dove-core

The library behind dove — client-side-encrypted, expiring file sharing from a cloud you own.

dove-core is the whole engine with the terminal peeled off: the AES-256-GCM container format, the S3 + access-gate transfer, the provisioner, and the config → backend registry. It does no I/O to a terminal — it takes resolved inputs and reports progress through a callback — so the dove CLI, a desktop app, and any other front-end drive the exact same audited code. Encryption keys never leave the library; share hands back a finished link, never raw key material.

Install

cargo add dove-core

Usage

Everything routes through one Transfer seam. Resolve the active backend from the local config and share a file — no key material or terminal output crosses the boundary:

use dove_core::{resolve, config::Registry, progress::Silent, transfer::ShareRequest};
use std::time::Duration;

fn main() -> dove_core::error::Result<()> {
    // The active backend from ~/.config/dove — a self-hosted S3 + gate, or a
    // discovered plugin. Building it is I/O-free; only use touches the network.
    let registry = Registry::load()?;
    let backend = resolve(&registry)?;

    let share = backend.share(
        ShareRequest {
            path: "report.pdf".into(),
            expires: Duration::from_secs(3 * 24 * 3600),
            encrypt: true,
            downloads: Some(1),          // one-time link
            pin: Some("4917".into()),    // second factor, folded into the key
            from: Some("Ada".into()),
            message: None,
        },
        &Silent, // swap in your own `Progress` impl to drive a UI
    )?;

    // Hand this out. The decryption key rides its `#fragment` and never reaches
    // a server; recipients decrypt in a browser or with `dove get`.
    println!("{}", share.link);
    Ok(())
}

Transfer also gives you get, list, revoke, and status. Provisioning (dove_core::provision) stands up the backing infrastructure in your own cloud; it, too, reports through Progress and never prompts.

What's inside

• crypto — the chunked AES-256-GCM container (per-file nonce prefix, per-chunk counter, counter + terminal-flag in the AAD to reject reorder, truncation, and tampering). Byte-compatible with WebCrypto, so a browser decrypts exactly what this crate wrote (locked by tests/browser_crypto_compat.rs). Plus PBKDF2 PIN derivation, MAC'd share/request ids, and the E2E metadata blob.
• transfer — the Transfer trait and the built-in SelfHosted backend (your S3 bucket, optional DynamoDB + access-gate for encrypted, download-limited, PIN-able links).
• factory — resolve: dispatch to the built-in backend, or discover a dove-<kind> plugin binary, or fail legibly.
• config — a named-backend registry with an active pointer.
• provision — non-interactive provisioning of the S3 / DynamoDB / gate Lambda / CloudFront stack in an account you own.
• request — file requests: mint a PIN-gated link and collect a file someone else encrypts on their device and uploads to you.
• error — a typed error enum consumers can match on (needs a PIN, locked, gone, integrity failure, …).

Design

The full design and threat model live in docs/DESIGN.md; the file-request feature in docs/REQUEST.md. The dove CLI that wraps this library is at boomctl/dove.

Acknowledgments

dove-core is co-built with Claude (Anthropic's Claude Code) working alongside its author, and is a sibling to git-ark.

License

Apache-2.0.