DEV Community: IB2M_Official

I built UnlimBox: A Neo-Brutalist alternative to bloated corporate cloud storage clients

IB2M_Official — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 17:25:35 +0000

Most mainstream cloud storage interfaces are boring, sterile, and feel sluggish under heavy nested directories. As developers, we deserve a personal dashboard that isn't just a corporate carbon copy of Google Drive or Dropbox. I wanted something snappy, highly tactile, and visually bold.

I built UnlimBox—a fast, responsive, and secure cloud storage web app designed with a Flat Neo-Brutalist interface. It features nested folders, high-speed file uploads, secure share generation, and a fully functional Progressive Web App (PWA) wrapper for native mobile responsiveness.

Frontend: React, TypeScript, and Vite for fast builds, with Tailwind CSS driving the thick border styles.
State & Routing: React Router DOM for routing with secure client-side ProtectedRoute guards.
Backend: Express API on Node.js acting as a secure controller and authentication layer.
Database & Storage: Firebase Cloud Firestore for reactive document indexing and Firebase Auth for sessions.

Handling over 90GB of assets in early testing caused high Firestore read overhead. I solved this by flattening the folder structure query schemas to index directories on a parent-ID level and implementing a Node proxy server to cache repetitive asset metadata lookup requests.

I'd love for this community to push its limits! Check it out at https://cloud-storage-afd51.web.app/ and let me know how the tactile UI feel on your mobile device.

I built EcoPrompt: Track the real-time CO2, water & energy cost of your AI prompts

IB2M_Official — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 17:20:41 +0000

Every time we send a query to ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or Claude, high-density GPU clusters consume electricity and water for cooling. While the productivity gain is immense, the environmental footprint remains invisible.

I built EcoPrompt — an open-source, lightweight Chrome extension (Manifest V3) that calculates the CO₂, water, energy, and API cost of your AI prompts in real time, 100% locally with zero prompt tracking.

🔗 Quick Links

💻 GitHub Repo: github.com/IB2M-Official/ecoPrompt
📦 Chrome Web Store: Install EcoPrompt
☕ Support: Ko-fi (IB2M)

🌿 Key Features & Architecture

📊 4 Live Metrics: Real-time in-page toasts estimating CO₂e (g), water evaporation (mL), active energy draw (Wh), and API cost equivalents.
🎯 Daily Quotas & Smart Reminders: Set custom thresholds with progressive alerts (+1, +2 extra queries) to encourage prompt batching.
📈 Native SVG Analytics: Interactive timelines across Days, Weeks, Months, and Years without external charting libraries.
🔒 100% Local & Private: No backend, no telemetry. Prompt text is never read, stored, or transmitted — character count is evaluated in memory only for length weighting.
🪶 Zero Dependencies: Pure vanilla JS and lightweight CSS (total bundle size < 150 KB).

🚀 Try it out

The project is open-source under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. Feel free to check out the repo, star it if you find it useful, and share your feedback or benchmark ideas in the comments!

How I built a developer-first cloud drive with a "Flat Brutalist" UI 📦

IB2M_Official — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:46:47 +0000

Hey everyone! 👋

I’ve always been frustrated by the strict quotas of traditional cloud storage and the lack of tools for developers. You can store files, but you can't easily integrate them into your workflows without jumping through hoops.

So, I decided to spend my weekends building my own alternative: UnlimBox. Unlimbox

My goal was twofold: offer a very generous storage capacity so you never have to worry about space, and build the ultimate toolkit for devs.

🛠️ The Tech Stack & Flat Brutalism

For the frontend, I used React and Tailwind CSS. I was tired of generic corporate designs, so I went all-in on Flat Brutalism: heavy 2px black borders, no drop-shadows, and high contrast. It makes the app feel extremely lightweight and snappy.

The backend runs on Node.js and Express.

💻 Built for Developers

Aside from standard file management and an "Express Drop" mode (for sharing files instantly without an account), I focused on developer features:

Full REST API & WebDAV support
Built-in NoSQL database for your side projects
Free static web hosting
An official CLI to manage everything from your terminal

If you want to try the CLI, it's already live on npm:
npm i -g unlimbox-cli

🤔 Looking for feedback!

The project is currently in open beta. Since I'm building this solo, I would absolutely love some feedback from other developers.

You can try the web app here (no strings attached):
🔗 https://cloud-storage-afd51.web.app/

Does the Flat Brutalist UI feel intuitive to you? Have you tried deploying a file via the CLI? Let me know your thoughts or if you find any bugs! Thanks for reading.