LifeNode

LifeNode is a local-first, self-hosted knowledge workspace.

It runs as a single web app with:

• Rust backend (axum + sqlx + SQLite)
• React frontend (Vite + MUI)
• llama.cpp services for chat + embeddings
• Per-user local storage under ./user-files

What You Get

• Authenticated multi-user app with optional admin bootstrap.
• Wiki tab: Kiwix Wikipedia download center + embedded Kiwix viewer.
• Maps tab: OpenStreetMap download center + embedded OSM visualizer.
• Download job system for maps/wiki payloads (queue, progress, cancel, delete logs, delete files).
• Ask tab with:
  • chat sidebar and persistent thread history
  • thread create/rename/delete
  • streaming assistant responses over SSE (/api/ask/stream)
  • optional model "thinking" mode
• Notes tab with folder tree, file management, markdown editing, and live preview.
• Drive tab with folder/file operations and rich file preview.
• Drive viewer supports Markdown, text, PDF, image, audio, and video formats.
• Calendar tab for personal events.
• Health indicator for backend + model status.

Architecture

Browser (React + MUI)
        |
        v
Rust API (Axum)  ---> SQLite (user/files + metadata)
        |
        +---> llama-qwen (chat, OpenAI-compatible endpoint)
        +---> llama-embed (embeddings, OpenAI-compatible endpoint)
        +---> Kiwix service (serves downloaded .zim files)

Quick Start (Docker)

1. Clone and enter the repo.
2. Create env file and required directories.
3. Place GGUF model files.
4. Build and start all services.

cp .env.example .env
mkdir -p user-files models

# put your models in ./models
# - Qwen3.5-0.8B-UD-Q3_K_XL.gguf
# - embeddinggemma-300M-Q8_0.gguf

docker compose up --build -d
docker compose ps

Open:

• App: http://<your-private-ip>:8000
• Kiwix direct (optional): http://<your-private-ip>:8081

Find your Wi-Fi private IP (Linux):

ip -4 addr show wlan0 | awk '/inet / {print $2}' | cut -d/ -f1

If your Wi-Fi interface is not wlan0, replace it (for example wlp2s0).

Service Layout

compose.yml runs 4 services:

• lifenode: backend API + bundled frontend
• llama-qwen: chat inference
• llama-embed: embeddings
• kiwix: serves local .zim files on port 8081

Storage Layout

• Database: ./user-files/lifenode.db
• Per-user maps/wiki files: ./user-files/<username>/maps/...
• Per-user drive files: ./user-files/<username>/files/...
• Other per-user assets are stored under ./user-files/<username>/...

Local Development

Backend:

cd backend
cargo run

Frontend:

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev -- --host

Optional frontend API override:

export VITE_API_BASE=http://127.0.0.1:8000/api

Key Environment Variables

General:

• LIFENODE_HOST (default 0.0.0.0)
• LIFENODE_PORT (default 8000)
• LIFENODE_CORS_ORIGINS (default *)
• LIFENODE_MAX_UPLOAD_MB (default 100)

Storage:

• LIFENODE_DB_PATH (default /data/user-files/lifenode.db)
• LIFENODE_USER_FILES_DIR (default /data/user-files)
• LIFENODE_FRONTEND_DIST (default /app/frontend/dist)

Admin bootstrap (optional):

• LIFENODE_ADMIN_USERNAME
• LIFENODE_ADMIN_PASSWORD

Kiwix:

• LIFENODE_KIWIX_EMBED_URL (default http://localhost:8081)
• LIFENODE_KIWIX_PORT (default 8081)

llama.cpp endpoints:

• LIFENODE_LLAMACPP_EMBED_URL
• LIFENODE_LLAMACPP_EMBED_MODEL
• LIFENODE_LLAMACPP_CHAT_URL
• LIFENODE_LLAMACPP_CHAT_MODEL
• LIFENODE_LLAMACPP_API_KEY
• LIFENODE_LLAMACPP_CHAT_MAX_TOKENS
• LIFENODE_LLAMACPP_CHAT_TIMEOUT_SECS
• LIFENODE_LLAMACPP_CHAT_THINKING_DEFAULT

llama.cpp container runtime:

• LLAMACPP_QWEN_MODEL_PATH
• LLAMACPP_EMBED_MODEL_PATH
• LLAMACPP_QWEN_CTX
• LLAMACPP_EMBED_CTX
• LLAMACPP_NGL

API Overview

Main route groups:

• Auth: /api/auth/*
• Ask + chat threads: /api/ask/*
• Maps/wiki download center: /api/maps/*
• Legacy wiki indexing/search endpoints: /api/wiki/*, /api/search
• Notes: /api/notes/*
• Drive: /api/drive/*
• Calendar: /api/calendar/*
• Health: /api/health

For a concrete route map, see backend/src/main.rs.

Build and Verify

Backend:

cd backend
cargo check

Frontend:

cd frontend
npm run build

Stack:

docker compose up --build -d
docker compose ps

Troubleshooting

• Download preset returns 404:
  • Use Custom Download URL in the UI for a known-good .zim or .osm.pbf.
  • The backend also attempts to auto-discover latest Kiwix English filenames.
• Kiwix panel is blank:
  • Confirm at least one .zim file exists in your configured user-files mount.
  • Confirm kiwix container is running and LIFENODE_KIWIX_EMBED_URL is reachable.
• Chat answers are fallback-style:
  • Check GET /api/health; if llama services are unavailable, backend falls back to deterministic embeddings and retrieval-only behavior.