OpenChat

A self-hosted, communication platform: real-time text, and voice/video calls. Built to integrate an existing self-hosted stack — an OpenID Connect provider (e.g. Authentik) for SSO, OpenShare for file uploads & media, and (optionally) Jellyfin for watch parties — rather than reinvent them.

OpenShare is the companion file service. Deploy it alongside OpenChat and point SHARE_BASE_URL at it to enable image/file attachments, avatars, and inline embeds. OpenChat also runs fine without it (upload UI simply hides). Setup: docs/SETUP.md.

Everything environment-specific (domains, IPs, keys, passwords) is supplied through a single local config file — see docs/SETUP.md.

The newest versions of desktop clients for Mac, Linux, and Windows can be found on the Releases page!

If you found this project useful, consider supporting me here: https://buymeacoffee.com/minionenjoyer Thank you!

Features

• Servers, channels & folders — text + voice channels; drag-to-reorder servers and drag-to-create folders in the sidebar, persisted per user.
• Messaging — optimistic send, replies, edits, reactions, emoji, GIFs (Giphy), link/image/YouTube/Share embeds, and pinned messages with a per-channel pins panel.
• Files & media — attach files via a menu or drag-and-drop onto the window, record a voice clip in-app, click images to enlarge in a lightbox, and a custom audio player with a waveform + scrubbing (waveforms generated by OpenShare).
• Mentions — @user, plus @here / @everyone gated behind a MENTION_EVERYONE permission, with live toast + unread notifications.
• Voice & video — self-hosted LiveKit SFU. Always-on voice channels, multi-window screen sharing (with a live viewers list), a per-server soundboard, speaking/mute indicators, voice-activity or push-to-talk input modes (with a global PTT hotkey on desktop), and per-user mic + speaker + output-volume settings.
• Presence & status — live online/offline for friends and server members, a one-click status picker (Online / Away / Do Not Disturb / Invisible), and auto-away after idle.
• User-to-user calling — ring a friend in a DM; incoming-call prompt with accept/decline and an in-conversation call banner.
• Watch parties — host-synced Jellyfin or YouTube playback inside a voice channel: host-only controls, a 👑 host badge + viewers list, and a Jellyfin browser filtered by movies / shows / music.
• Desktop apps — native Windows, macOS, and Linux clients (Tauri) with tray, notifications, global push-to-talk, drag-and-drop, and signed auto-updates. See apps/desktop/README.md.
• Roles & permissions — bitfield permissions with a data-driven role editor.
• Real-time everything — WebSocket gateway + Redis pub/sub; presence, typing, notifications, and friend/member lists update live (optimistic UI throughout).
• Mobile-tuned — responsive layout, off-canvas drawer, dynamic-viewport sizing so the composer stays above the keyboard, and a dedicated send button.

Tech stack

• Frontend: React 18 + TypeScript, Vite, Zustand, livekit-client. Static build served by nginx.
• Backend: NestJS (Node 20), Prisma, PostgreSQL 16, Redis 7 (ioredis), raw ws gateway.
• Auth: Authentik OIDC (Auth Code + PKCE), server-side Redis sessions.
• Voice: self-hosted LiveKit (WebRTC SFU), single-UDP-port mux for NAT stability.
• Deploy: Docker Compose behind an existing reverse proxy (Nginx Proxy Manager).

Repository layout

apps/api            NestJS + Prisma backend (auth/OIDC, servers, channels, messages,
                    realtime WS gateway, voice, gifs, watch parties, Share client)
apps/web            React + Vite frontend (single-page app, calls /api same-origin)
apps/desktop        Tauri v2 desktop client (Win/macOS/Linux) bundling apps/web
docker-compose.yml  postgres + redis + api + web + livekit
livekit.yaml.tmpl   LiveKit config template (rendered to livekit.yaml from .env)
.env.example        the ONE config file — copy to .env and fill in
scripts/            setup.sh (render config) · check-secrets.sh (pre-push) · deploy.sh (pull+build)
docs/               SETUP.md · DEPLOY.md · ARCHITECTURE.md

Quick start

cp .env.example .env      # fill in every CHANGE_ME
./scripts/setup.sh        # renders livekit.yaml from .env
docker compose up -d --build

Full instructions — including OIDC/Share/LiveKit prerequisites, local dev, pushing to git, and git-based redeploys — are in docs/SETUP.md and docs/DEPLOY.md.

Configuration & secrets

All personal data (API keys, tokens, IPs, passwords) lives only in the local, gitignored .env (and the livekit.yaml it renders). Committed files contain generic placeholders and public reference values only. ./scripts/check-secrets.sh verifies nothing sensitive is tracked before you push.