ZDDC

Zero Day Document Control

A file-naming convention plus a few single-file HTML tools for managing project deliverables. Start with Browse — open any folder, no setup. Self-contained, offline-capable, dependency-free.

What is it?

ZDDC is a convention, not a platform. Every deliverable's filename encodes its tracking number, revision, status, and title; every transmittal folder is date-prefixed and self-describing. A plain shared folder becomes a fully searchable, auditable information-management system — no server, no database, no software required to read the archive.

The tools below are optional interfaces around this structure, and each needs nothing to run. Every one is a single self-contained HTML file: open it and point it at a folder on your disk, or put it behind any web server (including the optional zddc-server described below) and use it over the network. Same on-disk layout either way. The extra niceties — friendly labels, per-folder tools, permissions — come from optional .zddc files you can add later, or never.

Read the full specification →

Try the tools

Each tool is a single self-contained HTML file. The link below always tracks the current stable; pin to a specific version on the releases page for reproducibility.

Start here
Browse
Open any folder on your disk — that's the whole setup. A file-tree navigator with live preview for the things you actually have: PDFs, Office docs, images, markdown. Edit markdown in place and download it as DOCX, HTML, or PDF on demand. Add optional .zddc files and the same tool gains friendly folder labels, per-folder tools, permissions, and transmittal actions — leave them out and it's still a complete browser.
Open Browse →
Classify
Turn a pile of incoming files into properly named ZDDC deliverables. Drop files onto a tree to assign each one a tracking number, revision, and status, then organize them into dated transmittal folders ready to issue. Spreadsheet-style editing; writes the renamed, sorted copies straight back to disk. No server needed.
Open Classify →
Archive
The read-only window into the formal record. Filter by tracking number, discipline, revision, status, or free text; group rows by transmittal to see each deliverable's lifecycle; export the current selection as a ZIP. The archive is preserved exactly as-issued.
Open Archive →

Append ?v=v0.0.4 to any URL to load a specific version for a single request — useful for sharing a link to an exact build. Direct local-folder access requires a Chromium-based browser (the File System Access API is unavailable in Firefox / Safari). Browse all versions →

zddc-server (optional)

The tools work two ways over the same on-disk archive. Pick whichever fits your team:

Local directory mode

Open a tool, click Add Directory, point it at a folder. The tool reads files via the File System Access API. No upload, no server, no account.

Enough for individual users and small teams on a shared drive (network share, Dropbox, OneDrive, syncthing).

Online mode

Take the same local directory and put it behind any web server (nginx, Caddy, Apache, or zddc-server). The Archive tool talks to the server's directory listings instead of the local filesystem — read-only, works in any browser.

zddc-server is an optional web-server app, purpose-built to serve a ZDDC archive over the network. Any web server gives you read-only online mode; zddc-server adds the things a generic one can't:

The on-disk layout is the same in both modes. Stop the server and the directory is still a perfectly valid ZDDC archive that opens in local-directory mode. The server is convenience, not lock-in.

Source, configuration, and the full ACL reference: codeberg.org/VARASYS/ZDDC zddc/.

Install on your server

Two paths, no install scripts. The server has built-in fetch-and-cache for the tool HTMLs; the local-file path needs nothing more than a download.

Server: just run zddc-server

The app has the current-stable build of the tools baked in. They appear automatically at the right paths in the served tree:

  • browse.html at every directory (the slash form of any path) — the file-tree navigator, in-place markdown editor, and inbound-file handling surface
  • archive.html at every archive/ path — the read-only search-and-export view of the formal record
  • classifier.html wherever a folder opts into it — assign tracking numbers and build transmittals
  • index.html (the project picker) at the deployment root

Which tool serves at a given URL is decided by the .zddc cascade — the embedded defaults map archive/ subtrees to the archive tool and everything else to browse, but operators can override per folder via default_tool:. Folder names are case-insensitive — Working/, working/, and WORKING/ all match the same rule.

./zddc-server

No flags needed for a quick start. The served tree defaults to the current working directory; the listener defaults to https://localhost:8443/ with a self-signed certificate. --root, --addr, and --tls-cert / --tls-key override each. --help prints the full flag list.

To override a tool at any path: drop a real .html file there — that file wins over the baked-in version. To pin a different version, write an apps: entry in any .zddc file along the path:

# <project>/.zddc
apps:
  browse: stable         # latest stable, or v0.0.4 to pin an exact version
  archive: https://my-fork.example/archive.html

URL sources are fetched once and cached in <ZDDC_ROOT>/_app/. To force a re-fetch, delete the cache file. Closer-to-leaf .zddc entries override parent ones.

Local: just download the .html file

No server, no install — open in any modern browser.

Right-click → Save As. Each tool is a self-contained HTML file with everything inlined; works from file:// or any static host.

Learn more