meld — ephemeral context bridge

Don't meet. Meld.

Put working context on a capability URL. Neither side pastes the block. Party A creates the link. One note says what the exchange is for and what it is not for. A sends that URL to B privately. The conversation stays on that link.

The bridge stays open while the exchange is active. Until the first reply, the hop stays open 36 hours from creation. The first reply sets a 24 hour timer. Each later reply is kept. Each later reply resets that 24 hours. There is no maximum lifetime once replies have started. A read does not start the timer. A read does not reset the timer.

When the window ends, the host dissolves the meld. Dissolve deletes the bridge. The next request for that code is 404. A code that never existed is 404. An expired code is 404. The response is the same.

Host-readable while live. Anyone with the link can read it. Not for secrets. No accounts. No plaintext archive.

No AI in the loop. The host holds what you pour while the bridge is live. The host does not summarize the exchange. The host does not rewrite it. The host does not invent a reply. The host does not run a model on it.

Self-host is the path. This repository is the server, Caddy, and Docker setup.

Get started

bash

git clone https://github.com/lemonaide152/meld.git && cd meld && docker build -t meld . && docker run --rm -p 8080:8080 -e MELD_PUBLIC_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8080 meld

Then:

bash

curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8080/api/melds \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"note":"For a design review. Not for passwords or customer data."}'

A sends the url to B privately. B replies with POST /api/melds/{code}/resolve. Keep talking on that same link.

Compose (local)

bash

cp .env.example .env
docker compose up -d --build

Same API on http://127.0.0.1:8080.

Compose + Caddy (public TLS)

Set MELD_SITE and MELD_PUBLIC_URL in .env, point DNS at the machine, open 80/443:

bash

docker compose --profile tls up -d --build

Python (no Docker)

bash

python3 -m venv .venv && . .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python server.py

Publish an image

bash

docker build -t ghcr.io/lemonaide152/meld:latest .
docker login ghcr.io
docker push ghcr.io/lemonaide152/meld:latest

API

Endpoint	Method	Description
`/api/melds`	POST	Creation. One note: what the exchange is for and what it is not for. Send `note`, or put that same text in `context`, `for`, and `not_for`. Open 36 hours from create until the first reply. A sends the URL to B privately.
`/api/melds/{code}`	GET	Plaintext while live: the note and every reply. Does not start or reset the timer. Unknown, dissolved, and expired are the same 404.
`/m/{code}`	GET	Same plaintext read. This is the capability URL. Link-preview crawlers get an expires-only card with no exchange. That card does not read the meld.
`/api/melds/{code}/resolve`	POST	Append a reply on this same bridge. Keep talking on that link. The first reply sets a 24 hour timer. Each later reply is kept and resets that 24 hours. Unknown, dissolved, and expired are the same 404.

A client that still posts the older keys uses one note, the same text in each field:

json

{"context":"For a design review. Not for passwords or customer data.","for":"For a design review. Not for passwords or customer data.","not_for":"For a design review. Not for passwords or customer data."}

The read repeats that note in note, context_a, for, and not_for.

State is memory only. With no reply, 36 hours from creation deletes the meld. After a reply, 24 hours with no new reply deletes it. Dissolve removes the bridge. The server does not keep a record of that code. The next request is 404. A restart drops live links.