The scout toolkit

Four small Rust tools for using Swarm — the decentralized storage network — without running a node. They share one foundation, the scout library, and cover the everyday things people actually do with storage: read, sync, publish, and keep secrets.

ToolCrateWhat it does
scoutswarm-scouta light client: read / write / feeds / encrypted sharing (CLI and library)
stashswarm-stashsync a folder ↔ Swarm — a feed-backed drive
perchswarm-perchpublish a folder as a website with a stable URL
keepswarm-keepan encrypted secrets/notes vault
cargo install swarm-scout swarm-stash swarm-perch swarm-keep

The "no-node" idea

Running a full Swarm (Bee) node means staking, syncing a reserve, and operating infrastructure. Most people who use Swarm don't want that — they want to fetch a file, publish a site, or back up a folder.

These tools split the two halves of that:

  • Reads (/bzz, /bytes, feeds) are served by any gateway — no node, stake, or stamp. By default they use the public Swarm gateway, so reading works out of the box.
  • Writes (uploads, feed updates, sharing) need a Bee node that holds a postage batch (a prepaid storage stamp). You point the tools at your own or a hosted node — "bring your own stamp."

See Getting started for both.

Who it's for / where you'd use them

  • App & script developers — swarm-scout is a small library to read or write Swarm from a backend, CLI, bot, serverless function, or CI job, without the full node/client surface. stash/perch/keep are each ~150 lines on top of it — proof the library is the building block.
  • Site authors — perch hosts a static site, docs, or dapp frontend on Swarm with a link that survives redeploys (decentralized hosting).
  • Anyone who wants durable storage — stash for folder backup/sync, keep for portable, client-side-encrypted secrets.

Status & caveats

All four are early (v0.1–v0.6), single-author, and verified end-to-end against a live Bee node (Sepolia testnet, Bee 2.7.2). They're not yet mainnet-hardened at scale, and keep's encryption (ChaCha20-Poly1305), while standard, is unaudited. Writes cost BZZ (postage). Treat them as solid, working building blocks rather than turnkey products.