LOCUS

LOCUS has no login. Anyone who can open the page can change its settings and use the device controls described below. Its access checks stop cross-site requests and DNS rebinding in the browser; they are not authentication. Use it on a trusted local network.

There are three kinds for now. UPnP media players (DLNA renderers on TVs and speakers, for example) can play, pause, stop, skip back or forward, mute, change the volume, and switch source; which buttons appear depends on what the device allows at that moment. IPP printers are read-only (model, queue length, state) with a link to the print queue. ONVIF cameras are read-only (device information) with a link to the video stream. Nothing else is managed.

No separate permission is needed: any computer that can open the LOCUS page can control these devices once they are discovered. To restrict it, list the allowed IPs or subnets in LOCUS_CONTROL_CLIENTS (none allows nobody), or switch control off item by item in the Situation panel; LOCUS then sends no requests for that item.

The host name in the browser’s address must be one LOCUS accepts (this machine’s IPs, localhost, its host name, hostname.local, or a name added to LOCUS_ALLOWED_HOSTS), and the port must match the port LOCUS listens on. Changes are accepted only from that same http address. Behind a typical reverse proxy, requests are refused (421 or 403). There is no reverse-proxy example yet. Please do not strip the Origin header or turn the checks off to get around this.

When on, LOCUS actively connects to ports on local devices (candidate probing runs every 15 minutes), and a sweep sends packets across a whole subnet. Traffic like this can set off alerts in routers, firewalls, or security software. On a network someone else runs, such as at work, ask first. It is not a vulnerability scan or an asset inventory.

Discovery uses mDNS, SSDP/UPnP, and WS-Discovery, and only sees announcements that actually reach the machine running LOCUS. It does not cross a VLAN, an isolated Wi-Fi, or a VPN on its own. Another subnet usually needs forwarding on the network side, or entries you add by hand. The service itself also has to be announcing.

• Discovery: mDNS, SSDP, and WS-Discovery multicast queries on the local network, and listening for announcements.
• Device descriptions: reading the description files UPnP devices publish.
• Entry checks: connecting to entries now and then to see whether they are reachable, including outside websites you added.
• Pages and icons: reading page titles and icons when you add or check an entry, outside websites included.
• Candidate probing and sweeps: only after you turn them on.
• Device control: reading state from the media players, printers, and cameras described above, or sending an action when you press a button; nothing is sent for items whose control is switched off.
• Update check: reading https://locus.casa/releases/latest/version without sending anything about your machine; upgrades download from the same place. LOCUS_UPDATE_CHECK=off turns it off.

Device records, entries, the launchpad, names and groups, settings, usage history, and uploaded icons and backgrounds all live in the data directory: /var/lib/locus by default with the installer, the locus-data volume under Docker, and ~/.local/share/locus when run directly. Upgrades are downloaded here too. To back up or move it, stop the service and copy the directory.

SSH, SMB, VNC, and similar entries open as ssh://, smb://, and so on, which the browser hands to a program on your computer. Without a client installed, or without the system linking that scheme to one, nothing opens, and the browser may ask first. Phones usually handle fewer of these. LOCUS does not include a terminal, a file manager, or a remote desktop.

An IP address is not a permanent identity. When a stable identifier such as a MAC address is available, LOCUS puts records from different sources on one device and updates its address when it changes. When it cannot be sure, the records stay separate; the same name or the same IP does not guarantee a merge. A manual entry with an IP address can follow its host to a new address using the host’s MAC and the neighbor table, but this is not dynamic DNS: several interfaces, an address conflict, or a missing record will need your confirmation, and HTTPS on a new IP may not match the certificate.

Status comes from the most recent check. A device can go offline between checks, and an open port does not mean the application is healthy or that you are signed in.

No metrics, alerts, password storage, or container management, and it does not sign you in to the services it opens; each application still handles its own login.

LOCUS ships as a binary; the source is not published. You may run unmodified copies for free on machines you control, for personal or internal use. You may not redistribute, modify, or reverse engineer it. See the license for the full terms and the third-party notices for bundled components; Debian system components in the Docker image are listed in SYSTEM_COMPONENTS.txt inside the image.