Paperfold: Using Telegram as Unlimited Cloud Storage with a Desktop App

Source: Dev.to

Overview

Paperfold is an open‑source, cross‑platform desktop application that turns Telegram into a usable cloud storage solution. It leverages Telegram’s ability to upload large files and provides a native, user‑friendly interface for everyday file management outside the Telegram app.

• GitHub: https://github.com/damndeepeshdev/Paperfold
• Live demo / website: https://paperfold.damndeepesh.dev

Features

• Upload and manage files using Telegram as the storage backend
• Folder‑like organization with search
• Drag‑and‑drop uploads
• File previews
• Soft delete (trash support)
• Local encrypted metadata
• Native desktop builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, Framer Motion
• Desktop App: Tauri (Rust)
• Telegram Integration: MTProto via grammers (Rust)
• Build Tooling: Vite, GitHub Actions

The app is designed to be fast, minimal, and resource‑efficient.

Getting Started

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/damndeepeshdev/Paperfold.git

Install dependencies

cd Paperfold
npm install

Configure Telegram API credentials

Create a .env file (or otherwise set environment variables) with your Telegram API credentials:

TELEGRAM_API_ID=your_api_id
TELEGRAM_API_HASH=your_api_hash

Telegram API credentials can be obtained from https://my.telegram.org.

Run the app (development mode)

npm run tauri dev

Build production binaries

npm run tauri build

Development Focus

Paperfold is actively being developed. Current focus areas include:

• Polishing the user experience
• Expanding open‑source contributions

Feel free to explore the repository, submit issues, or contribute via pull requests.