COSMIC Storage

Warning

Storage operations can destroy data. Verify the selected device before formatting, restoring an image, or changing partitions.

COSMIC Storage is a desktop storage utility for the COSMIC desktop. It runs as the logged-in desktop user and uses the system udisks2 daemon for device discovery, device events, and its native Polkit-authorized operations. This project does not install or run a project-owned service, socket, D-Bus policy, or Polkit policy.

Prerequisites

You will need the following packages/services:

• udisks2 (system service) - required for device enumeration, events, and native Polkit-authorized operations
• just (task runner) - install via cargo install just or your package manager

For partition type support: Recommended:

• ntfs-3g / ntfsprogs - NTFS Support

• exfatprogs - exFAT Support

• dosfstools - FAT32 Support

• rclone - SMB, FTP, S3, etc. per-user mount support

• udisks2 for local storage discovery and operations.

• Filesystem tools appropriate to the filesystems you use, such as e2fsprogs, xfsprogs, btrfs-progs, dosfstools, ntfs-3g, and exfatprogs.

• Optional: rclone for per-user network-drive configurations. Configurations live under the desktop user’s ~/.config/rclone/; mounts and mount-on-login units are also user-scoped.

The application uses the backend-neutral storage-contracts API. The currently shipped block-storage adapter is UdisksBackend; additional local or network adapters can be registered at the application composition root without making UI code depend on their implementation.

Development

Quick Start:

just

This single command builds and launches the UI directly. UDisks2 handles authorization through its native Polkit integration; no project storage service, D-Bus policy, or project Polkit policy is installed or run.

Other useful commands:

just build              # Build workspace only
just release            # Build workspace in release mode
just check              # Run fmt, clippy, and tests
just run                # Build and run the app
just install            # Install the app binary and desktop assets
just uninstall          # Remove installed app files

just install installs the application binary, desktop entry, metainfo, and icon. It does not install service, policy, or socket files.

Logging

v0.1 - ⌛ WIP

• ✅ Feature Parity with Gnome Disks
  • Deferred until v0.2: Benchmark Disk/Partition
  • Deferred until v0.2: ATA Drive settings
• 🎯 Performance improvements
• 🎯 LVM/Logical container support
• ✅ Detailed Usage tool
• ⌛ BTRFS support - Partial implementation complete.
  • Subvolumes Management
  • Snapshot Management & Scheduling
  • Optional Usage breakdown (requires enablement of quotas)
• ✅ Rclone configuration
  • Setup wizard for common mount types
  • Mount on boot option
  • Supports all providers/types
  • Supports per-user mounts
• ✅ Automatic "Resource Busy" resolution on unmount
  • List processes that are holding the mount open, and give you the option to kill them.
• ⌛ Detection for required packages:
  • rclone detection missing currenty.
• 🎯 Full test of all drive, volume, and mount types.
• 🎯 Documentation - Docs/Readme/Code comments & summaries
• 🎯 Packaging for package managers/flathub

Translators and packagers

Fluent translations are in i18n. The root justfile includes vendoring helpers for distribution builds.

Notes on use of AI

AI has been used as a tool for development of this project, and has not been treated as a self-sufficient engineer.

I have been a professional software engineer since 2012, and I am very much against AI slop and the existential threat it imposes on our industry.

That being said, I believe when it's used correctly, it is an invaulable tool for a sole developer on a FOSS project as large as this; Especially when the threat of taking somebody's job isn't a concern.