NDN Workspace
Extensible Decentralized App
Comunidade
Links
Detalhes
Licença Open source (UCLA-IRL GitHub organization; ndnts-aux library published as npm package); NDN core software is open source under various licenses (GPL, LGPL, BSD)
Status de Dev 🔨 Em desenvolvimento
Detalhe do Status de Dev Experimental / Active development (used in real NDN community events; libraries published as npm packages; VS Code extension in development)
Proprietário UCLA Internet Research Lab (IRL); lead researchers: Tianyuan Yu, Xinyu Ma, Varun Patil, Yekta Kocaogullar, Lixia Zhang; part of broader NDN project led by Lixia Zhang (PI) and Van Jacobson (NDN Architect)
País USA (UCLA, Los Angeles; NDN consortium spans 8+ US universities and international testbed)
Ano de Início 2022
Stack TypeScript (NDN Workspace frontend and ndnts-aux libraries; NDNts TypeScript NDN library); browser-based via WebAssembly; NDN Forwarding Daemon (NFD) in C++ for network layer
Financiamento NSF (National Science Foundation) — NDN project received $13.5M+ in NSF funding over 2010-2016 via Future Internet Architecture program (grants CNS-1039646, CNS-1345286, CNS-1345318, and others); additional NSF CRI and other federal funding for ongoing NDN research
Última Investigação 9 de mar. de 2026
Extensible Decentralized App Atributos
Origins Research application demonstrating NDN architecture's capabilities for serverless collaborative apps; grew from NSF-funded Future Internet Architecture program exploring alternatives to IP/TCP networking
Database Origin Private File System (OPFS) — browser-based persistent local storage for each user's copy of workspace data; no central database
Query Language N/A (NDN Interest/Data packet exchange for data retrieval; no traditional query language; file structure mapped to CRDT data types)
Data Formats CRDT documents (Yjs): folders as CRDT Maps, text files as CRDT Texts, binary files as immutable versioned blobs; NDN TLV (Type-Length-Value) wire format for network packets
Collaborative Live Editing Yes (real-time multi-user text editing via Yjs CRDTs; asynchronous collaboration supported — users reach consensus as long as they receive the same set of delta updates regardless of order)
Rich Text Editing TBD (current implementation focuses on plain text files and binary blob sharing; rich text editing could be added via Yjs editor integrations like ProseMirror/Tiptap)
Mobile Support N/A (currently browser-based web application; NDN protocol has mobile support via Android NDN libraries, but Workspace itself targets desktop browsers)
Web Support Yes (primary deployment is browser-based web application; accessible at ndn-workspace.web.app for demo/chat app)
Native Apps In development (VS Code extension: ndn-workspace-vscode; no standalone native desktop app)
Terms Free / Open source / Research software (no commercial terms; requires NDN network connectivity via testbed or local NDN forwarder)
Funds $13.5M+ (NSF FIA/FIA-NP program for broader NDN project; NDN Workspace specifically funded as part of UCLA's ongoing NDN research; consortium membership fees from industry at $25K/year)
Based On Named Data Networking (NDN) protocol — an NSF Future Internet Architecture replacing IP with data-centric naming; Yjs CRDT library for conflict resolution; State Vector Sync (SVS) for NDN data synchronization
Development Tools ndnts-aux npm library, ndn-workspace-vscode extension, NDNts TypeScript libraries, ndn-cxx C++ library, NFD forwarding daemon. There's a real developer toolkit here.
Deployment Options NDN Workspace runs in-browser with no server deployment needed; the NDN Forwarding Daemon (NFD) can be run locally or via testbed infrastructure. It's a valid answer but somewhat unusual since the whole point is that there's nothing to deploy server-side.
Authentication & Identity NDN Workspace uses DNS names to identify users and enables direct trust establishment between users. The paper covers trust management in detail — users produce self-certifying data signed with their own keys, and trust schemas define who can access what. This is a genuinely interesting and well-documented aspect.
Storage Model OPFS (Origin Private File System) browser-based local storage, with all data secured by producer keys rather than storage containers. This is already captured in the P2PApp "Database" field as well, but the Platform framing of "Storage Model" would let you describe the broader architectural philosophy (data is self-certifying, storable anywhere).
Interoperability NDN is a distinct networking layer that doesn't interoperate with IP-based P2P systems. Within the NDN ecosystem there's interop via the NDN protocol stack and testbed. This is more of a "no, by design" answer that's still informative.
Social Graph NDN Workspace has trust relations between users but no social graph in the platform sense (no profiles, follow relationships, social discovery). The trust schema is closer to an ACL than a social graph.
Use Case Category Collaborative document editing / File sharing / Research collaboration
User Interface Type Web application (browser-based; VS Code extension in development)
Offline Capabilities Yes — local-first design: all data stored in browser OPFS; offline editing supported; changes sync via CRDTs when connectivity resumes; asynchronous user-to-user communication enabled by storing secured data in any available local storage
Collaboration Features Real-time multi-user text editing via Yjs CRDTs; shared file structure (folders, text files, binary blobs); trust-based membership management where users endorse each other by issuing NDN certificates; used for joint editing and presentation sharing at NDN community events
Data Portability TBD (data is stored locally in browser OPFS as CRDT documents and NDN Data packets; export/import functionality not documented; data is inherently portable because it's self-certifying — secured by the producer, not the container)
Integration Ecosystem NDN ecosystem: ndnts-aux npm library provides building blocks for developing other NDN applications; NDN testbed (42+ sites across 4 continents) provides network infrastructure; interoperable with broader NDN software stack (NFD, ndn-cxx, python-ndn)
Web2 Data Export N/A (research application; no Web2 data import/export connectors)
Prosocial Coherence
Economic Flows N/A (research software; no economic/payment features)
Governance & Decision Making Trust-based: workspace membership managed through NDN certificate issuance; users establish peer-to-peer trust relations and endorse each other directly without central authority; trust policies define who can join and contribute
Media / Publishing File sharing (text files, binary blobs such as presentations shared at NDN community events); not a publishing platform per se
Knowledge Management Basic (shared workspace with folder structure for organizing files); primarily a collaboration tool rather than a knowledge management system
Sensemaking N/A
Project Management N/A (no task tracking, milestones, or project management features)
Communication Model Collaborative + Asynchronous (real-time co-editing when users are online simultaneously via CRDT sync; asynchronous collaboration when users are offline — changes propagate through any available intermediary and merge conflict-free upon receipt)
Network Resilience Full offline + Delay-tolerant (works without connectivity using local OPFS storage; syncs on reconnect via CRDT delta updates; can utilize any and all available connectivity — WiFi, Bluetooth, Cellular — because NDN names data not locations; intermediary users can relay updates even when original producer is offline)
Discovery Mechanism DNS-like (NDN hierarchical naming system: users identified by semantically meaningful names, e.g., /workspace/alice; NDN name-based routing resolves data location; NDN testbed provides global routing infrastructure; peer-to-peer mode for local/ad-hoc discovery under development)
Max Participants Small group (tested at NDN community events with onsite and remote attendees; CRDT architecture theoretically supports medium groups but practical limits depend on SVS sync overhead and NDN network topology; no documented upper bound)
Data Sovereignty Full user control (all data secured by the producing user's cryptographic keys, not by the storage container; users choose where their encrypted data is stored; no central server holds or controls any user data; data can be safely synchronized to any storage because it's self-certifying)