audreyt/ethercalc

EtherCalc is a web spreadsheet for real-time collaborative editing. It is a Node.js port of Multi-user SocialCalc, rewritten in TypeScript to run on the Cloudflare fullstack (Hono, Workers, Durable Objects, D1, KV, R2) or self-hosted via Docker without requiring a Cloudflare account.

The tool solves the problem of enabling multiple users to edit a spreadsheet simultaneously with live synchronization. It deploys either to Cloudflare using wrangler or runs anywhere via Docker Compose. The architecture supports both cloud deployment and self-hosting on trusted networks or the public internet, with the latter requiring a reverse proxy for TLS termination and rate limiting. The tool persists spreadsheet room state and integrates with content management systems including Drupal.

Self-hosting is straightforward for local or trusted LAN environments using Docker Compose with no external dependencies like Redis or a Cloudflare account. For internet-facing instances, the project provides a bundled nginx configuration that enforces a 25 MiB body limit, applies per-source-address rate limiting, and handles WebSocket upgrades with appropriate timeouts. The tool deliberately maintains anonymous read/write access for anyone with a room URL, placing security responsibility at the network edge. Installation via npm requires Bun on the host system, while the Docker path includes Bun in the image. The project has been tested on Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.

The codebase shows active development with a comprehensive rewrite plan documented in the repository. The project maintains detailed architecture documentation and provides a REST API alongside the web interface. Documentation is available in multiple languages and hosted via Starlight, with local development support through a documented build system.