betterNAS Part 3: Local Device

This document describes the software and user experience on the user's Mac or other local device.

What it is

The local device layer is how a user actually mounts and uses their NAS.

It can start simple:

Finder + WebDAV mount
manual Connect to Server

It can later grow into:

a small desktop helper
one-click mount flows
auto-mount at login
status and reconnect behavior

What it does

authenticates the user to betterNAS
fetches allowed mount profiles from the control plane
mounts approved storage exports locally
gives the user a native-feeling way to browse files

What it should not do

invent its own permissions model
hardcode NAS endpoints outside the control plane
become tightly coupled to Nextcloud

Diagram

                            betterNAS system

   NAS node  <--------->  control plane  <--------->  [THIS DOC] local device
      |                           |                                   |
      |                           |                                   |
      +---------------------------+-----------------------+-----------+
                                                          |
                                                          v
                                                   cloud/web layer

Core decisions

V1 can rely on native Finder WebDAV mounting.
A lightweight helper app is likely enough before a full custom client.
The local device should consume mount profiles, not raw infrastructure details.

User modes

Mount mode

user mounts a NAS export into Finder
files are browsed as a mounted remote disk

Cloud mode

user accesses the same storage through browser/mobile/cloud surfaces
this is not the same as a mounted filesystem

TODO

Define the mount profile format the control plane returns.
Decide what the first local UX is: manual Finder flow, helper app, or both.
Define credential storage and Keychain behavior.
Define auto-mount, reconnect, and offline expectations.
Define how the local device hands off to the cloud/web layer when mount mode is not enough.

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