pste-server 0.2.0

Self-hosted paste server (sprunge-inspired) with API key auth, soft-delete, and configurable storage

pste-server

Self-hosted paste server inspired by sprunge. Pastes are world-readable; creating requires an API key.

HTTPS is required in production. API keys appear in the Authorization header and in the /?key=<key> query string used by the web form — both are exposed over plain HTTP. pste-server speaks plain HTTP on port 8000; use a reverse proxy or tunnel to terminate TLS. See examples/Caddyfile and examples/compose-cloudflare.yml.

Quick start

pip install -e .
BASE_URL=https://pste.example.com pste-server

# Add your first API key — prints the bookmark URL directly
pste-admin key add --user alice
# -> https://pste.example.com/?key=AbCd1234...

# Set PSTE_URL on the client to that URL, then:
echo "hello" | pste
# -> https://pste.example.com/AB1234
pste AB1234
# -> hello

See examples/ for Docker Compose, Cloudflare Tunnel, and cloud deployment configurations.

API

GET  /              Help page (add ?key=<key> for the paste web form)
POST /              Create paste (requires Authorization: Bearer <key>)
GET  /<id>          Fetch paste as plain text
GET  /<id>?<lang>   Fetch with Pygments syntax highlighting + copy button

Creating pastes:

Field	Type	Description
pste	string	Paste content (required)
lang	string	Pygments lexer name for syntax highlighting
auto_detect	1	Auto-detect language (Pygments, >0.5 confidence threshold)
single_view	1	Delete after first read
expires_at	ISO8601 UTC	Absolute expiry timestamp
expires_in_n	integer	Expiry amount (used with expires_in_unit)
expires_in_unit	H/D/W/M	Expiry unit: hours, days, weeks, minutes

lang and auto_detect are mutually exclusive — if lang is provided, auto-detection is skipped. expires_at and expires_in_n/expires_in_unit are also mutually exclusive.

Fetching pastes:

• GET /<id> — always plain text, regardless of stored lang
• GET /<id>?<lang> — Pygments-highlighted HTML with table line numbers (line numbers have user-select: none so Ctrl-A copies only code) and a Copy button
• GET /<id>?none — plain text (same as bare GET)

Web form

Open /?key=<key> in a browser to use the paste web form. The key is embedded in the bookmark URL; paste it from pste-admin key add output. The form includes:

• Textarea for paste content
• Single-view checkbox
• Expiry controls (number + H/D/W/M dropdown)
• Language dropdown (auto-detect default, 27 common lexers)

When submitted with language auto-detect (default), if Pygments identifies the language with >0.5 confidence the result page shows both the plain URL and a highlighted URL. When a specific language is selected the result shows only the highlighted ?<lang> URL.

Managing API keys

# Add a key (prints the full bookmark URL)
pste-admin key add --user alice --notes "personal laptop"

# Specify your own key value (must be [A-Za-z0-9])
pste-admin key add --key MySecretKey --user alice

# List all keys
pste-admin key list

# Revoke by key value (immediate, no confirmation)
pste-admin key revoke --key <key-value>

# Revoke all keys for a user or matching notes (lists keys, requires y to confirm)
pste-admin key revoke --user alice
pste-admin key revoke --notes "old laptop"

# Update key metadata
pste-admin key set --user alice --notes "rotated 2026-07"
pste-admin key set --key <key-value> --disabled true

# List pastes (shows ID, created, lang, key, deleted status)
pste-admin paste list --user alice

Keys take effect immediately — no restart required.

Environment variables

Variable	Default	Description
BASE_URL	http://localhost:8000	Public URL used in paste links and key add output
PORT	8000	Listen port
STORAGE_BACKEND	sqlite	sqlite, postgresql, or gcs
SQLITE_PATH	./data/pste.db	SQLite DB path
DATABASE_URL	—	PostgreSQL connection string
GCS_BUCKET	—	GCS bucket name
MAX_PASTE_BYTES	1048576	Max paste size (bytes)
DARK_MODE	false	Use github-dark as the highlight style; default (unset) uses default (light)
HIGHLIGHT_STYLE	—	Pin to any Pygments style name, ignoring DARK_MODE

Deletion

By default, expired and single-view pastes are soft-deleted — deleted_at is set and they become inaccessible, but the row is retained. The variables below control hard deletion.

Variable	Default	Description
DELETE_ON_EXPIRE	false	Hard-delete immediately on expiry
DELETE_ON_SINGLE_VIEW	false	Hard-delete immediately on first view
DELETE_AFTER_EXPIRE	7D	Hard-delete soft-deleted expired rows after this duration
DELETE_AFTER_SINGLE_VIEW	7D	Hard-delete soft-deleted single-view rows after this duration

Duration format for DELETE_AFTER_*: integer + H (hours), D (days), W (weeks), or M (minutes). Set to empty string (DELETE_AFTER_EXPIRE=) to disable deferred hard-deletion entirely. DELETE_AFTER_* runs on a 30-minute cycle, independently of DELETE_ON_*.