beam

Move a project folder from one laptop to another over the local network. Pure Python standard library, no runtime dependencies, works on Windows, macOS and Linux (Python 3.9+).

# laptop A
beam send ~/thesis

# laptop B
beam recv ab3f9c

Install

Both laptops need it:

pip install beam-lan

pipx install beam-lan also works and keeps it out of your other environments.

If your shell says beam is not a recognised command, pip put the script in a folder that is not on your PATH (pip prints a warning naming it). Either add that folder to PATH, or run python -m beam instead of beam.

Use it

On the laptop that has the project:

beam send ~/thesis

It prints a short one-time code. Send it to the other laptop however you like (chat, email, read it out), then run there:

beam recv ab3f9c

The receiver finds the sender on the local network by itself, so no IP address is needed. Both machines must be on the same network.

As a library

import beam

beam.send_project("~/thesis", code="ab3f9c")          # laptop A
beam.receive_project(code="ab3f9c", out="~/work")     # laptop B

receive_project also takes host= to skip discovery. send_project accepts port=0 to bind a free port, and an on_ready callback that receives the bound host, port and code once it is listening. beam.find_sender(code) returns the (host, port, name) of a sender without transferring anything.

What it does

• Skips .venv, __pycache__, .git, node_modules and similar by default. Copying a virtualenv between machines mostly produces broken paths; rebuild it from requirements.txt instead.
• Hashes every file before sending and re-hashes after extraction, so corruption is reported instead of discovered weeks later.
• Streams a gzipped tar straight through the socket, so no temporary archive is written on either side.
• A .beamignore file in the project root adds per-project glob patterns, one per line (# starts a comment).

Options

beam send PATH

beam recv CODE

Troubleshooting

no sender with code ... found

• Check both laptops are on the same Wi-Fi or wired network. Guest and office networks often isolate devices from each other or drop broadcasts.
• On Windows, allow Python through the firewall when it asks on the sending laptop. If you dismissed the prompt, allow python.exe for private networks in Windows Defender Firewall → Allow an app.
• Skip discovery and connect directly using the address the sender prints: beam recv ab3f9c --host 192.168.1.42:8765.

Discovery uses UDP port 8766 and the transfer uses TCP port 8765.

Limits

The connection is plain TCP with no encryption. The code stops casual grabs on a shared network; it is not security. Do not use it on networks you do not trust. For repeated syncing rather than a one-time move, rsync -av --exclude=.venv or a private Git remote is a better fit.

Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest
ruff check .
python -m build

License

MIT