I’ve been experimenting with WebRTC and Rails 8 to see if it's possible to build a messaging utility that is truly "stateless". I wanted to create something for those moments when you need to move a snippet of text or a file between devices without leaving a trace on a server, a database, or a third-party cloud.
The AI Collaboration: I also want to mention that this project has been a deep dive into collaborating with AI. I used AI to brainstorm the "Zero-Trace" architecture, help me harden the infrastructure after a security audit.
How it works:
Zero-Trace Architecture: No accounts, no cookies (beyond basic security), and absolutely no server-side logging.
Client-Side Encryption: Encryption keys stay in the URL fragment (#). Since fragments are never sent to the server, the signaling layer is cryptographically blind to your data.
P2P Signaling: We use ActionCable for the initial handshake. Once the WebRTC DataChannel is established, the conversation and file transfers happen directly between browsers.
Zero Third-Party Dependencies: No external fonts, scripts, or trackers. Everything is served from the origin to prevent IP leakage to third-party providers.
The Tech Stack:
Framework: Rails 8
Deployment: Kamal 2 on a single VPS