OwnCord

The gaming chat platform you actually own.

Early Alpha — Building in the Open OwnCord is under active development and is not production-ready. Do not use it for sensitive communications. Security hardening is in progress. Contributions and security reports are welcome.

A self-hosted Windows chat platform with real-time messaging, voice/video, file sharing, and a web admin panel. Run your own server and keep everything under your control — zero cloud dependencies, works fully on LAN.

Features

Chat

• Real-time text messaging over WebSocket
• Message editing, deletion, and replies
• Emoji reactions with per-message counts
• Typing indicators
• Full-text message search (SQLite FTS5)
• Pinned messages per channel
• Rich link previews with Open Graph metadata
• YouTube embed support with cached titles
• GIF picker powered by Tenor with inline rendering
• Inline image previews with lightbox viewer

Voice & Video

• Voice channels powered by LiveKit SFU
• Webcam video chat with Discord-style grid layout (fixed 16:9 aspect ratio)
• Sidebar stream preview (hover to see live video thumbnail)
• Mute, deafen, camera, and screenshare controls
• Push-to-talk with global hotkey (non-consuming, works while unfocused)
• Per-user volume control (right-click user in voice channel)
• RNNoise ML noise suppression
• Voice activity detection with speaker indicators (pulsing green glow)
• Connection quality indicator with expandable transport stats
• Voice call duration timer (MM:SS / HH:MM:SS elapsed)
• LiveKit server runs as a companion process alongside chatserver.exe

Direct Messages

• One-on-one DM conversations with any server member
• DM preview section in sidebar with unread bubble indicators
• Auto-reopen DM channels on incoming message
• DM header shows @ username with live online status

Channels & Organization

• Text and voice channels organized by categories
• Create, edit, delete, and reorder channels
• Unread message indicators
• Quick channel switcher (Ctrl+K)

File Sharing

• Drag-and-drop and clipboard paste uploads
• Inline image previews with persistent caching (IndexedDB)
• File download with native save dialog
• Configurable max upload size

Users & Permissions

• Invite-only registration with invite codes
• Role-based permissions with custom roles
• Member list with online/offline presence
• User profiles with status (online, idle, dnd, offline)

Administration

• Web-based admin panel at /admin (IP-restricted to private networks by default)
• Dashboard with server stats and recent activity
• User management (ban, kick, role assignment) with modals
• Channel management (create, edit, delete)
• Settings management (server name, MOTD, limits, security)
• Live server log streaming via SSE with level filters, search, auto-scroll, pause/resume, copy, and clear
• Audit log with search, action type filter, copy, and CSV export
• Database backup and restore with pre-restore safety backups
• Server update checker and one-click apply (GitHub Releases)
• Metrics endpoint with uptime, goroutines, heap, connected users
• Diagnostics endpoint for connectivity checks

Security

• TLS encryption (self-signed, Let's Encrypt, or custom cert)
• Trust-on-first-use certificate pinning in the client
• Two-factor authentication (TOTP) with QR enrollment and backup codes
• Ed25519-signed client auto-updates
• Rate limiting on all endpoints
• CSRF protection and security headers
• Account deletion with password confirmation and data anonymization

Desktop Client

• Native Windows app built with Tauri v2
• System tray integration
• Desktop notifications with taskbar flash and sound
• In-app auto-update with progress notification
• Credential storage via Windows Credential Manager
• Auto-login with saved credentials (one-click connect)
• Custom emoji picker
• Compact mode for information-dense layouts
• Discord-style settings panel with blurred backdrop
• OC Neon Glow theme with custom theming system (JSON import/export)
• Accent color picker
• Quick-switch server overlay for multi-server users
• Structured logging with JSONL persistence (5-day rotation)

Quick Start

1. Download chatserver.exe and the OwnCord installer from GitHub Releases
2. Run chatserver.exe — generates config.yaml and a data/ directory (database, TLS certs, uploads, backups) on first run
3. Open https://localhost:8443/admin to create the Owner account
4. Generate an invite code in the admin panel and share it
5. Friends install the client, enter your server address (ip:8443), and register with the invite code

The client uses TOFU (Trust On First Use) for self-signed certificates — it prompts to trust the server on first connection, then pins it for future sessions.

Voice & Video Setup (Optional)

Voice and video require LiveKit Server:

1. Download livekit-server from the LiveKit releases page
2. Edit config.yaml and set:

   voice:
     livekit_api_key: "devkey"           # any string
     livekit_api_secret: "secret-min-32-characters-long!!"  # min 32 chars
     livekit_binary: "C:/path/to/livekit-server.exe"
   

3. Restart chatserver.exe — it auto-starts LiveKit as a companion process

Networking

For friends outside your LAN, you need to forward these ports:

Port	Protocol	Purpose
8443	TCP	HTTPS, WebSocket, REST API
7881	TCP	LiveKit signaling (voice/video)
50000-60000	UDP	LiveKit WebRTC media (voice/video)

Alternatively, use Tailscale for zero-config networking with no port forwarding.

Architecture

Two components: a Go server and a Tauri v2 client (Rust + TypeScript).

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

• WebSocket — chat messages, typing, presence, voice signaling
• REST API — message history, file uploads, channel management, auth
• LiveKit — voice and video via LiveKit SFU (companion process)

Project Structure

OwnCord/
├── Server/                  # Go server
│   ├── api/                 #   REST handlers + middleware
│   ├── ws/                  #   WebSocket hub + handlers
│   ├── db/                  #   SQLite queries + migrations
│   ├── auth/                #   Authentication + rate limiting
│   ├── config/              #   YAML config loading
│   ├── updater/             #   GitHub Releases update checker
│   ├── admin/               #   Web admin panel (static SPA)
│   ├── storage/             #   File upload storage
│   ├── permissions/         #   Role-based permission system
│   └── migrations/          #   Database migration files
├── Client/
│   └── tauri-client/        # Tauri v2 desktop client
│       ├── src-tauri/       #   Rust backend (plugins, commands)
│       ├── src/             #   TypeScript frontend
│       │   ├── lib/         #     Core services (API, WS, LiveKit, updater)
│       │   ├── stores/      #     Reactive state (auth, channels, messages, voice)
│       │   ├── components/  #     UI components (28 modules)
│       │   ├── pages/       #     Page layouts
│       │   └── styles/      #     CSS
│       └── tests/           #   Unit, integration, and E2E tests
└── docs/                    # Project documentation (Obsidian vault)

Building from Source

Prerequisites

• Go 1.25+
• Node.js 20+
• Rust (stable)
• Windows 10/11

Server

cd Server
go build -o chatserver.exe -ldflags "-s -w -X main.version=1.0.0" .

Client

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

The installer is output to Client/tauri-client/src-tauri/target/release/bundle/nsis/.

Running Tests

# Server
cd Server && go test ./...
cd Server && go test ./... -cover   # with coverage

# Client
cd Client/tauri-client
npm test                    # all tests (vitest)
npm run test:unit           # unit tests only
npm run test:integration    # integration tests
npm run test:e2e            # Playwright E2E (mocked Tauri)
npm run test:e2e:native     # Playwright E2E (real Tauri exe + CDP)
npm run test:coverage       # coverage report

# Type checking & linting
npm run typecheck           # full typecheck
npm run lint                # ESLint check
npm run lint:fix            # ESLint auto-fix

Configuration

The server generates a config.yaml on first run. All runtime data is stored in a data/ directory alongside the executable:

data/
├── owncord.db         # SQLite database
├── certs/             # TLS certificates (auto-generated if self_signed)
├── uploads/           # User-uploaded files
└── backups/           # Database backups

Key settings:

Setting	Default	Description
server.port	8443	HTTPS port
server.name	OwnCord Server	Display name
tls.mode	self_signed	TLS mode (self_signed, acme, manual, off)
upload.max_size_mb	100	Max upload size
voice.livekit_url	ws://localhost:7880	LiveKit server WebSocket URL
voice.livekit_api_key	—	LiveKit API key (required for voice)
voice.livekit_api_secret	—	LiveKit API secret (min 32 chars, required for voice)
voice.livekit_binary	—	Path to livekit-server binary (empty = don't auto-start)
voice.quality	medium	Voice quality (low, medium, high)
server.admin_allowed_cidrs	private nets	CIDRs allowed to access /admin
github.token	—	Token for update checks (optional, for higher rate limits)

Auto-Updates

The client checks for updates after connecting to the server. Updates are Ed25519-signed and verified before install.

To enable signed releases in CI, add these GitHub repository secrets:

• TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY — Ed25519 private key (via npx tauri signer generate)
• TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY_PASSWORD — key password

Documentation

• Quick Start Guide
• Server Configuration
• LiveKit Setup (Voice/Video)
• Deployment Guide
• Port Forwarding
• Tailscale Guide
• REST API Reference
• WebSocket Protocol
• Database Schema
• Client Architecture
• Contributing
• Security Policy

Contributing

1. Fork the repo and create a feature branch from dev
2. Follow existing code style and conventions
3. Write tests for new functionality
4. Open a PR against dev with a clear description

See Contributing Guide for details.

Tech Stack

Component	Technology
Server	Go, chi router, LiveKit server SDK
Database	SQLite (pure Go, embedded)
Client	Tauri v2 (Rust + TypeScript)
Voice/Video	LiveKit SFU (companion process)
Build	NSIS installer, GitHub Actions CI

License

AGPL-3.0