Open Data Institute · Solid · 2025–26
Solid File Manager
A familiar file manager for data stored in a Solid Pod.
Why it exists
A Solid Pod gives someone control over their own data, but managing the files inside one can still feel very technical. This project makes the experience closer to using an ordinary drive.
What I worked on
I wrote most of the application: sign-in, storage discovery, file operations, sharing and the local Community Solid Server setup used during development.
A few details
- People can sign in with Solid-OIDC, return to an existing session, and open storage roots found through their WebID profile.
- Files and folders can be uploaded, downloaded as ZIPs, renamed, copied, moved and deleted. Folder drag-and-drop works in browsers that support the File System Access API.
- Sharing works with WebIDs and is stored in the Pod as ACP access policies.
- Container RDF metadata is reused where possible. The app falls back to a HEAD request when a file’s type is missing.
- Dialogs, menus and notifications use semantic markup and accessible labels.