RFSHARE

rfshare is a modern, encrypted peer-to-peer file sharing application built with Rust and the egui framework. It enables fast, secure file transfers between devices on the same network or across the internet using a relay server. The app runs in the background with system tray support, like Telegram Desktop.

✨ Features

Core Features

• 🔒 End-to-End Encrypted Transfers - X25519 key exchange + AES-256-GCM encryption for all transfers
• 🌐 Local Network Discovery - Automatic device discovery via UDP broadcast on port 44444
• 📁 Folder Synchronization - Automatically sync folders with selected devices (Pro feature)
• 🌍 Remote File Sharing - Share files across the internet via relay server (Pro feature)
• 📊 Transfer History - Complete log of all sent and received files with search functionality
• 🎨 Modern UI - Clean interface with dark/light theme support
• 🖱️ Drag & Drop - Simply drag files into the app to add them to the queue
• 📱 Cross-Platform - Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux
• 🖥️ System Tray Support - Minimize to system tray and continue running in background

Technical Highlights

• Resumable Transfers - Interrupted transfers can be resumed from where they stopped
• Real-time Progress - Visual progress bars for all active transfers
• Desktop Notifications - System notifications when files are received
• Smart Sync - Only syncs files that have changed (uses modification timestamps)
• Network Monitoring - Automatically detects IP changes and reconnects
• No Cloud Storage - Files never leave your devices or relay server (relay only pipes encrypted data)
• System Tray Integration - App stays alive in background when window is closed

📸 Demonstration

1. Scanning for devices	2. Sending a file
3. Receiving a file	4. History tab
5. Sync a folder (Pro feature)

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

🐧 Linux

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/imrany/rfshare/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Installs the .deb package on Debian/Ubuntu (includes desktop entry and icon).
Falls back to a bare binary on other distros.

Note for GNOME users: Tray icons are hidden by default. Install the AppIndicator extension:

sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-manager
sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-appindicator
# Then enable it via Extension Manager or gnome-extensions
## extension-manager
# gnome-extensions list

User-only install (no sudo):

PREFIX=$HOME/.local curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/imrany/rfshare/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

🍎 macOS

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/imrany/rfshare/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Installs the .dmg when available, otherwise builds a .app bundle and copies it to /Applications.
Also installs the rfshare CLI to /usr/local/bin.

🪟 Windows

Paste this into PowerShell (no admin needed):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/imrany/rfshare/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Installs the .msi when available, otherwise extracts the portable .exe.
Adds rfshare to your PATH, creates a Start Menu shortcut, and registers it in Add/Remove Programs.

Pin a specific version

Linux / macOS

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/imrany/rfshare/main/scripts/install.sh | bash -s -- --version v0.15.0

Windows

& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/imrany/rfshare/main/scripts/install.ps1))) -Version v0.15.0

Uninstall

Linux / macOS

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/imrany/rfshare/main/scripts/install.sh | bash -s -- --uninstall

Windows

& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/imrany/rfshare/main/scripts/install.ps1))) -Uninstall

Or: Settings → Apps → rfshare → Uninstall

Manual download

All binaries and installers are on the Releases page.

Platform	Installer	Portable
🐧 Linux	rfshare-vX.X.X-linux-x86_64.deb	rfshare-linux-vX.X.X.tar.gz
🍎 macOS	rfshare-vX.X.X-macos.dmg	rfshare-macos-vX.X.X.tar.gz
🪟 Windows	rfshare-vX.X.X-windows-x64.msi	rfshare-windows-vX.X.X.zip

Each file has a matching .sha256 checksum.

Basic Usage

1. Start the app - It automatically starts listening for incoming files

2. Send files locally:

   • Click the Scan tab
   • Click Scan to discover devices on your network
   • Select a device from the list
   • Go to Send tab
   • Drag and drop files or click Browse
   • Click Send

3. Receive files:

   • Files are automatically saved to your Downloads folder
   • Desktop notifications appear when transfers complete
   • View received files in the History tab

4. System Tray (Optional):

   • Click the close button (X) to minimize to tray
   • The app continues running in background
   • Right-click the tray icon to show/hide the window or quit
   • Configure in Settings → Preferences → System Tray

5. Remote sharing (Pro):

   • Receiver: Click Scan → Remote → Go Online → Share the code
   • Sender: Click Scan → Remote → Enter code → Connect → Send files

6. Folder sync (Pro):

   • Select a device
   • Go to Sync tab
   • Click Set folder to watch
   • Click Start watching
   • Any new files in the folder auto-sync to the selected device

🔧 Architecture

Network Protocols

Port	Protocol	Purpose
44444	UDP	Device discovery broadcast
44445	TCP	Encrypted file transfer

Security Stack

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│           Application Layer                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│         AES-256-GCM (Authenticated)         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│    X25519 ECDH (Key Exchange)               │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│    TCP Socket (Direct or Relay)             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Transfer Flow

1. Discovery - UDP broadcast finds peers on the network
2. Key Exchange - X25519 ephemeral key exchange for perfect forward secrecy
3. Encryption - AES-256-GCM encrypts all file data
4. Transfer - Chunked transfer with resume capability
5. Verification - GCM authentication ensures integrity

📊 Features Comparison

Feature	Free	Pro
Local Network Transfer	✅	✅
Direct File Transfer	✅	✅
Encrypted Transfer	✅	✅
Transfer History	✅	✅
Drag & Drop	✅	✅
Desktop Notifications	✅	✅
System Tray Support	✅	✅
Remote Transfer	❌	✅
Folder Sync	❌	✅
Remote Folder Sync	❌	✅
Unlimited Devices	❌	✅
Organization License	❌	✅

💰 Pro License

Activate Pro

1. Go to Settings → License
2. Enter your license key
3. Click Activate

Pro License Key:

29714-5B90A-54A40-254F4-B7B1C

Get a License

Support development and get Pro features:

• GitHub Sponsors
• Includes remote sharing and folder sync
• Helps fund continued development

🏗️ Building from Source

Prerequisites

• Rust 1.70 or later
• Cargo package manager
• Linux: GTK development libraries (for system tray)

  # Ubuntu/Debian
  sudo apt install libgtk-3-dev
  # Fedora
  sudo dnf install gtk3-devel
  # Arch
  sudo pacman -S gtk3

Build

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/imrany/rfshare.git
cd rfshare

# Build in release mode
cargo build --release

# Run the application
./target/release/rfshare

📁 File Locations

Configuration

• Windows: %APPDATA%\rfshare\
• Linux: ~/.config/rfshare/
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/rfshare/

Files

• prefs.json - User preferences and settings
• history.csv - Transfer history log
• license - Pro license information

🔐 Security Details

Key Exchange Process

1. Both peers generate ephemeral X25519 keypairs
2. Public keys are exchanged over the TCP connection
3. Shared secret is derived using Diffie-Hellman
4. AES-256-GCM key is derived using SHA-256 with app-specific salt
5. All subsequent communication uses the derived key

Encryption Features

• Perfect Forward Secrecy - Session keys are not stored
• Authenticated Encryption - GCM mode provides integrity checking
• Per-Connection Keys - Unique keys for each transfer
• No Key Reuse - Fresh keys for every session

🎯 Use Cases

1. Home Network Sharing - Share files between computers on same Wi-Fi
2. Remote Work - Send files to colleagues across the internet
3. Backup Sync - Automatically sync folders to another computer
4. Quick File Transfer - Fast, no-server transfers between devices
5. Secure Sharing - Encrypted transfers for sensitive files
6. Background Operations - Keep app running in tray while working

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Q: Can't see devices on the network

• Ensure both devices are on the same network/subnet
• Check if firewall is blocking UDP port 44444
• Try running as administrator (Windows) or with sudo (Linux)

Q: Remote connection fails

• Verify internet connectivity
• Ensure the relay server is accessible
• Check if port 443 is open (for HTTPS) or port 80 (for HTTP)

Q: Transfer is slow

• Direct transfers are limited by your network speed
• Remote transfers go through the relay server
• Try using a wired connection for large files

Q: Can't find the app after installation

• Windows: Start Menu → rfshare
• macOS: Applications folder → rfshare.app
• Linux: Run rfshare in terminal or find in application menu

Q: Tray icon doesn't appear on Linux/GNOME

• GNOME hides tray icons by default
• Install and enable the AppIndicator extension:

  sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-appindicator
  gnome-extensions enable ubuntu-appindicators@ubuntu.com
  # Restart GNOME Shell (Alt+F2 → r)

• For other desktop environments, tray icons work out of the box

Q: Folder sync isn't working

• Ensure you have a Pro license activated
• Check that the selected device is online
• Verify the folder exists and is readable
• Look at the Activity log for errors

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Areas where help is needed:

• UI/UX improvements - Enhance the egui interface
• Performance optimizations - Faster transfers, better chunking
• Additional protocols - WebRTC, QUIC support
• Mobile versions - iOS/Android ports
• Documentation - Improve this README and code comments

Development Setup

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/imrany/rfshare.git
cd rfshare
cargo build

# Run with logging
RUST_LOG=debug cargo run

# Run tests
cargo test

📄 License

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

🙏 Acknowledgments

• egui - Immediate mode GUI library
• RustCrypto - Cryptographic implementations
• x25519-dalek - X25519 implementation
• egui_material_icons - Material Design icons
• tray-icon - Cross-platform system tray support

📞 Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions