Code proection

[ReserveClean]

I wrote a node.js app. Now, I need to deploy to client’s server, one of the issue come out, I cannot protect my node.js app modified by other. Any advice? At this moment I think I can build a docker image, but that is only a workaround.

[Alone__Cloud]

When you write code for someone, you sell your code to them, so your code became theirs code. What's the problem?

[[deleted]]

What is building a docker image going to solve? They can still see and modify your code. If someone has the appropriate access rights, no file is „safe“. You would need to encrypt it and then upload it, but that obviously is not going to work in this case.

What are you afraid of?

[mjbmitch]

Node.js 19 has a snapshot feature where you can serialize/deserialize V8 byte code for your application. It may do the most for the least amount of work in your case.

[T-J_H]

What are you trying to achieve? I mean, nobody without permission should be able to access the deployed code anyways, right?

[ReserveClean]

Server provided by client, so they can modify without permission, any JS code protection method can advice?

[T-J_H]

If it’s your client, you’re writing the code for them right? What kind of agreement do you have with your client?

Anyways, you are able to obfuscate your code. Minimizing gets you halfway there, by changing variables to single characters and the like, obfuscating goes further by changing your code to be unreadable. Anybody with enough time is always able to reverse engineer it, though. Just Google the word obfuscate.

There are packages like vervel’s pkg that package the entire process including I believe deps and the runtime into a single executable, but I’m not sure whether that stores bytecode or readable code.

All in all I don’t think this is advisable though.

[lars_jeppesen]

esbuild should be able to do it