https://github.com/ullaskunder3/locvi
LocVi is a lightweight Flask-based local file browser that lets you poke around your files 📂, watch videos 🎬, listen to audio 🎧, and view images 🖼️ without losing your mind. It remembers recent folders and the last file you opened… because we all forget stuff 😅.
https://github.com/ullaskunder3/locvi
Last synced: 8 months ago
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LocVi is a lightweight Flask-based local file browser that lets you poke around your files 📂, watch videos 🎬, listen to audio 🎧, and view images 🖼️ without losing your mind. It remembers recent folders and the last file you opened… because we all forget stuff 😅.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/ullaskunder3/locvi
- Owner: ullaskunder3
- Created: 2025-08-15T11:06:11.000Z (10 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-08-16T11:02:43.000Z (10 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-09-05T11:58:44.898Z (10 months ago)
- Language: Python
- Homepage:
- Size: 119 KB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
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README
# LocVi
LocVi is a lightweight Flask-based local file browser that lets you poke around your files 📂, watch videos 🎬, listen to audio 🎧, and view images 🖼️ without losing your mind.
It remembers recent folders and the last file you opened… because we all forget stuff 😅.
Might add more features someday… maybe, or not 🤷♂️.
### ⚠️ Windows “Unknown Publisher” Warning (for the EXE)
Because LocVi is signed with a **self-signed certificate**, Windows might show a warning like:
> “Windows protected your PC – Windows SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting.”
**What to do:**
1. Click **More Info**.
2. Click **Run Anyway**.
✅ LocVi is totally safe — it’s just self-signed.
💸 When my pockets are full, I’ll buy a proper certificate and make Windows stop complaining… until then, enjoy the warning pop-up and the app.
### ⚠️ Heads-Up on Cloud Deployment
> ⚡ Working on PWA functionality — currently in `test` branch 🚧 `pwa/locvi`
Locally, when you enter something like `C:\Users\ullas\Downloads\test`, Python/Flask happily accesses your local filesystem because, well… it lives on your machine 💻. `os.path.isdir(folder)` succeeds because the folder actually exists where your computer can see it ✅.
Now, if you try the same thing on Vercel (or any cloud server), things get… interesting 🤔. Your app is now running on a remote Linux server that has zero idea about your Windows paths. It can’t peek into `C:\Users\ullas\Downloads\test` because that folder is on your PC, not theirs 🚫.
Result: `os.path.isdir(folder)` returns `False` and you get the cheerful message: “Invalid folder. Try again.” 😬
So yeah — for now, if you want to try LocVi, just **clone or fork this repo locally** and run:
```bash
python run.py
# or
py run.py
```
Enjoy poking around your files 📁, watching videos 🎥, and marking things as “done” ✅ — all without a cloud server judging your folder structure 😎.
(Future plan: maybe one day we’ll make a proper web app 🌐 so everyone can use it online… but that’s a story for another time.)
### LocVi Demo Gallery
| Screenshot 1 | Screenshot 2 | Screenshot 3 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
|  |  |  |
| Screenshot 4 | Screenshot 5 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
|  |  |
| Video Demo YouTube |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [](https://youtu.be/xjo8wX2ciJY) |
---
### Why I Created It
I have tons of PDFs and other files across multiple subdirectories, and every time I want to read or watch something, I have to open, close, and hunt through folders. It’s annoying. I also often forget what I was reading or watching last, or what I’ve already finished.
So I built a **browser-based preview tool**—basically my attempt to improve on the frustrating Windows File Explorer experience.
---
### What It Does
- Paste any folder path and instantly view all files inside.
- Preview PDFs, videos, audio, images (PNG, JPEG, etc.), and text files.
- Sort files the way you want (default folder sorting is just frustrating).
- Remembers **recently opened folders** and **last viewed file**, inspired by VS Code.
- Checkbox indicator to mark files as “done reading/watching.” State is saved locally in JSON simple but effective.
- Gives hands-on experience with Python backend development while being genuinely useful.
---
### Current Limitations
- For **large folders**, rendering the file list can take a little time.
- Sometimes PDFs open in a **different tab** depending on the browser behavior.
- Does **not yet support large archives** (zip, rar, etc.)—only previews individual files.
---
### What’s Next
I love this project, and I’m thinking of:
- Learn algorithm so I can improve the speed and possible app for it
- Adding **search and filtering** for quick file lookup.
- Supporting more file types and larger files efficiently.
- Maybe a **small recommendation system** for files based on your reading/watching history.
- Learning more **backend concepts** to handle large directories smoothly.