26.5.0-alpha pre-release

LocalSend-compatible receive for headless machines.

NightBridge lets official LocalSend apps send files to a daemon running on a server, NAS, Raspberry Pi, homelab box, or always-on workstation. Install the release binaries, then run the daemon directly or wire it into systemd.

GitHub Releases Quickstart docs

LocalSend app Send file

NightBridge daemon $ night-bridge daemon pending peer: Pixel 8 received: photos.zip

Try the alpha

Install, run, send, approve.

The alpha path is intentionally small: get the daemon running, send from LocalSend, then approve trusted senders.

Install from release assets

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NightBridgeHQ/nightbridge/main/install.sh | \
  sh -s -- --version 26.5.0-alpha

The installer downloads a platform tarball, verifies SHA256SUMS, and installs the CLI, daemon, TUI, and nbrg shortcut.

Run the daemon

night-bridge-daemon \
  --alias "Home Server" \
  --localsend-receive-policy trusted \
  --inbox "$HOME/NightBridgeInbox"

Trusted mode records unknown LocalSend senders as pending until you approve them.

Send from LocalSend

# Use the official LocalSend app.
# Pick "Home Server" on the LAN.
# Send the file.

NightBridge appears as a LocalSend-compatible peer.

Approve trusted peers

night-bridge peers pending-local-send
night-bridge peers approve-local-send <fingerprint> \
  --label "Diego iPhone"

Trusted peers can be allowed without reopening the desktop.

Run it as a service

The installer does not configure startup.

The curl installer only places binaries on disk. For an always-on host, install the daemon as a systemd service and allow the LocalSend ports through the LAN firewall.

Install to a user-owned directory

mkdir -p "$HOME/.local/bin"
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NightBridgeHQ/nightbridge/main/install.sh | \
  sh -s -- --version 26.5.0-alpha \
  --install-dir "$HOME/.local/bin"

Minimal systemd unit

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/night-bridge.service >/dev/null <<'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=NightBridge daemon
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=serveradmin
Environment=XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/home/serveradmin/.config
Environment=XDG_DATA_HOME=/home/serveradmin/.local/share
ExecStart=/home/serveradmin/.local/bin/night-bridge-daemon \
  --config /home/serveradmin/.config/night-bridge/config.toml \
  --identity /home/serveradmin/.local/share/night-bridge/identity.key \
  --trust-db /home/serveradmin/.local/share/night-bridge/trust.db \
  --inbox /home/serveradmin/NightBridgeInbox \
  --alias "Home Server" \
  --localsend-receive-policy trusted
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5s

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now night-bridge.service

LAN firewall ports

sudo ufw allow from 10.0.0.0/8 to any port 53317 proto tcp
sudo ufw allow from 10.0.0.0/8 to any port 53317 proto udp
sudo ufw allow from 10.0.0.0/8 to any port 53400 proto udp

Adjust the CIDR to your trusted LAN, for example 192.168.1.0/24.

Check status

systemctl status night-bridge.service
journalctl -u night-bridge.service -f
curl -k https://127.0.0.1:53317/api/localsend/v2/info

Alpha status

Ready path first, next channels after the alpha proves out.

Alpha ready

LocalSend-compatible receive

Receive files from official LocalSend apps through a headless daemon with prompt, trusted, and controlled auto-accept policies.

Alpha ready

Operator surfaces

CLI, TUI, HTTP/gRPC API, Docker, systemd, DEB packaging, checksums, and SBOM are part of the release path.

Preview

Native Mesh LAN

Trusted NightBridge daemons can discover and send to each other on a LAN over native QUIC. This is advanced preview coverage.

Coming soon

More install channels

The first alpha stays focused on the curl installer and GitHub release assets. Broader packaging follows once the core path is proven by real operators.

Artifacts

Release files expected for alpha testers.

Start with the curl installer. Direct release assets stay available for operators who want to verify binaries, checksums, and SBOMs by hand.

Linux and macOS binaries Published

Docker image Validated path

Debian package with systemd unit Published asset

SHA256SUMS and SBOM Published

Windows artifact Pre-release validation path

Release evidence

What must be green before publishing.

Native soak

Completed on camelia with 13,591 runs. Final sampled logs ended with test result: ok. 1 passed; 0 failed.

Post-refresh delta soak

Completed against e10ade9 with 928 runs after the dependency security refresh.

Final preflight and smoke

Final preflight passed. Docker smoke, DEB/systemd smoke, checksums, and SBOM must be regenerated from the final release commit.