Penny
Simple Solid pod browser. Navigate and manage your pod with ease.
Overview
Penny is a lightweight web application for browsing and managing Solid pods. It provides a simple file-browser interface to view, upload, and organize your data stored in Solid pods.
Key Features
File Browser Interface
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Penny │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 📁 https://alice.solidcommunity.net/ │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ 📂 public/ │
│ │ ├── 📄 about.ttl │
│ │ └── 📸 photo.jpg │
│ │ │
│ 📂 private/ │
│ │ ├── 📄 notes.md │
│ │ └── 📂 documents/ │
│ │ │
│ 📄 profile/card#me │
│ 📄 settings/ │
│ │
│ [Upload] [New Folder] [Refresh] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Core Operations
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Browse | Navigate folders |
| View | Read files and resources |
| Upload | Add new files |
| Create | New folders and resources |
| Delete | Remove items |
| ACL | View/edit permissions |
RDF Awareness
View Turtle and other RDF formats:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 📄 profile/card │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ View: [Raw] [Formatted] [Triples] │
│ │
│ @prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> . │
│ │
│ <#me> │
│ a foaf:Person ; │
│ foaf:name "Alice" ; │
│ foaf:knows <https://bob.pod/profile/card#me> . │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Authentication
Penny supports Solid authentication:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Login │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Enter your Pod URL or WebID: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ https://alice.solidcommunity.net/ ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ [Login with Solid] │
│ │
│ Or choose a provider: │
│ - solidcommunity.net │
│ - inrupt.net │
│ - solidweb.org │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Usage
Browsing Your Pod
- Go to Penny
- Enter your pod URL
- Authenticate via Solid OIDC
- Browse your files
Uploading Files
- Navigate to target folder
- Click "Upload"
- Select file(s)
- Files uploaded to your pod
Managing Permissions
- Select a resource
- Click "ACL" or permissions icon
- View/edit access control
- Save changes
Technical Details
Solid Compliance
- Uses solid-client-authn for login
- Respects Web Access Control (WAC)
- Handles RDF and non-RDF resources
- Works with any compliant Solid server
File Types
| Type | Handling |
|---|---|
| Turtle (.ttl) | Parsed and displayed |
| JSON-LD | Rendered as RDF |
| Images | Inline preview |
| Text | Direct display |
| Binary | Download link |
Self-Hosting
Penny is a static web app:
git clone https://github.com/penny-app/penny.git
cd penny
npm install
npm run build
# Deploy dist/ to any static host
Comparison
| Feature | Penny | SolidOS | Mashlib |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complexity | Simple | Full-featured | Full-featured |
| Learning curve | Low | High | High |
| File focus | Yes | No | No |
| ACL editing | Basic | Advanced | Advanced |
| RDF editing | View only | Full | Full |
Use Cases
Data Management
- Organize pod contents
- Upload backups
- Clean up old files
Debugging
- View raw resources
- Check permissions
- Verify data structure
Quick Access
- Browse without full SolidOS
- Lightweight pod inspection
- Simple file operations
Links
- Demo: Available online
- GitHub: penny-app/penny
See Also
- Solid Protocol — The protocol
- SolidOS — Full data browser
- Mashlib — UI library
- solid-client — JavaScript library