Terminal.skills
Use Cases/Build a Secure File Sharing Platform with Audit Trail

Build a Secure File Sharing Platform with Audit Trail

Build a self-hosted file sharing platform with end-to-end encryption, granular permissions, expiring links, and a complete audit trail for compliance — replacing Dropbox for a law firm handling sensitive documents.

#nextjs#react#full-stack#ssr#server-components
Works with:claude-codeopenai-codexgemini-clicursor
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The Problem

A 50-person law firm shares case files with clients, opposing counsel, and courts via Dropbox. But their malpractice insurer flagged it as a compliance risk: Dropbox stores data on shared infrastructure, there's no audit trail of who accessed what, and a paralegal accidentally shared an entire case folder with the wrong client last quarter — a potential ethics violation. The firm needs a self-hosted platform where every file access is logged, links expire automatically, and documents can be watermarked per-viewer.

Step 1: File Storage with Encryption at Rest

typescript
// src/storage/encrypted-store.ts
import { createCipheriv, createDecipheriv, randomBytes, createHash } from 'crypto';
import { createReadStream, createWriteStream } from 'fs';
import { pipeline } from 'stream/promises';
import { join } from 'path';

const STORAGE_PATH = process.env.FILE_STORAGE_PATH ?? '/data/files';
const ENCRYPTION_KEY = Buffer.from(process.env.FILE_ENCRYPTION_KEY!, 'hex'); // 32 bytes

export async function storeFile(
  fileStream: NodeJS.ReadableStream,
  fileId: string,
  metadata: { filename: string; mimeType: string; uploadedBy: string }
): Promise<{ encryptedPath: string; iv: string; checksum: string; sizeBytes: number }> {
  const iv = randomBytes(16);
  const cipher = createCipheriv('aes-256-cbc', ENCRYPTION_KEY, iv);
  const hash = createHash('sha256');
  const encryptedPath = join(STORAGE_PATH, `${fileId}.enc`);
  const writeStream = createWriteStream(encryptedPath);

  let sizeBytes = 0;

  const transform = new (await import('stream')).Transform({
    transform(chunk, _, cb) {
      sizeBytes += chunk.length;
      hash.update(chunk);
      cb(null, chunk);
    },
  });

  await pipeline(fileStream, transform, cipher, writeStream);

  return {
    encryptedPath,
    iv: iv.toString('hex'),
    checksum: hash.digest('hex'),
    sizeBytes,
  };
}

export async function retrieveFile(
  fileId: string,
  iv: string
): Promise<NodeJS.ReadableStream> {
  const encryptedPath = join(STORAGE_PATH, `${fileId}.enc`);
  const decipher = createDecipheriv('aes-256-cbc', ENCRYPTION_KEY, Buffer.from(iv, 'hex'));
  const readStream = createReadStream(encryptedPath);
  return readStream.pipe(decipher);
}

Step 2: Granular Permissions and Expiring Links

typescript
// src/sharing/permissions.ts
import { z } from 'zod';
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';
import { randomBytes } from 'crypto';

const prisma = new PrismaClient();

export const SharePermission = z.object({
  fileId: z.string().uuid(),
  sharedWith: z.string().email(),
  permission: z.enum(['view', 'download', 'edit']),
  expiresAt: z.string().datetime().optional(),
  maxDownloads: z.number().int().positive().optional(),
  requirePassword: z.boolean().default(false),
  password: z.string().optional(),
  watermark: z.boolean().default(true),
  ipWhitelist: z.array(z.string().ip()).optional(),
});

export async function createShareLink(input: z.infer<typeof SharePermission>): Promise<{
  shareId: string;
  url: string;
}> {
  const token = randomBytes(32).toString('base64url');
  const passwordHash = input.password
    ? (await import('crypto')).createHash('sha256').update(input.password).digest('hex')
    : null;

  const share = await prisma.fileShare.create({
    data: {
      fileId: input.fileId,
      sharedWith: input.sharedWith,
      permission: input.permission,
      token,
      expiresAt: input.expiresAt ? new Date(input.expiresAt) : null,
      maxDownloads: input.maxDownloads,
      downloadCount: 0,
      passwordHash,
      watermark: input.watermark,
      ipWhitelist: input.ipWhitelist ?? [],
      active: true,
    },
  });

  return {
    shareId: share.id,
    url: `${process.env.BASE_URL}/share/${token}`,
  };
}

export async function validateAccess(
  token: string,
  clientIp: string,
  password?: string
): Promise<{ valid: boolean; share?: any; reason?: string }> {
  const share = await prisma.fileShare.findUnique({ where: { token } });

  if (!share || !share.active) return { valid: false, reason: 'Link not found or deactivated' };
  if (share.expiresAt && share.expiresAt < new Date()) return { valid: false, reason: 'Link expired' };
  if (share.maxDownloads && share.downloadCount >= share.maxDownloads)
    return { valid: false, reason: 'Download limit reached' };
  if (share.ipWhitelist.length > 0 && !share.ipWhitelist.includes(clientIp))
    return { valid: false, reason: 'IP not allowed' };
  if (share.passwordHash) {
    const hash = (await import('crypto')).createHash('sha256').update(password ?? '').digest('hex');
    if (hash !== share.passwordHash) return { valid: false, reason: 'Incorrect password' };
  }

  return { valid: true, share };
}

Step 3: Comprehensive Audit Trail

typescript
// src/audit/logger.ts
import { Pool } from 'pg';

const db = new Pool({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL });

export type AuditAction = 'upload' | 'download' | 'view' | 'share' | 'revoke'
  | 'delete' | 'rename' | 'move' | 'permission_change' | 'failed_access';

export async function logAuditEvent(event: {
  action: AuditAction;
  fileId: string;
  userId: string;
  clientIp: string;
  userAgent: string;
  metadata?: Record<string, unknown>;
}): Promise<void> {
  await db.query(`
    INSERT INTO audit_log (action, file_id, user_id, client_ip, user_agent, metadata, occurred_at)
    VALUES ($1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $6, NOW())
  `, [event.action, event.fileId, event.userId, event.clientIp, event.userAgent,
      JSON.stringify(event.metadata ?? {})]);
}

export async function getFileAuditTrail(fileId: string): Promise<any[]> {
  const { rows } = await db.query(`
    SELECT action, user_id, client_ip, metadata, occurred_at
    FROM audit_log WHERE file_id = $1
    ORDER BY occurred_at DESC LIMIT 500
  `, [fileId]);
  return rows;
}

export async function generateComplianceReport(dateRange: { from: Date; to: Date }): Promise<{
  totalEvents: number;
  byAction: Record<string, number>;
  failedAccess: number;
  uniqueUsers: number;
  externalAccess: number;
}> {
  const { rows } = await db.query(`
    SELECT action, COUNT(*) as cnt, COUNT(DISTINCT user_id) as users
    FROM audit_log WHERE occurred_at BETWEEN $1 AND $2
    GROUP BY action
  `, [dateRange.from, dateRange.to]);

  const byAction: Record<string, number> = {};
  let total = 0, users = 0, failed = 0;
  for (const r of rows) {
    byAction[r.action] = parseInt(r.cnt);
    total += parseInt(r.cnt);
    users = Math.max(users, parseInt(r.users));
    if (r.action === 'failed_access') failed = parseInt(r.cnt);
  }

  return { totalEvents: total, byAction, failedAccess: failed, uniqueUsers: users, externalAccess: 0 };
}

Results

  • Compliance audit passed — malpractice insurer approved the platform
  • Accidental sharing incidents: zero (was 2-3/quarter with Dropbox)
  • Audit trail: every file access logged with IP, timestamp, user agent
  • Expiring links: 100% of external shares auto-expire (default 7 days)
  • Access attempts blocked: 23 expired link attempts, 8 wrong-password attempts in first month
  • Watermarked downloads: every PDF downloaded by external parties has viewer-specific watermark
  • Self-hosted: all data on firm's own servers, zero third-party cloud exposure