marchat – terminal chat

marchat is a lightweight terminal chat with real-time messaging over WebSockets, optional E2E encryption, and a flexible plugin ecosystem.

It’s built for developers who prefer the command line.

marchat started as a fun weekend project for father-son coding sessions and has evolved into a lightweight, self-hosted terminal chat application designed specifically for developers who love the command line.

This is free and open source software.

Features include:

• Terminal UI – Beautiful TUI built with Bubble Tea.
• Real-time Chat – Fast WebSocket messaging with SQLite backend (PostgreSQL/MySQL planned).
• Plugin System – Remote registry with text commands and Alt+key hotkeys.
• E2E Encryption – X25519/ChaCha20-Poly1305 with global encryption.
• File Sharing – Send files up to 1MB (configurable) with interactive picker.
• Admin Controls – User management, bans, kick system with ban history gaps.
• Smart Notifications – Bell + desktop notifications with quiet hours and focus mode.
• Themes – Built-in themes + custom themes via JSON.
• Docker Support – Containerized deployment with security features.
• Health Monitoring – /health and /health/simple endpoints with system metrics.
• Structured Logging – JSON logs with component separation and user tracking.
• Cross-Platform – Runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, and Android/Termux.

Website: github.com/Cod-e-Codes/marchat
Support:
Developer: Cody Marsengill
License: MIT License

marchat is written in Go. Learn Go with our recommended free books and free tutorials.

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