Connect to a server
Everything in Nagma works on your own computer. A Nagma server adds what needs other people: shared files with live editing, comments, teams and projects, invitations, published sites and Make apps.
Three choices
| Choice | Who can open your files | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| This computer | Only you. Files stay on this computer. | Nothing. It's the default. |
| Nagma (hosted), free | Anyone you share with, anywhere. | A free account on it, with a verified email before you share. |
| Your own server | Anyone you share with who can reach your server. | A server you (or your company, or a friend) run. See Self-hosting. |
- This computer is the server the app came with. In the desktop app it runs on your machine for your own files, so a link to a file there would carry your machine's own address, which nobody elsewhere can open. That's why Share on This computer doesn't hand out a link.
- Nagma (hosted) is the server the Nagma project runs at
https://api.nagma.app. It's free. Create an account in the app; it asks you to verify your email (open the link it mails you) before you can invite people, open a link to anyone or publish. - Your own server is any Nagma server someone runs: your company's, a friend's, or one you run
in one command (Self-hosting). Its address looks like
https://nagma.example.com; whoever runs it can give it to you.
Sharing a file from This computer
Choose Share on a file while This computer is the server. Instead of a link, Share offers:
- Share through Nagma (the main button). Nagma connects to the hosted server, asks you to sign
in or create an account there, moves the file to it (owned by you), and opens Share again with a
link like
https://api.nagma.app/?file=…that works anywhere. The original stays on This computer. If your email isn't verified yet, Share shows Verify your email with Resend; once you've opened the link from the mail, invite people or copy the link as usual. - Use your own server… opens the server picker.
- Export a copy downloads the file as
.nagma.json, to send however you like.
For a file already on This computer's own server, the … menu in Share has Copy local link
(same network only): it only opens for people on your local network while your computer is on.
Nagma never offers a link to localhost or a private network address any other way.
The server picker
Open it from:
- Get started › Connect to a server, the first time Nagma opens (or Help › Get started);
- the server badge next to your name on Home, or Server… in the account menu on Home;
- Nagma › Server… in the desktop app's menu bar;
- Change in the sign-in dialog;
- Use your own server… (or Connect) in Share, when a file is only on this computer.
The picker lists This computer, Nagma (hosted), free (one click connects to it) and every server you've added. To add your own:
- Choose Add your own server… and type its address, such as
https://nagma.example.com. Where do I get one? next to the field leads here. An address without a scheme ishttps://, except a machine on this computer or your local network (localhost:8080,192.168.1.4:8080), which ishttp://. - Choose Check server. Nagma shows the server's name and version, so you know it's the right one.
- Choose Connect to that server, then sign in or create an account there.
To forget a server, hover it in the list and choose the cross. Switching to another server reloads the app for that server.
Sessions per server
Each server has its own accounts. Signing in on one doesn't sign you in on another, and switching back to a server signs you in again as you were. You can be signed in to several accounts on the same server and switch between them from the account menu on Home.
Links carry their server
A link to a file on a team server says which server it's on. Opening it (in a browser, or through
the desktop app's nagma:// links) when another server is in use offers to switch to the file's
server. Links to files on This computer don't carry a server: they only open on this machine, or
for people on your local network when the desktop app's server is reachable there.
What stays local
- Drafts stay on this device, whichever server you use. What the app keeps for you (drafts, open tabs, recents, stars) is kept apart per server and per account, so nothing from one shows up on another, and nothing is lost when you switch.
- Shared files, teams, projects and sites belong to the server they're on. Tabs for another server's files close when you switch away and come back when you switch back.
- Device preferences (theme, interface scale, panel layout, which hints you've seen) are the same for every server and account on this device.
- To share a draft, open it and choose Share: on the hosted server or a team server it moves to the server, owned by you, and you can invite people or copy a link. On This computer, Share offers Share through Nagma (above).
Running your own
On a Linux server with a domain pointing at it:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fish-hook-studios/nagma/main/tools/install.sh | sudo bashThe installer sets up Docker, asks for your domain and admin email, and starts Nagma with automatic HTTPS. Then add the address in the picker. Self-hosting has the details, the docker compose alternative, DNS, backups and upgrades.