an terminal based chat app written in go

Features

tchat provides you with all the basic and necessary features to chat with others, whether for public chatrooms, or private chats, both on the client and serverside.

Clientside

• Basic commands such as //clear, //ping, //mute and more
• Configurable username, color, and theme
• A cool banner at the top of the terminal
• Message rate limiting
• Chat history of up to 10 messages on new connection
• Cross-platform support

Serverside

• Configurable server name, port, and password protection
• Message character limit enforcement
• Optional profanity filter
• Optional message logging to file
• Basic admin commands such as //broadcast, //clearchat, //ban, and more.
• IP ban support (non-persistent as of now)
• Optionally sends recent chat history to new clients
• Duplicate username and reserved name usage prevention
• Password-protected server

Note

By default, the client tchatconfig.json will connect to the default server which should be online 24/7.

Client Usage Guide

Getting started with the tchat client is easy:

1. Download the Client

   • Visit the releases page.
   • Download the latest executable for your operating system (Windows, Linux, or macOS).

2. Run the Client

   • Open a terminal (Command Prompt, PowerShell, Terminal, etc.).
   • Navigate to the directory where you downloaded the executable.
   • Run the executable:
     • Windows:
       tchat.exe
     • Linux/macOS:
       ./tchat

3. Configuration

   • If it doesn't exist already, the tchatconfig.json file will be created in the same directory with default settings.
   • You can edit this file to change your username, color, server address, port, and other preferences.

4. Connecting

   • The client will automatically connect to the server specified in your tchatconfig.json.
   • If the server requires a password, set it in the serverPassword field in your config.

Running on Windows

cd path\to\download\folder
tchat.exe

Running on Linux/macOS

cd /path/to/download/folder
chmod +x tchat
./tchat

List of Commands

Command	Description
//clear	Clear your chat window
//ping	Check your connection latency
//color <color>	Change your username color
//mute <username>	Mute messages from a user
//unmute <username>	Unmute a previously muted user
//mutelist	Show your list of muted users
//exit / //quit	Quit the client

tchatconfig.json

{
  "color": "blue", // Your username color in chat (ANSI color name)
  "port": 9076, // Port number to connect to on the server
  "server": "37.27.51.34", // Server IP address or hostname
  "serverPassword": "", // Password for the server (if required)
  "themeColor": "blue", // Theme color for the banner and default server messages
  "username": "user" // Your username (3-20 characters)
}

Server Setup Guide

Follow these steps to set up and run your own tchat server:

1. Navigate to the Server Directory

   Open a terminal and go to the server directory:

   cd server

2. Configure the Server

   • Edit the tchatconfig.json file in the server directory to customize server settings such as port, server name, password protection, message character limit, and more.
   • If the file does not exist, it will be created with default settings on first run.

3. Run the Server

   • Build and start the server using Go:

     go run main.go

   • Or, to build a standalone executable:

     go build -o tchat-server main.go
     ./tchat-server

4. Client Connection

   • Clients can now connect to your server using the IP address and port specified in your tchatconfig.json.
   • If password protection is enabled, share the server password with your users.

Warning

Note that password protection is not 100% secure, as of now it's sent via plaintext.

Important

The server must be accessible over the network (ensure your firewall allows the chosen port, setup port forwarding if needed). IP bans are not persistent and will reset if the server restarts.

Server Commands

Command	Description
//broadcast <message>	Send a message to all connected clients
//clearchat	Clear the chat history for all users
//ban <username>	Ban a user by username (IP ban, non-persistent)
//kick <username>	Disconnect a user by username

tchatconfig.json

{
  "logMessages": false, // Enable to log all chat messages to chat.log
  "messageCharLimit": 180, // Maximum characters allowed per message
  "passwordProtected": false, // Require a password for clients to join
  "port": 9076, // Port number the server listens on
  "profanityCheck": true, // Enable automatic profanity filtering
  "sendMessageHistory": true, // Send the last 10 messages to new clients
  "serverName": "an tchat server", // Name displayed to clients
  "serverPassword": "" // Password required if passwordProtected is true
}

Screenshots

Server	Client

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to:

• Report bugs by opening an issue
• Suggest features via the feature request template
• Submit pull requests for improvements

Make sure your contribution follows the general guidelines, and if you're opening a pull request, that it isn't being worked on by someone else already.

Contributors:

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License, see the LICENSE file for details.

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