Overview:
Cozy-Stack is the core server component of the Cozy platform, a private space that integrates multiple web services and devices. It handles serving web applications from an app store and managing user data through a single process. The project is designed for users who want to run their own server hardware while avoiding profiling by service providers. It offers a REST API for data management, authentication, email sending, and job execution.
Core Features:
REST API for data operations: Create, update, and delete documents within the integrated database.
Authentication methods: Supports session tokens for server-side web applications and OAuth2 for external clients.
Job execution and sandboxing: Launches one-time or periodic server tasks, such as connectors that import data from remote websites, with sandboxed third-party code execution via nsjail.
Database replication API: Allows synchronization of documents between the server and local databases, such as on mobile clients.
Email sending: Provides the ability to send emails through the API.
Application serving: Hosts and serves web applications installed by users from the application store.
Use Cases:
Self-hosting a private digital space: Users who want to consolidate their web services and devices on their own hardware without being profiled.
Running data import connectors: System administrators who need periodic or one-time jobs to import data from remote websites in a sandboxed environment.
Building mobile-sync applications: Developers creating mobile clients that require database replication and offline data synchronization with the server.
Why It Matters:
As an open-source core for a private web service platform, Cozy-Stack provides a self-hostable alternative to cloud-based service aggregation. Its REST API, OAuth2 support, and sandboxed job execution give developers and system administrators a transparent, code-driven method to manage their own data infrastructure. The project's focus on data control and server-side application hosting makes it a reference for those seeking to avoid third-party profiling.
