Send Private and Secure Notes with Enclosed
Ever needed to send someone a password, API key, or sensitive information but hesitated because you didn't want it sitting in plain text? We've all been there—copy-pasting into Slack or email while hoping nobody's watching. What if you could share secrets that automatically disappear after being read?
That's exactly what Enclosed solves. It's a dead-simple web app for sending private notes that self-destruct after they're viewed, making secure sharing actually practical for everyday use.
What It Does
Enclosed is a privacy-focused web application that lets you create encrypted notes accessible via unique links. The core premise is straightforward: you paste your sensitive text, get a shareable link, and send it to your recipient. Once they view the note, it's automatically deleted from the server—no traces left behind.
The entire process happens client-side, meaning your data gets encrypted in the browser before ever touching the server. Even if someone intercepted the link, they'd only get encrypted gibberish without the decryption key.
Why It's Cool
The beauty of Enclosed lies in its simplicity and security model. Unlike complex enterprise solutions, this gets secure sharing right without the overhead. The encryption happens transparently using AES-GCM, and the decryption key travels within the URL fragment identifier (the part after the # that doesn't get sent to the server).
This means:
- The server never sees your plaintext data
- Notes automatically delete after first view
- No accounts or setup required
- It's completely open source
The implementation is clever too—it uses the Web Crypto API for all cryptographic operations, so everything stays in the browser. The server is basically just a dumb storage that holds encrypted blobs until they're retrieved and immediately destroyed.
How to Try It
You can start using Enclosed right now—no installation needed. Just head to the enclosed app and you're ready to go.
To send a secure note:
- Paste your sensitive text into the text area
- Click "Enclose" to generate your secure link
- Share that link with your intended recipient
- Once they view it, the note is gone forever
Want to peek under the hood or contribute? Check out the source code on GitHub - it's built with Next.js and TypeScript, making it accessible for web developers to understand and extend.
Final Thoughts
Enclosed hits that sweet spot between being genuinely useful and technically interesting. It's one of those tools that solves a real problem without over-engineering the solution. I can see developers using this for sharing temporary database credentials with teammates, sending one-time passwords to non-technical users, or any scenario where you need to get sensitive information from A to B without leaving a paper trail.
The fact that it's open source means you can audit the security claims yourself or even deploy your own instance if you need more control. In a world full of overly complex security tools, it's refreshing to see something that just works.
@githubprojects