Mimi Desktop

A local, encrypted password and note manager built with Electron. All data is stored in a single encrypted file on disk.

Features

• Encrypted at rest: Vault file is encrypted with AES-256-GCM. The key is derived from your master password using PBKDF2 (600,000 iterations, SHA-256).
• Passwords and notes: Store login credentials (name, username, password) or secure notes.
• CRUD: Create, read, update, and delete secrets. Search by name, username, or note content.
• No cloud: Everything stays on your machine. The vault file lives in Electron’s user data directory.

Security notes

• Your master password is never stored. It is only used to derive the encryption key and is kept in memory only while the vault is unlocked.
• Lock when you leave the app to clear the key from memory.
• Choose a strong master password. If you lose it, the vault cannot be recovered.
• The app uses a Content-Security-Policy, contextIsolation, and sandbox in the renderer. Crypto and file I/O run only in the main process.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• npm or yarn

Setup and run

One-time setup: run npm install in the project folder.

To run the app: double-click Run.bat. It starts the built exe if present; if not, it runs npm start. To build the exe, run Build.bat (or npm run dist). You can also run npm start from a terminal.

Project structure

Mimi Desktop/
├── package.json
├── src/
│   ├── main/
│   │   ├── main.js           # Electron entry, window, IPC
│   │   ├── preload.js        # Context bridge for renderer
│   │   └── services/
│   │       ├── CryptoService.js   # Key derivation, encrypt/decrypt
│   │       └── VaultService.js    # Vault file I/O, CRUD
│   └── renderer/
│       ├── index.html
│       ├── styles.css
│       └── renderer.js
└── README.md

Build.bat runs npm run dist. Output is in dist (installer and dist\win-unpacked\Mimi Desktop.exe). For detailed build steps, code signing, and release verification, see docs/BUILD-AND-RELEASE.md.

App data folder

Mimi Desktop stores its data in an app-specific folder created by Electron. On Windows this is typically a folder under %APPDATA% (e.g. C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\<app-data-folder>). You can change the data location via Options → Data location → Browse.

Files and folders created by Mimi Desktop

File / folder	Purpose
config.json	App settings (e.g. custom data path if you chose a different folder)
vault.enc	Encrypted vault containing all notes and logins (when using the default data path)
backups/	Default folder for backup zip files. The save dialog opens here; you can choose another location.

If you set a custom data path, vault.enc is stored in the folder you chose; config.json and backups/ remain in the app data folder.

Backup and restore

You can back up your data via Options → Backup → Backup data. This saves vault.enc and config.json to a timestamped folder of your choice.

Restoring from a backup (Options → Backup → Restore from backup) replaces your current vault and config with the backup. Important: Restoring also restores the master password to whatever it was when the backup was created. You must use that backup’s master password to unlock after a restore, not your current one.

Folders created by Electron/Chromium

Electron uses Chromium for the app window; these folders are created automatically and are not created by Mimi Desktop:

Folder	Purpose
blob_storage	Blob URLs and binary data used by the renderer
Cache	General browser cache
Code Cache	Cached compiled JavaScript
DawnCache	Chromium Dawn graphics cache
GPUCache	GPU shader and graphics cache
Local Storage	localStorage data for the web view
Network	HTTP/network cache
Session Storage	sessionStorage data for the web view
Shared Dictionary	Compression dictionaries

You can delete these cache folders to free space; they will be recreated when the app runs again.

License

MIT