GitHub - Kerim-Sabic/lightning-p2p: Free open-source P2P file transfer for Windows and Android. No cloud upload, no account, no artificial file-size cap. Rust/Tauri/iroh/QUIC/BLAKE3.

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Direct files. Verified bytes. No cloud account.

A free, open-source peer-to-peer file transfer app for Windows + Android. Built on Rust, Tauri 2, iroh QUIC, iroh-blobs, and BLAKE3.

_{◆ no upload step ◆ no account ◆ no artificial file-size cap ◆ no telemetry ◆ no cloud bucket ◆}

Download · Website · AUDIT.md · Roadmap · Changelog · Security

In 30 seconds. Lightning P2P sends a file by handing the receiver a tiny ticket (NodeId + content hash). The receiver pulls the bytes directly from the sender's device over an encrypted iroh QUIC connection. No upload step. No cloud bucket. BLAKE3 verifies every chunk as it lands. When NAT blocks the direct path, iroh relay carries the encrypted frames — still no plaintext on any server.

◆ What it is, what it isn't

✓ Best fit	✗ Not for
Moving large builds, databases, media between Windows machines	Browser-only transfer (web is handoff, not the engine)
Windows ↔ Android sideload testing	macOS / Linux production (planned, not shipped)
Sharing without cloud accounts, upload caps, or hosted retention	AirDrop protocol compatibility
Open-source workflows that need inspectable artifacts + checksums	Phone-to-phone NFC writing (NFC receive only)
Honest benchmark methodology with committed evidence	"Fastest in the world" marketing claims

◆ Install

Stable: v0.4.6. Experimental: v0.5.1 (speed modes + reliability hardening; carries v0.5.0 BLE/NFC).

Platform	Asset	Channel	Best for
Windows	`LightningP2P-win-Setup.exe`	Stable	Most users · one-click Velopack
Windows	`LightningP2PSetup.exe`	Stable	Classic NSIS
Windows	`LightningP2P.msi`	Stable	Policy-managed deployments
Android	`LightningP2P-android-latest.apk`	Stable	Android 10+ sideload (signed)
Experimental	Release v0.5.1	Pre-release	Speed modes · retry/backoff · cancel-race fix

◆ Verify your install before you trust it (click to expand)

# Windows — checksums and Authenticode
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\verify-release.ps1 `
  -Installer .\LightningP2P-win-Setup.exe `
  -Checksums .\SHA256SUMS.txt

# Android — file hash + signer certificate
(Get-FileHash .\LightningP2P-android-latest.apk -Algorithm SHA256).Hash
Get-Content .\SHA256SUMS-android.txt | Select-String "LightningP2P-android-latest.apk"
apksigner verify --print-certs --verbose .\LightningP2P-android-latest.apk

The signed Android APK's signer certificate fingerprint:

5F:A0:D6:63:46:FF:9C:91:1B:18:D1:2A:5F:77:F1:F0:9B:2D:E2:A7:69:A0:97:68:6C:FC:FA:43:BD:86:29:16

Full trust guide: docs/download-trust.md.

◆ How it works

flowchart LR
    subgraph Sender [Sender · native app]
        F[files on disk] --> I[iroh-blobs<br/>add + hash]
        I --> T[BlobTicket<br/>NodeId + hash]
    end

    subgraph Path [encrypted iroh QUIC · direct → relay]
        D{{direct route<br/>signal-green}}
        R{{relay fallback<br/>NAT-traversal hop}}
    end

    subgraph Receiver [Receiver · native app]
        G[iroh-blobs<br/>download] --> V[BLAKE3<br/>verify per chunk] --> O[destination dir]
    end

    T -.QR / link / paste.-> G
    Sender --> D --> Receiver
    Sender --> R --> Receiver

    classDef sender fill:#08120f,stroke:#7ddf9c,color:#7ddf9c,stroke-width:1.5px
    classDef receiver fill:#08120f,stroke:#7ddf9c,color:#7ddf9c,stroke-width:1.5px
    classDef path fill:#050706,stroke:#f0c76b,color:#f0c76b,stroke-width:1px
    class Sender sender
    class Receiver receiver
    class Path path

Sender picks files / folders / an Android share-sheet item.
Rust engine imports content into the local iroh-blobs store.
A receive ticket is generated (NodeId + content hash + format).
Receiver opens a QR, HTTPS handoff link, deep link, or pastes the raw ticket.
iroh dials direct QUIC; falls back to relay-assisted route when NAT blocks the path.
iroh-blobs streams BLAKE3-verified bytes to the destination.

Handoff URLs use /receive#t=<ticket> — the ticket lives in the URL fragment, so it never reaches the website server.

◆ Speed modes ^v0.5.1

Five session-level transfer modes. Each swaps a complete transport profile: QUIC send/recv/stream windows, max streams, keepalive, import concurrency, idle timeout, UI emit cadence. Persists across launches; node restarts on change (deferred if a transfer is in flight).

Mode	Parallelism	Emit	Conn win	Stream win	Streams	Idle	Default for
Battery Safe	8	250 ms	64 MB	16 MB	256	30 s	Android
Standard	64	100 ms	256 MB	64 MB	1024	60 s	Desktop
Fast	128	100 ms	256 MB	64 MB	1024	60 s	—
Extreme	128	200 ms	512 MB	128 MB	2048	90 s	—
LAN Beast	128	200 ms	1024 MB	256 MB	4096	120 s	—

Honest scope. On same-machine loopback all five modes cluster within ~13% (626 – 710 Mbps median). The hierarchy encodes design intent; LAN/WAN throughput-delta validation lands in v0.6.
Mode-sweep receipts: AUDIT.md §2.1.1 · docs/reports/raw/audit-v0.5.1/mode-sweep/.

◆ Benchmarks

The bench tool lives at src-tauri/src/bin/benchmark_local.rs. It generates payloads at runtime (xorshift PRNG), spins up two LightningP2PNode instances in temp dirs, and runs the real sender::create_share + receiver::receive_ticket paths.

Current reference — same-machine loopback, AMD Zen 5 + Windows 11 Build 26200 + NVMe, 5 runs each, schema v2:

Scenario	Runs	Median total	Export	Effective
`same_machine_10mb`	5/5	147 ms	7 ms	569.89 Mbps
`same_machine_100mb`	5/5	1,356 ms	7 ms	618.45 Mbps
`same_machine_1gb`	5/5	13,565 ms	8 ms	633.21 Mbps
`same_machine_many_small` _{(200 × 100 KB)}	5/5	512 ms	274 ms	327.05 Mbps

Caveat: Same-machine loopback only. Not WAN. Not Windows ↔ Android. Not Wi-Fi. Not relay. Don't quote these for "fastest" claims.

◆ Reproduce locally

# Smoke (10 MB only · ~30s)
pnpm bench:local

# Full (10 MB / 100 MB / 1 GB / many-small)
pnpm bench:local:full

# Direct — with explicit mode + hardware notes
.\src-tauri\target\release\benchmark-local.exe `
  --profile full --runs 5 --mode standard `
  --hardware-notes "AMD Zen 5, Win 11 26200, NVMe" `
  --output-dir docs/reports/raw/local

Raw JSON + CSV: docs/reports/raw/. Methodology + template: docs/BENCHMARKS.md · docs/benchmark-report-template.md.

◆ Security model

Lightning P2P avoids cloud file hosting, but receive tickets are capability tokens. Anyone with a valid ticket can request the content while the sender is online — treat tickets like secrets.

Property	How
Transport	Every byte encrypted by iroh's QUIC stack. TLS 1.3 keys derived per-session.
Integrity	BLAKE3 verifies as the receiver streams to disk. Bad bytes surface as structured errors, never silent corruption.
Storage	Sender keeps the file on disk until receive completes. There is no upload step to a hosted bucket.
Relay	Connectivity help (a hop when NAT blocks the direct path). Not retention. Relay sees encrypted QUIC frames, not plaintext.
Diagnostics	Bundles gathered locally, redacted, copied by the user. The frontend never auto-posts transfer secrets.
Telemetry	None by default. The native app does not phone home.
Sender contract	Keep the sender online until receive finishes. Closing the app cancels in-flight transfers.

Read SECURITY.md · docs/security-model.md · docs/download-trust.md before using on sensitive machines.

◆ What works today

	Capability	Status
🟢	Windows send + receive (Tauri 2 desktop)	Stable
🟢	Android send + receive (sideload APK)	Stable
🟢	Android system share-target	Stable v0.4.6
🟢	Android MediaStore routing (Pictures / Movies / Music / Downloads)	Stable v0.4.6
🟢	QR + handoff link + raw ticket	Stable
🟢	Nearby Wi-Fi / LAN discovery (mDNS)	Stable
🟢	iroh relay fallback when direct path is blocked	Stable
🟢	Atomic single-blob writes (`.part` + rename)	Stable v0.5.1
🟢	Retry + exponential backoff on transient receive errors	Stable v0.5.1
🟢	Implicit resume across restarts (re-paste ticket)	Stable (iroh-blobs persistent store)
🟡	Speed modes (5 profiles)	Experimental v0.5.1
🟡	BLE proximity discovery (Android + Windows)	Experimental since v0.5.0
🟡	NFC ticket receive (Android)	Experimental since v0.5.0
⏳	Explicit resume UI for failed transfers	Planned v0.6
⏳	Phone-to-phone NFC write, macOS/Linux BLE	Roadmap
⏳	macOS / Linux / iOS desktop builds	Roadmap

_{BLE and NFC never carry file bytes — beacons + ticket material only. Bytes always travel through iroh QUIC. Full behavior + hardware test plan: docs/proximity.md.}

◆ Architecture

src/                                React + TypeScript marketing + receive shell
src/components/WebLandingPage.tsx     cinematic landing (Cabinet Grotesk, motion-led)
src/components/ReceiveHandoffPage.tsx /receive#t=<ticket> handoff

src-tauri/                          Rust backend · Tauri 2 IPC · iroh engine
src-tauri/src/node/                   endpoint · relay · discovery · nearby ALPN
src-tauri/src/transfer/               send · receive · export · progress · mode profiles
src-tauri/src/storage/                settings · history · peer cache (sled)
src-tauri/src/proximity/ble.rs        Windows WinRT BLE (Android peer under gen/)
src-tauri/src/bin/benchmark_local.rs  the bench tool

docs/                               architecture · trust · release · proximity · audit
scripts/                            release verification · benchmark · packaging
AUDIT.md                            v0.5.1 audit (root level, intentional)

Architecture rules — enforced by code review

Networking goes through iroh. No raw sockets, no WebRTC, no HTTP file transfer.
Blob transfer goes through iroh-blobs. No custom chunking or hashing.
Frontend ↔ backend communicate through Tauri IPC only. No embedded HTTP server.
React is presentational. Rust owns transfer logic + persistence.
Public claims attach to source, release artifacts, or benchmark evidence. No exceptions.

Deeper reading: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.

◆ Develop

Prereqs: Node 22+ · pnpm 10 · Rust 1.81+ · platform Tauri toolchains.

pnpm install
pnpm tauri dev               # native desktop app
pnpm dev                     # web (marketing site)
pnpm android:dev             # Android device/emulator (Tauri-Android)

PR gate (same matrix CI runs):

pnpm check                   # release-state + lint + typecheck + test + build + cargo

Two profiles, two windows (test sender ↔ receiver on one machine):

$env:LIGHTNING_P2P_PROFILE = "alice"; pnpm tauri dev
$env:LIGHTNING_P2P_PROFILE = "bob";   pnpm tauri dev

Environment overrides: .env.example. Bench-time import-parallelism override: $env:LIGHTNING_P2P_IMPORT_PARALLELISM = 16 (positive int).

◆ Contributing

High-impact areas:

Device testing on real Windows + Android hardware (LAN, WAN, relay)
Benchmark reports on different hardware (CPU, NIC, NVMe class) — file a PR with raw JSON
Accessibility + keyboard nav across the app shell
Diagnostics + error copy that helps users self-recover
macOS / Linux packaging spikes (Tauri builders exist; CI is greenfield)
Proximity validation with physical BLE + NFC hardware
Docs · screenshots · release verification

Start with CONTRIBUTING.md · docs/README.md · docs/ROADMAP_v0.5_to_v0.7.md.

◆ License + citation

Apache-2.0 · see also NOTICE.

Citing Lightning P2P in research, posts, or benchmarks? Use CITATION.cff.

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Built by Horalix · Powered by iroh + iroh-blobs + Tauri · Direct files. Verified bytes. No cloud account.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 110 Commits
.github		.github
docs		docs
public		public
scripts		scripts
src-tauri		src-tauri
src		src
.env.example		.env.example
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
.prettierrc		.prettierrc
AUDIT.md		AUDIT.md
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
CITATION.cff		CITATION.cff
CLAUDE.md		CLAUDE.md
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md		CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
DESIGN.json		DESIGN.json
DESIGN.md		DESIGN.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
NOTICE		NOTICE
PRIVACY.md		PRIVACY.md
PRODUCT.md		PRODUCT.md
README.md		README.md
SECURITY.md		SECURITY.md
SUPPORT.md		SUPPORT.md
agents.md		agents.md
eslint.config.js		eslint.config.js
index.html		index.html
netlify.toml		netlify.toml
package.json		package.json
pnpm-lock.yaml		pnpm-lock.yaml
release-notes-v0.4.6.md		release-notes-v0.4.6.md
release-notes-v0.5.0.md		release-notes-v0.5.0.md
rust-toolchain.toml		rust-toolchain.toml
tsconfig.json		tsconfig.json
tsconfig.node.json		tsconfig.node.json
vite.config.ts		vite.config.ts

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Direct files. Verified bytes. No cloud account.

◆ What it is, what it isn't

◆ Install

◆ How it works

◆ Speed modes ^v0.5.1

◆ Benchmarks

◆ Security model

◆ What works today

◆ Architecture

Architecture rules — enforced by code review

◆ Develop

◆ Contributing

◆ License + citation

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Direct files. Verified bytes. No cloud account.

◆ What it is, what it isn't

◆ Install

◆ How it works

◆ Speed modes v0.5.1

◆ Benchmarks

◆ Security model

◆ What works today

◆ Architecture

Architecture rules — enforced by code review

◆ Develop

◆ Contributing

◆ License + citation

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