Questions and answers
Socketchat is open source, end-to-end encrypted group chat for the terminal, with a server you run yourself. Each answer below starts with the short version and links to the page that covers it in full.
Yes. Socketchat encrypts every room end to end with MLS (Messaging Layer Security), the group encryption standard published as RFC 9420. Only the people in a room can read it; the server passes along data it cannot open.
Yes. The code is on GitHub under the MIT or Apache 2.0 license, at your choice. It is written in Rust.
No. There are no accounts. You join with an invite link, pick a display name, and a passphrase locks Socketchat's data on your computer.
MLS is the internet standard for end-to-end encrypted group chat, published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in 2023. A sender encrypts a message once and the server copies it to every member.
Safe against a future quantum computer. Socketchat gives message contents post-quantum protection, on by default, so messages recorded today stay confidential even if such a computer arrives.
No. The server can never read your messages, but it can see room rosters, when a message is sent, and can read IP addresses of users. It cannot see what was written or sent. It keeps all messages private, but does not make you anonymous.
No. The server holds no key that can decrypt messages, files, display names or room names.
Yes. It costs nothing to download or run. A rented cloud server for hosting has its own price.
Yes. Your app can join rooms on several servers. /servers lists them, with how many of your rooms are on each and whether Socketchat can reach it.
Yes. A script or an AI agent joins a room with an invite link, then sends and reads messages through the socketchat command line. It is a member like anyone else, with its own keys.
Yes. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. On Windows, install it with the PowerShell command below.
Yes, on macOS or Linux: brew install sachio222/tap/socketchat.
Yes. The server runs on a Raspberry Pi 4 or Zero 2 W with 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS.
At docs.socketchat.org. They cover installing, hosting a server, every command and how the encryption works.
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/sachio222/socketchat_v4/releases/latest/download/socketchat-installer.sh | shpowershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm https://github.com/sachio222/socketchat_v4/releases/latest/download/socketchat-installer.ps1 | iex"brew install sachio222/tap/socketchatOpen a new terminal when it finishes.
Then start a server with socketchat server init --host chat.example.com and socketchat server run, and open port 7444. Quick start on the home page.
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