OwnCord

A self-hosted chat app I build for me and my friends — text channels, voice and video, and a server you actually own.

Alpha, and a hobby project. This is something I build for fun and run for a small group of friends. It isn't a product, there's no support, and it isn't production-ready. Expect rough edges, rapid changes, and the occasional breaking change.

Don't use it for anything sensitive.

It's a Go server plus a Tauri desktop client: real-time messaging, voice/video via LiveKit, file sharing, and a web admin panel. Run the server on a spare box or a VPS, hand your friends an invite code, and that's the whole thing.

How it's built

Most of the implementation is generated with AI tooling, with quality held up by automated checks — CI, tests, linting — and by me and my friends actually using it. That keeps iteration fast, and it also means behaviour can change quickly between releases.

What works right now

Area	Status
Core chat flow	Working in alpha
Voice/video	Working in alpha
Admin panel	Working in alpha
Security hardening	First full review pass landed in v1.1.0-alpha.2; further review passes since; ongoing

Platform Support (Current Releases)

Component	Windows x64	Linux x64	Linux ARM64
Server binary	Yes	Yes	Not yet
Desktop client	Yes (NSIS installer)	Yes (AppImage, .deb)	Yes (AppImage, .deb)
Docker server	N/A	Build from source (compose)	Not yet

Start Here

• New user quick path: docs/quick-start.md
• Linux Docker deployment: docs/deployment.md
• Remote access without router config: docs/tailscale.md
• Manual router/network setup: docs/port-forwarding.md

Quick Start

Option A: Prebuilt binaries

1. Download assets from Releases (binaries, checksums, signatures, and a full source snapshot per release).
2. Run the server binary:
   • Windows: chatserver.exe
   • Linux: ./chatserver
3. Open https://localhost:8443/admin and create your Owner account.
4. Generate invite codes in the admin panel and share them with friends.

Option B: Docker (Linux server)

cd Server
cp .env.example .env
cp livekit.yaml.example livekit.yaml
# Edit both files before starting
docker compose up -d

See the full setup guide in docs/deployment.md.

The client uses TOFU (Trust On First Use) for self-signed certificates: it prompts once, then pins the certificate for future connections.

What OwnCord Already Has

• Real-time channels and direct messages over WebSocket
• Voice/video channels via LiveKit
• Invite-only registration and role-based permissions
• Web admin panel with logs, backups, and update tooling
• File uploads and inline media rendering
• TOTP 2FA support and API rate limiting
• Desktop client auto-update with signature verification
• GIF picker — off by default; each server supplies its own Klipy key via gif.api_key (setup)

See deeper feature and architecture docs in docs/architecture/ and docs/protocol.md.

Architecture

Two main components:

• Go server (REST API, WebSocket hub, SQLite, admin panel)
• Tauri v2 desktop client (Rust backend + TypeScript frontend)

+---------------------+         +---------------------+
|   OwnCord Client    |         |   OwnCord Server    |
|   (Tauri v2)        |         |       (Go)          |
|                     |         |                     |
|  +---------------+  |  WSS    |  +---------------+  |
|  |  Chat UI      |--+------->|  |  WebSocket Hub|  |
|  +---------------+  |         |  +---------------+  |
|  +---------------+  |  HTTPS  |  +---------------+  |
|  |  REST Client  |--+------->|  |  REST API     |  |
|  +---------------+  |         |  +---------------+  |
|  +---------------+  | LiveKit |  +---------------+  |
|  |  Voice/Video  |--+------->|  |  LiveKit SFU  |  |
|  +---------------+  |         |  +---------------+  |
+---------------------+         |  +---------------+  |
                                |  |  SQLite DB    |  |
                                |  +---------------+  |
                                +---------------------+

Build and Test

Prerequisites

• Go 1.26+
• Node.js 20+
• Rust stable (client builds)

Build from source

# Server (Windows)
cd Server
go build -o chatserver.exe -ldflags "-s -w -X main.version=1.1.0-alpha.3" .

# Server (Linux)
cd Server
CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o chatserver -ldflags "-s -w -X main.version=1.1.0-alpha.3" .

# Client
cd Client/tauri-client
npm install
npm run tauri build

Core verification commands

# Server
cd Server
go test ./...

# Client
cd Client/tauri-client
npm run typecheck
npm run lint
npm test

For the full command set, use docs/contributing.md.

Configuration

On first run, the server generates config.yaml and a local data/ directory:

data/
├── chatserver.db
├── certs/
├── uploads/
└── backups/

Key options include TLS mode, upload limits, LiveKit settings, and admin CIDR restrictions. See docs/server-configuration.md.

Security and Vulnerability Reporting

• For vulnerabilities, use GitHub Security Advisories (private disclosure flow).
• Do not open public issues for security bugs.
• Read full policy and hardening notes in docs/security.md.

Update Signing Notes (Maintainers)

Client and server update signing keys are intentionally separate.

Required Actions secrets for release signing:

• TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY
• TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY_PASSWORD
• SERVER_UPDATE_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY
• SERVER_UPDATE_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY_PASSWORD

When rotating the server updater key, update Server/updater/server_update_public_key.txt and use staged rollover for live fleets.

Docs Index

• docs/quick-start.md
• docs/deployment.md
• docs/livekit-setup.md
• docs/port-forwarding.md
• docs/tailscale.md
• docs/architecture/ — system blueprints (diagrams + flows)
• docs/audit-2026-07-19.md — latest architecture & spec-conformance audit
• docs/api.md
• docs/protocol.md
• docs/schema.md
• docs/architecture/client.md — client architecture (replaces client-architecture.md)
• docs/architecture/ux/ — client UX specification (target-state flows, per-view states, event→reaction maps)
• docs/contributing.md
• docs/security.md

Contributing

1. Create a branch from main.
2. Keep changes focused and tested.
3. Open a PR targeting main.

See docs/contributing.md for the full process.

License

AGPL-3.0