GWiki

A lightweight personal wiki. Self-hosted, single-file frontend, Python stdlib server, zero dependencies.

Stack

• index.html — all CSS and JS inline, no build step, no npm
• server_wiki.py — Python stdlib HTTP server with a small REST API
• Custom regex Markdown parser (no external library)

Running

python3 server_wiki.py
# open http://localhost:8080

No install, no build step.

Server modes

The server auto-detects the mode on startup:

• Standalone — a single topics/ folder at root → goes straight to the wiki
• Hub — multiple sub-wiki folders at root → shows a card grid to pick one

Content structure

<wiki-root>/
└── <sub-wiki>/          # hub mode only
    ├── topics/
    │   └── <category-slug>/
    │       ├── <topic-slug>.md
    │       ├── <topic-slug>.html
    │       └── images/
    ├── cover.webp        # wiki hero image (optional)
    └── description.txt   # wiki tagline (optional)

Category and topic names are derived from folder/file slugs (hyphens → spaces, words capitalised). No config files.

Admin & password

Append ?admin to the URL to enter admin mode. On first visit a password is set; subsequent visits require it.

The password is stored as a salted SHA-256 hash in .butterfly at the server root. To reset, delete that file — the next ?admin visit will prompt for a new password.

Session token is stored in localStorage (persists across page reloads).

Editing

Click the lock button to unlock edit mode. Clicking any topic opens an inline editor. Save writes directly to the file.

Markdown topics — split-pane editor with live preview.

HTML topics — WYSIWYG editor with toolbar: bold, italic, underline, headings, lists, links, image upload. Images can be resized by dragging corner handles. Paste from clipboard to upload directly.

Hub features

• Sub-wiki hero — each wiki shows a cover image, name, and short description on its welcome page. Click to upload/edit in unlock mode. Drag the corner handle to resize the cover image.
• Hub card thumbnails — wikis with a cover image show it as a banner on their hub card.
• Animated subtitle — the hub subtitle cycles through customisable words with random text effects (scramble, glitch, wave, rainbow, and more).
• Settings panel — accessible in hub-unlock mode (⚙ settings). Configure hub title, title color, subtitle color, rotating word list, and the sidebar logo (letter or uploaded image).
• Logo — change the sidebar logo letter or upload an image (/logo.webp, served from the server root — works across devices).

Deep links

Navigation updates the URL hash so any page can be bookmarked or shared via QR code:

/?admin#wiki=my-wiki&cat=my-category&slug=my-topic

API

Method	Path	Description
GET	/api/topics[?wiki=]	Category/topic tree
GET	/api/topic?cat=&slug=[&wiki=]	Raw file content + type
PUT	/api/topic?cat=&slug=[&wiki=]	Save content
POST	/api/topic	Create topic (name, type: md|html)
POST	/api/category	Create category
POST	/api/wiki	Create sub-wiki (hub mode)
POST	/api/image?cat=&filename=[&wiki=]	Upload image (raw binary body); omit cat to write to wiki/server root
PUT	/api/description?wiki=	Save wiki description (description.txt)
GET/POST	/api/auth[?token=]	Password auth — GET: status; POST {password}: verify/set, returns token
DELETE	/api/topic?cat=&slug=[&wiki=]	Delete topic

Deployment (Linux service)

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart gwiki
sudo systemctl status gwiki