# Chitchatter

![Chitchatter logo](./public/logo/logo.svg)

<sub>Logo provided by [@ramyashreeshetty](https://github.com/ramyashreeshetty)</sub>

Chitchatter is a free (as in both price and freedom) communication tool. It is designed with security and privacy in mind. To that end, it is:

- Fully open source (licensed under [GPL v2](./LICENSE))
- Peer-to-peer
  - Whenever possible, otherwise [Open Relay](https://www.metered.ca/tools/openrelay/) is used to ensure reliable peer connection
- Encrypted (via [WebRTC](https://webrtc-security.github.io/))
- Serverless
  - [Public WebTorrent servers are only used for initial peer handshake](https://github.com/dmotz/trystero#how-it-works)
- Ephemeral
  - Message content is never persisted to disk
- Decentralized
  - There is no API server. All that's required for Chitchatter to function is availability of GitHub for static assets and public WebTorrent and STUN/TURN relay servers for establishing peer communication.
- [Self-hostable](#self-hosting)

Chitchatter was bootstrapped with [Create React App](https://github.com/facebook/create-react-app). The secure networking magic would not be possible without [Trystero](https://github.com/dmotz/trystero).

## How to use it

Open https://chitchatter.im/ and join a room to start chatting with anyone else who is in the room. By default, room names are random [UUID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universally_unique_identifier)s that are generated client-side. To securely communicate with someone, it is recommended to join one of these randomly-generated rooms and share the URL (via the "🔗" button at the top of the page) to whoever you wish to communicate with via a secure medium of your choosing (such as [Burner Note](https://burnernote.com/) or [Yopass](https://yopass.se/)). Your static user name will be presented to you, and it would be good share that with who you will be chatting with so they know they're talking to you.

## Features

- Multiple peers per room (limited only by the number of peer connections your browser supports).
- The number displayed at the top-right of the screen shows how many peers you are connected to. Your peers are the only ones who can see your message.
- Markdown support via [`react-markdown`](https://github.com/remarkjs/react-markdown).
  - Includes support for syntax highlighting of code.
- Multiline message support (hold Shift and press Enter).
- Dark and light themes

## Anti-features

- Messages are never persisted to disk. When you leave a peer room, messages are cleared from memory and cannot be retrieved.
- Chitchatter is an entirely client-side communication app. It uses external general-purpose WebTorrent and STUN/TURN servers as for necessary communication, but there is no Chitchatter API server.
- No analytics, tracking, or telemetry.
- This is a community-driven, unfunded project that makes no money. This is necessary to prevent corporate influence from harming users.

## Why another chat app?

There is no shortage of user-friendly chat apps available, but most of them rely on a central service to facilitate communication. It is difficult to trust these central services, as commercial interests and [government pressure](https://www.npr.org/2022/08/12/1117092169/nebraska-cops-used-facebook-messages-to-investigate-an-alleged-illegal-abortion) can compel service operators to work against the best interest of the users. Even when when user data is handled in good faith by service operators, the possibility remains that [encrypted data held at rest may be decrypted](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-may-have-found-way-to-unlock-san-bernardino-shooters-iphone/) against the user's will.

Chitchatter designs around these concerns by not having a central service operator and never storing communication data. Some services are required to establish a connection between peers, but the app relies on direct peer-to-peer communication as much as possible. Any services that are used by the app have no association with Chitchatter project and are publicly available for all to use.

Chitchatter is inspired by [Cryptocat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocat) and [Tox](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tox_(protocol)>).

### Veracity

The core of Chitchatter's security model is the fact that it is fully open source. You are free (and encouraged) to fully audit the project source code and infrastructure. Not only is the source code available under the terms of the [GPL](./LICENSE), but [all build logs are publicly accessible](https://github.com/jeremyckahn/chitchatter/actions/workflows/pages/pages-build-deployment) as well.

If you would like to verify that the app hosted at https://chitchatter.im/ is the one that is hosted on GitHub, you can use `dig`:

```
$ dig chitchatter.im

; <<>> DiG 9.18.1-1ubuntu1.1-Ubuntu <<>> chitchatter.im
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 61332
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 5, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 65494
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;chitchatter.im.                        IN      A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
chitchatter.im.         231     IN      CNAME   jeremyckahn.github.io.
jeremyckahn.github.io.  231     IN      A       185.199.111.153
jeremyckahn.github.io.  231     IN      A       185.199.110.153
jeremyckahn.github.io.  231     IN      A       185.199.109.153
jeremyckahn.github.io.  231     IN      A       185.199.108.153
```

To examine the static assets that are served to end users, you can audit the [`gh-pages` branch](https://github.com/jeremyckahn/chitchatter/tree/gh-pages).

## Project status

Chitchatter is in [MVP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_viable_product) state. A lot of basic features and UX polish are missing, but [much is planned](#Project-roadmap) for the future.

Chitchatter is an open source project, so community contributions and support are welcome! If there's something you'd like to see changed in the project, please [open an issue](https://github.com/jeremyckahn/chitchatter/issues) or [Pull Request](https://github.com/jeremyckahn/chitchatter/pulls) on GitHub and share your ideas.

## Project roadmap

This is a non-exhaustive list of things that are in Chitchatter's future:

- Password-protected rooms
- Voice calling
- Video calling
- File sharing
- Indicators for when others are typing
- Transcript backfilling for peers who join a room after there has already been activity

See the full ticket backlog [here](https://github.com/users/jeremyckahn/projects/1).

## Environments

- Production environment: https://chitchatter.im/
  - Mirror: https://chitchatter.vercel.app/ (note that peers cannot connect across domains)
- Staging: https://chitchatter-git-develop-jeremyckahn.vercel.app/

## Available Scripts

In the project directory, you can run:

### `npm dev`

Runs the entire stack (client + WebTorrent tracker) locally.

### `npm start`

Runs the front end app in the development mode. Uses public WebTorrent trackers.\
Open [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000) to view it in your browser.

The page will reload when you make changes. You may also see any lint errors in the console.

### `npm test`

Launches the test runner in the interactive watch mode. See the section about [running tests](https://facebook.github.io/create-react-app/docs/running-tests) for more information.

### `npm run build`

Builds the app for production to the `build` folder. It correctly bundles React in production mode and optimizes the build for the best performance.

The build is minified and the filenames include the hashes.

### Self-hosting

Chitchatter is designed to be forked and self-hosted. If you would like to change pairing or relay server configuration, or you simply prefer to control your own builds and versions, just [fork this repo](https://github.com/jeremyckahn/chitchatter/fork) and follow the steps below.

#### Necessary steps after forking

Assuming you are hosting Chitchatter on [GitHub Pages](https://pages.github.com/):

1. Change the [`homepage` property in `package.json`](https://github.com/jeremyckahn/chitchatter/blob/1ea67e2c3a45115e054ebfe3457f2c3572c6213b/package.json#L4) to whatever URL your Chitchatter instance will be hosted from. This will be something like `https://github_user_or_org_name.github.io/chitchatter/`.
2. Define a [`DEPLOY_KEY` GitHub Action secret](https://github.com/jeremyckahn/chitchatter/blob/e2bac732cf1288f7b5d0bec151098f18e8b1d0d6/.github/workflows/deploy.yml#L28-L31) (at `https://github.com/github_user_or_org_name/chitchatter/settings/secrets/actions`). See the docs for [`peaceiris/actions-gh-pages`](https://github.com/peaceiris/actions-gh-pages#%EF%B8%8F-set-ssh-private-key-deploy_key) for more information.

#### Deployment

##### On GitHub

When hosted on GitHub Pages and the configuration above has been done, the Production environment is updated when the remote `main` branch is updated.

##### On non-GitHub hosts

Build the app with `npm run build`, and then serve the `build` directory. Any static file serving solution should work.

#### Runtime configuration

Explore the files in `src/config` to modify pairing and relay server configuration.

### Troubleshooting

#### Peers won't connect

This could happen for a variety of reasons. The most likely of which is that one or more peers cannot connect directly and must use the configured STUN/TURN relay as a fallback. The standard relay (https://www.metered.ca/tools/openrelay/) does not guarantee uptime, so it may simply be unavailable for some time. There's not much to do other than wait until it becomes available again.

##### Firefox-specific

Per [#36](https://github.com/jeremyckahn/chitchatter/issues/36), check your `about:config` settings and ensure that `media.peerconnection.enabled` is **enabled**.

## ⚠️ Disclaimer

By using Chitchatter, you agree to accept **full responsibility** for your actions related to its use. Additionally, you agree **not** to hold any contributors to the Chitchatter project responsible for any result of your use of it. The developers of Chitchatter do not endorse illegal activity and provide the software strictly for the purposes of lawful use.