# The One File keeps your whole topology inside a single HTML document

> The One File is a visual planning and replay environment that ships as one HTML file you can open anywhere, with no dependencies and no config, mapping networks, smart homes, sports plays, mind maps and infrastructure. There is an offline core edition, a networked edition with live status, and a Docker wrapper that adds real time multi user editing.

**gelatinescreams/The-One-File** — The One File is a self contained visual planning and replay environment for networks, smart homes, sports plays, mind maps, facilities, and infrastructure; offline first, encrypted, animated, and optionally multiplayer.

- Repository: https://github.com/gelatinescreams/The-One-File
- Website: https://therecanonlybe.one/The-One-File/
- Stars: 548 · Forks: 20
- Language: HTML
- License: NOASSERTION
- Published: 2026-10-22 · Updated: 2026-10-22 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/gelatinescreams-the-one-file

## A document that is the application

The One File is described as a self contained visual planning and replay environment for networks, smart homes, sports plays, mind maps, facilities and infrastructure, and the tagline in the readme is that there can only be One File.

The core claim is that the entire application is one HTML file. Map networks, smart homes, sports plays, mind maps, infrastructure or anything with nodes and connections, with animated zones, replay video export, enterprise encryption and full styling. It works offline, opens anywhere, and saves into itself.

That last phrase is the design in miniature. The data lives inside the file, so there is no database to provision, no server to run and no export step to remember. The repository listing shows that literally: at the top level there is the-one-file.html and theonefile-networkening.html, and the primary language of the repository is recorded as HTML.

The topics make the use cases explicit as well, with network-diagram, network-topology, air-gapped, offline-first-single-file, disaster-recovery, homelab-network and break-glass among them. That is a coherent picture of a tool built for situations where you cannot install software on the machine in front of you, or where the diagram has to survive as an artefact rather than a link.

## Three editions, and the table that separates them

The project ships in three forms and the comparison table is the honest way to choose.

All three have the core features. You can create, edit and save topologies, draw shapes, lines and styling, build the U slot rack topologies, add text labels anywhere, draw rectangles and boxes, free draw custom lines, use the keyboard shortcuts, encrypt and export, do bulk operations and multi select. Live node search, per device styling and a mobile optimised interface are in all three as well.

Then the columns diverge. The core file is offline only and has no dependencies, and those two rows are empty for the networked edition. The networked edition adds the MDI icon set, Simple Icons and icons from selfh.st, along with automatic status checking and live ping and health status. The Docker edition, TheOneFile_Verse, has the icons and the status features and adds real time multi user collaboration.

That is a sensible progression. The core file is a drawing tool that never talks to the network, which is what you want on an isolated machine. The networked edition still is a local file but it goes out to check status. The Verse edition is a server, and it is the edition that turns this into a shared multi user application.

The core file is the one with no dependencies at all, which is what makes the download-and-open promise work.

## Drawing, and the details that make it usable

The features list is where the project shows how much attention went into the editing experience, and the readme is candid that it targets two kinds of user at once. Zero coding knowledge is required, and there are zero config files, but there is also full keyboard shortcut support for power users.

The canvas is large, zoomable and pannable, with a minimap that tracks the viewport, clear grid and boundary indicators, precise zoom controls with a level display, and a right click context menu. It works with touch and mobile, and the interface is described as touch optimised with gesture support, with a separate document on mobile gestures in the repository.

Free Draw Mode is the feature that pushes it past a diagram tool. You draw custom polylines, rectangles and text labels anywhere, with points you place, rectangles that can be filled or outlined for zones and boundaries, and text labels with full styling for font, size, colour, weight and alignment. Colours, line styles that can be solid, dashed or dotted, and arrows are all configurable.

The keyboard layer is detailed too. Arrow key nudging for pixel perfect positioning at one pixel or ten pixels with Shift, tab cycling through all nodes, a focus key that auto zooms to the selected nodes, and shortcuts for undo, redo, copy, paste, zoom controls and node navigation. Node locking prevents accidental changes to positioned elements, and node grouping moves related components together. There is a separate keyboard-shortcuts.md in the repository, which is a good sign about how much there is to remember.

## Nodes for devices, and the icon sets

The node model is what you actually build the map from, and the readme lists multiple shapes for common devices including servers, routers, switches, firewalls and clouds.

The Networkening edition adds icon shapes from MDI, Simple Icons and selfh.st/icons, and the readme notes that these are available in the networked build. MDI is the Pictogrammers icon set, Simple Icons is the brand logo set, and selfh.st/icons is a home lab icon set, which is telling: the icon sources are chosen for infrastructure and homelab work rather than for generic business diagrams.

That is a coherent set of choices for the audience. A person mapping a homelab wants a switch icon that looks like a switch, and a person drawing a corporate network wants the vendor logos. The icon preview box added to the Create New Node and Rack modals in version 4.1.5 is a small usability change with the same intent, since picking the right glyph from a large set is easier when you can see it before committing.

The rack support is worth calling out too, since the U slot rack topologies appear in the table as a feature of all three editions. A rack diagram with U slot positions is a specific physical layout, and supporting it means the tool understands a vertical enclosure and the equipment inside it, not just a box with a label.

## Encryption is optional, and the badge says Unlicense

Two details in the readme deserve attention before you distribute a file.

The first is that encryption is optional. AES 256 GCM encryption is listed as available in all three editions, alongside encryption and export. The topics list includes encrypted, oidc, sso, web-crypto and self, which suggests the encryption is done with the browser's own Web Crypto API rather than a bundled library, consistent with the zero dependency claim. Since it is optional, a file can also be saved unencrypted, and that is a decision for whoever distributes it.

The second is the licence, and here the readme and the repository metadata disagree in a way you should check rather than assume. The badge at the top of the readme reads License: Unlicense, while the repository is recorded as carrying a custom licence that the platform cannot classify, and there is a LICENSE file in the repository. The Unlicense is a public domain dedication, and if that is what the LICENSE file contains then the terms are about as permissive as software terms get, but the mismatch between the two sources means you should read the file.

Everything else about the file format favours long-term readability, since a topology saved into an HTML file is something you can still open in a browser years later with no software to install.

## The Docker edition, and the cost of real time editing

TheOneFile_Verse is the wrapper that turns a local file into a shared application, and it is a separate project in its own directory with its own changelog.

The description is a Docker based, real time collaboration wrapper that enables multiple users to create, edit and share together. There is an image published to GitHub Container Registry, and the run command is:

```bash
docker run -d -p 10101:10101 -v theonefile-data:/app/data ghcr.io/gelatinescreams/theonefile_verse:latest
```

A named volume holds the data directory, and the port is published on 10101. The compose alternative is a short service definition:

```yaml
services:
  theonefile_verse:
    image: ghcr.io/gelatinescreams/theonefile_verse:latest
    ports:
      - "10101:10101"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data
    restart: unless-stopped
```

Then docker compose up -d, and the application is at http://localhost:10101.

There is a live demo at a multiverse subdomain, with a note that you can join from different browsers to see real time changes, and a landing page and an admin demo. The admin demo is the part worth noting, because a shared editing server needs some way to manage who is in it.

The tradeoff is obvious once you see it. The core file needs nothing, and the Verse edition needs a server, a volume and a network connection for the people using it. For a team that wants to co-edit a topology, that is a fair price.

## Conclusion

Adopt The One File if you need a topology, an incident timeline or a facility map that can be emailed, archived in a ticket or opened on an air gapped machine without installing anything. Do not adopt it if you need a live network management system, because the networked edition reports status but the tool is a document, not a controller, and it will never act on what it shows. Before you rely on it, check three things: which edition you need, since the core edition is offline only and has no dependencies while the other two add icons and status features, that the file you distribute is the right build, because there are separate download links for the core and networked HTML files, and that your sharing model works with the encryption, since AES 256 GCM is available but optional.

## FAQ

### What is The One File and how does it store data?

It is a self contained visual planning and replay environment for networks, smart homes, sports plays, mind maps, facilities and infrastructure, shipped as a single HTML file with no dependencies and no config files. The data lives inside the file itself, so the tool opens anywhere, works offline and needs no server.

### What is the difference between the Core, Networkening and TheOneFile_Verse editions?

All three share the core editing features, and the core file is offline only with no dependencies. The Networkening edition adds MDI, Simple Icons and selfh.st icons plus automatic status checking and live ping and health status. TheOneFile_Verse is the Docker based real time multi user collaboration wrapper.

### Can The One File encrypt the file it saves?

Yes, AES 256 GCM encryption is available in all three editions and is optional. The repository topics list encrypted and web-crypto, which points to the browser's own crypto API rather than a bundled library.

### How do I run the collaborative TheOneFile_Verse edition?

Run the published image with docker run -d -p 10101:10101 and a volume at /app/data, or use the docker compose service definition with the same image and port. Then open http://localhost:10101.

### What licence does The One File use?

The readme badge says Unlicense, while the repository carries a LICENSE file that the platform cannot classify, so read the file directly. The last push was on 2026-06-12 and recent releases such as 4.1.5 cover the main file, and the Verse subproject has its own changelog.

## Sources

- [gelatinescreams/The-One-File on GitHub](https://github.com/gelatinescreams/The-One-File)
- [Issues](https://github.com/gelatinescreams/The-One-File/issues)
- [Project website](https://therecanonlybe.one/The-One-File/)
- [README](https://github.com/gelatinescreams/The-One-File/blob/main/README.md)
- [Releases](https://github.com/gelatinescreams/The-One-File/releases)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/gelatinescreams-the-one-file