🔐 PasteVault – High-Performance C++ Paste Sharing Platform

A light, blazingly fast, and security-focused Pastebin microservice engineered in C++17, powered by Crow, Asio, and SQLite3. Features Zero-Knowledge Client-Side AES-256 Encryption, Prism.js Syntax Highlighting, 🔥 Burn After Reading, and a sleek Slate Glassmorphism UI.

Containerized with Docker and deployed on Render.

🌐 Live Demo

🚀 Live Application: https://pastevault-tbl1.onrender.com/

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🚀 Key Features

• 🔒 Client-Side Zero-Knowledge Encryption: Optional password protection uses AES-256 (CryptoJS) directly in the browser. Text is encrypted before leaving the client—the C++ backend and SQLite database store only scrambled ciphertext and never see plaintext or passwords.
• ⚡ Automatic Prism.js Syntax Highlighting: Dynamic language detection and syntax highlighting for C++, Python, JavaScript, HTML, SQL, CSS, and more with Prism.js dark themes.
• 🔥 "Burn After Reading" One-Time Pastes: Optional single-view pastes that automatically self-destruct and purge permanently from SQLite the instant they are retrieved.
• 🚀 Top-Down Toast Notifications & Quick Actions: Modern floating toast popup on creation with direct share-link copying and a 1-click "Copy Content" button for viewers.
• 💎 Slate Glassmorphism UI: Modern developer-focused design inspired by Vercel and Linear, complete with ambient background glows, responsive layouts, and custom scrollbars.
• RESTful C++ Backend: Structured routing supporting POST (create), GET (retrieve), and DELETE (explicit deletion) with JSON request/response payloads.
• SQLite Persistence: Thread-safe C++ database wrapper using parameterized prepared statements to prevent SQL injection.
• Auto-Expiration Handling: Flexible TTL (Time-To-Live) support (5 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day, or permanent) with automatic expiration checks and database cleanup.
• Dynamic Base62 ID Generator: Short 7-character unique identifier generation using C++ <random> (std::mt19937).
• Automated Cloud Pipeline: Containerized multi-stage Docker build pipeline deployed to Render with zero-downtime auto-deploys via GitHub webhooks.

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🛠️ Tech Stack & Architecture

Backend

• Language: C++17
• HTTP Framework: Crow Framework (built on Asio)
• Database: SQLite3
• Build System: CMake 3.14+ (using FetchContent for automated dependency management)

Frontend

• UI & Styling: HTML5, Modern CSS3 (CSS Variables, Backdrop Filters, Glassmorphism, Custom Scrollbars)
• Encryption: CryptoJS (AES-256 Client-Side)
• Code Highlighting: Prism.js (Core + Autoloader)
• Scripting: Vanilla JavaScript (ES6+ async/await with fetch & Clipboard API)

Infrastructure

• Containerization: Multi-stage Docker
• Hosting: Render Cloud Platform

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📂 Project Structure

PasteVault/
├── CMakeLists.txt         # Root build configuration
├── Dockerfile             # Multi-stage container build spec
├── pastevault.db          # SQLite persistent storage (auto-generated)
├── include/               # Header includes
├── src/
│   ├── main.cpp           # Server entry point & static file routing
│   ├── database/
│   │   ├── DatabaseManager.hpp
│   │   └── DatabaseManager.cpp # SQLite C++ wrapper, migration & prepared statements
│   ├── handlers/
│   │   ├── PasteHandler.hpp
│   │   └── PasteHandler.cpp    # ID generation, TTL/Burn logic & JSON handling
│   └── routes/
│       └── Router.hpp          # Crow REST API endpoints definition
└── public/
    ├── index.html         # Single-page UI layout & Toast containers
    ├── style.css          # Glassmorphism dark slate styling & Prism overrides
    └── app.js             # Client routing, AES encryption/decryption & clipboard actions

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🔌 API Reference

1. Create a Paste

Endpoint

POST /api/paste

Request Body (Plaintext)

{
  "content": "Hello world from PasteVault!",
  "ttl_minutes": 60,
  "is_encrypted": false,
  "burn_after_reading": false
}

Request Body (Client-Encrypted & Burn-After-Reading)

{
  "content": "U2FsdGVkX1+x9b...",
  "ttl_minutes": -1,
  "is_encrypted": true,
  "burn_after_reading": true
}

Note: Set ttl_minutes to -1 for permanent or burn-after-reading pastes.

Response (201 Created)

{
  "id": "RCOtjlQ",
  "is_encrypted": true,
  "burn_after_reading": true,
  "created_at": 1784874104,
  "expires_at": -1
}

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2. Retrieve a Paste

Endpoint

GET /api/paste/<paste_id>

Response (200 OK)

{
  "id": "RCOtjlQ",
  "content": "U2FsdGVkX1+x9b...",
  "is_encrypted": true,
  "burn_after_reading": true,
  "created_at": 1784874104,
  "expires_at": -1
}

Note: If burn_after_reading is true, this request returns the payload and deletes the row from SQLite immediately.

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3. Delete a Paste

Endpoint

DELETE /api/paste/<paste_id>

Response (200 OK)

{
  "message": "Paste deleted successfully"
}

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⚙️ Local Development Setup

Prerequisites

• GCC / G++ (supporting C++17)
• CMake (v3.14+)
• SQLite3 library installed locally

Building & Running

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/<YOUR_USERNAME>/PasteVault.git
cd PasteVault

Configure with CMake

mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..

Compile

make              # Linux/Mac
# OR
mingw32-make      # Windows MinGW

Launch the server

# Run from project root so static public files load correctly
cd ..
./build/pastevault

Open http://localhost:18080/ in your web browser.

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🐳 Docker Setup

Build and run locally using Docker:

docker build -t pastevault .
docker run -p 18080:18080 pastevault

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📜 License

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for more information.