Chest

Alternative to Box

Also replaces Google Drive, Dropbox

A document library that keeps every original and the approved version.

Chest is a private document library for the supplier, customer and project records a small business needs to keep. It keeps the original files, shows which version is approved, and controls who can see each collection.

What it does

Keep supplier, customer and project documents in collections
Define your own document types with required fields
Keep every uploaded version as an unchanged original
Assign a reviewer to a specific version and record their approval or requested changes
Track review dates and expiry dates with evidence of completion
Grant read, edit or review access to people or groups
Search titles, details and the text of plain-text files
Preview PDFs and images in the browser
Move deleted records to a trash that only the owner can see or restore

What it promises

CHEST-07Original versions never change; an approved version stays current while newer ones wait for review, and approving one never approves another.
CHEST-08An approval is recorded against the exact version and needs the assigned reviewer, who must still have reviewer access.
CHEST-03A file is checked and safely stored before it appears in the library, so a failed upload never shows up.
CHEST-06Lists, counts, search, previews, downloads and edits only show what the person currently has access to.
CHEST-10Removing someone's access takes effect everywhere right away.
CHEST-05Web pages and SVG files are shown as plain text, never run as active content; unknown formats can only be downloaded.
CHEST-13Trash keeps all files and history, every change is audited, and nothing is destroyed automatically.
CHEST-11An archive import previews first, applies only what was reviewed, and can be undone for untouched records.
CHEST-12A full export restores into an empty installation with files, history and approvals intact, and never includes login credentials.

Read the full contract

Move in from

A JSON archive of your files, in the format described in the guide (chest-archive-1)

Run it yourself

Install the command once, then clone a product and start it.

Terminal

$ npx -y @runeditrun/rer cli install
$ git clone https://github.com/just-every/run-chest
$ cd run-chest && rer dev

No npm? curl -fsSL https://runeditrun.com/install.sh | sh installs the same command.

Runs on: your own computer; going live needs your own hosting and email setup
Version: v0.1.0
Licence: MIT, free