Follow the gradient.
Small, self-hosted tools — privacy-first, dark by default, no telemetry you didn't ask for. One identity across every surface: the pixel ∇ is the monogram, the cyan→violet gradient is the thesis.
MCNU Labs is a family of small, focused, self-hostable web services. Each one does a single job well, ships dark-first, and refuses to track you: no cookies, no fingerprinting, no IP storage, no consent banners. One tiny script or one SQLite file — not a platform.
The whole family shares one design system so every property looks like it belongs to the same world: cyan + violet on a near-black ink background, the Press Start 2P pixel face for labels, Inter for everything readable, JetBrains Mono for code.
| Service | What it does | Live | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📊 | mcnu-analytics | Privacy-first web analytics. No cookies, no fingerprinting, no IP storage, no consent banner. One tiny script, one SQLite file. | — |
| 🔗 | mcnu-go | Self-hosted URL shortener with privacy-first click analytics. Auto codes or custom aliases, per-link stats. | l.mcnu.ro |
| 📋 | mcnu-paste | Self-hosted pastebin. Syntax highlight, expiry, burn-after-read, raw + download. You write, anyone reads via link. | p.mcnu.ro |
| ⌘ | mcnu-snippets | Private command/snippet library. Instant search, tags, and placeholders filled at copy time. | s.mcnu.ro |
| 📝 | mcnu-md | Anything → Markdown. PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML, CSV → clean Markdown. No sign-up, nothing stored. | md.mcnu.ro |
| 🛰️ | mcnu-console | Private hub for every MCNU service. One login, one page: live status + key numbers. | — |
| 🚀 | mcnu-deploy | One command to deploy any MCNU service safely: rsync → perms → validate → backup → restart → health-check. | — |
| 💾 | mcnu-backup | Daily, encrypted, off-site backups of every service's secrets and databases. gpg AES256 → B2 → rotated, with a tested restore. | — |
| 🎨 | mcnu-design-system | The shared identity: tokens, components, and the living styleguide every property is built on. | — |
Everything we ship obeys the same rules — that's why it all feels like one thing:
- Nabla primary, candy secondary. Cyan
#22D3EE+ violet#A78BFAon dark for anything rigorous. Candy#FF2E63only for social / swag / recruiting. - Dark-first. We ship dark. Light mode is an opt-in for print and docs; semantic tokens remap automatically.
- The pixel face is for labels only. Press Start 2P sets the monogram, eyebrows, and short labels — never body. Inter is everything readable; JetBrains Mono is code/data.
- Accessibility floor. Visible focus ring on every interactive element, AA contrast, full keyboard reach,
prefers-reduced-motionrespected.
| Token | Hex | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
--mc-cyan |
#22D3EE |
Primary accent — rigour |
 |
--mc-violet |
#A78BFA |
Secondary accent |
 |
--mc-candy |
#FF2E63 |
Comms only — social/swag |
 |
--mc-ink |
#0A0E1A |
Background |
 |
--mc-text |
#E6ECF7 |
Primary text |
The gradient — linear-gradient(135deg, #22D3EE, #A78BFA) — is the one thing to be remembered on a surface. Never wallpaper.
Every service is a small Node app backed by SQLite — clone, configure .env, run.
Deployments are reproducible and boring on purpose:
mcnu-deploy → rsync → fix perms → ensure .data → validate .env
→ npm ci (only if deps changed) → backup → restart → health-check
Want the shared look on your own page? Pull in the tokens and components from the design system:
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/brand/tokens.css"> <!-- single source of truth, import first -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/brand/mcnu.css"> <!-- .mc-* components, import second -->Open source under the MIT license — see each repository for details.
∇ follow the gradient ∇