Hide Node js application source code

Question

I'm developing a private web application for a company and they ask me to use their server to host it. I would like to prevent them the access to the source code. How can i do that? Their server is running debian and they have the root access..

I found some solution like packaging the application in one executable file but the application have lot's of dependency and I'm using loopback.io framework; this make packaging very difficult..

Any different solution?

Answer 1

The answer is no, you cannot prevent them from seeing the source-code. If they own the source-code, then it is even unethic to want something like this. If you own the source-code, then minify it. But before you do that, think about it. Will it raise the trust of your client in you? Even binary source-codes can be reverse-engineered. With interpreted languages, like Javascript, you cannot even do that. If you are afraid they will not pay you unless you protect the source-code, then implement the project on a local server and create a video to back up your claim that the project is completed. Although, everything depends on the actual agreement, which, you understandably will not share with us.

Answer 2

You can't prevent them from seeing the source code, but you can make it harder to read with browserify and uglifyjs:

browserify index.js --no-bundle-external --node | uglifyjs -c > bundle.js

This unfortunately won't preserve the original stack trace of errors and will make it harder to debug.