About

What is Shurli?

Shurli is a peer-to-peer networking tool that lets you connect your devices directly - through NAT, CGNAT, firewalls, and across networks - without relying on cloud services or VPN providers.

It’s built for people who want to own their network infrastructure: access your home server from anywhere, connect devices across locations, and proxy any TCP service through encrypted P2P tunnels.

Engineering Philosophy

Shurli follows a few core principles. For the full story, including how these principles evolved and their intellectual lineage, see the Development Philosophy page and the blog post on how we build.

Self-Sovereignty First

Your keys, your peers, your network. No accounts to create, no services to subscribe to, no data leaving your control. The trust model is SSH-style: an authorized_keys file that you manage directly.

Single Binary, Zero Dependencies

One file to install, one file to run. No Docker, no runtime, no package manager needed. This isn’t just convenience - it’s resilience. Fewer moving parts means fewer things that break.

Honest About Limitations

When Shurli can’t establish a direct connection, it tells you. When it falls back to relay, it tells you. No silent degradation, no hidden costs.

Docs as First-Class Deliverable

Every architecture decision is documented with the reasoning behind it. The Engineering Journal captures not just what was built, but why every choice was made.

AI-Assisted Development

Shurli is built with AI assistance. The architecture, design decisions, and direction come from human judgment. AI helps with code generation, documentation, and systematic analysis.

We believe in transparency about this. The quality of the code speaks for itself. Every line is reviewed, tested, and shipped with the same rigor regardless of who (or what) wrote the first draft.

Open Source

Shurli is open source under the MIT license. Contributions, questions, and feedback are welcome. File an issue or open a pull request.