. Every room and every byte of data is automatically purged from existence exactly 2 hours after creation.

✨ Key Features

• ⚡ Real-Time Sync: Powered by Socket.io, transfers happen instantly. No page refreshes required.
• 🔒 Zero Auth: No accounts, no emails. Just create a Room Code and share it.
• ⏳ 2-Hour Inactivity Self-Destruct: An automated cleanup cron job ensures privacy by wiping all data (Database entries + Cloudinary files) after a room has been inactive for 2 hours.
• 📂 Universal Sharing: Supports text snippets (with one-click copy) and file uploads (images, PDFs, zips, etc.).
• 🌑 Dark Mode UI: A sleek, minimal interface designed for speed.

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Built with the MERN stack, optimized for free-tier deployment.

• Frontend: React (Vite), Tailwind CSS
• Backend: Node.js, Express.js
• Real-Time Engine: Socket.io
• Database: MongoDB Atlas (Persists metadata)
• File Storage: Cloudinary (Persists binary files)
• Automation: Cron-job.org (Triggers the cleanup API)

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🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js installed
• MongoDB Atlas Account
• Cloudinary Account

Installation

1. Clone the repo

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/live-drop.git
   cd live-drop

2. Install Backend Dependencies

   cd server
   npm install

3. Install Frontend Dependencies

   cd ../client
   npm install

4. Environment Variables Create a .env file in the server directory and add your keys:

   PORT=3001
   MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
   CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloud_name
   CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_api_key
   CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_api_secret

5. Run the App

   • Backend: npm start (inside /server)
   • Frontend: npm run dev (inside /client)

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🤖 The "Cleanup" Logic

To ensure the free tier of Cloudinary doesn't fill up, this project uses a specific architecture for deletion:

1. MongoDB stores the file metadata and a createdAt timestamp.
2. A dedicated API route /api/cleanup checks for rooms with no activity for > 2 hours.
3. It first calls the Cloudinary API to destroy the raw file.
4. Then, it deletes the MongoDB document.
5. (Production) An external Cron Job pings this route every hour.

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome!

1. Fork the Project
2. Create your Feature Branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your Changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the Branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

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Built with 🖤 by Ankush