OwnCord

The gaming chat platform you actually own.

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 responsive grid layout
• 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
• LiveKit server runs as a companion process alongside chatserver.exe

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)

Security

• TLS encryption (self-signed, Let's Encrypt, or custom cert)
• Trust-on-first-use certificate pinning in the client
• Ed25519-signed client auto-updates
• Rate limiting on all endpoints
• CSRF protection and security headers

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
• Custom emoji picker and soundboard
• Compact mode for information-dense layouts

Quick Start

1. Download the latest release from GitHub Releases
2. Run chatserver.exe — generates config.yaml on first run
3. Open https://localhost:8443/admin to access the admin panel
4. Generate an invite code and share it with friends
5. Friends download the client installer and connect using your server address

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 + SFU
│   ├── 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
├── 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=1.2.0" .

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 ./...

# Client
cd Client/tauri-client
npm test                    # unit tests (vitest)
npm run test:e2e            # Playwright E2E tests
npm run test:coverage       # coverage report

Configuration

The server generates a config.yaml on first run. 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

Detailed docs live in the docs/brain/ Obsidian vault:

• Quick Start Guide
• Port Forwarding Guide
• Tailscale Guide
• Client Architecture
• Server Spec
• WebSocket Protocol
• REST API
• Database Schema
• Testing Strategy
• Contributing
• Security

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

MIT