Opencord

A modern real-time communication platform built with Rust and SolidJS.

Disclaimer: This is a hobby project made for fun to use with friends. It does not compete with Discord in any way — Discord is vastly superior in quality, features, and reliability. Opencord is in a very early alpha state with numerous bugs and likely security issues. Use at your own risk.

Features

• Real-time messaging with WebSocket
• Voice and video communication powered by LiveKit
• Channel-based organization
• Role-based permissions
• File sharing
• Modern web interface

Compatibility

Platform	Support
Electron	Full support
Chrome/Chromium	Full support
Firefox	Full support
Safari	Full support

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20.19+
• pnpm (npm install -g pnpm)
• Rust 1.85+
• PostgreSQL
• OpenSSL
• sqlx-cli (cargo install sqlx-cli)
• LiveKit server
• certbot (production only)

Development

Setup

git clone <repository-url>
cd opencord
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your DATABASE_URL and LiveKit credentials
./generate-dev-certs  # Add the output to .env

Running

Run client and server in separate terminals:

# Terminal 1 - Client (hot reload)
make install
make dev-client

# Terminal 2 - Server (debug mode)
make dev-server
make dev-run

Client runs at https://localhost:5173, server at https://localhost:3000

Production

Setup

git clone <repository-url>
cd opencord
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your DATABASE_URL and LiveKit credentials
# Set SERVE_CLIENT=true to serve frontend from server
./generate-prod-certs yourdomain.com  # Add the output to .env

Running

make install       # Install dependencies
make prod-client   # Build client (if SERVE_CLIENT=true)
make prod-server   # Build server
make prod-run      # Run server

Access at https://yourdomain.com:3000

The first user should register using the invite code OWNER_INVITE_2024 to become the server owner.

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL connection string	required
CERT_PATH	Path to TLS certificate	required
KEY_PATH	Path to TLS private key	required
SERVE_CLIENT	Serve frontend from server	false
LIVEKIT_URL	LiveKit server domain (without protocol)	required
LIVEKIT_API_KEY	LiveKit API key	required
LIVEKIT_API_SECRET	LiveKit API secret	required

Make Commands

Command	Description
make install	Install npm dependencies
make clean	Remove build artifacts
make dev-client	Run web client dev server with hot reload
make dev-electron	Run Electron client in dev mode
make dev-server	Build server in debug mode
make dev-run	Run server in debug mode
make prod-client	Build web client for server
make prod-electron	Build Electron desktop app
make prod-server	Build server (with database setup)
make prod-run	Run server (release mode)
make prod-stop	Stop server
make db-create	Create database
make db-migrate	Run database migrations
make db-reset	Drop and recreate database

Project Structure

opencord/
├── client/          # SolidJS frontend
├── server/          # Rust backend
├── utils/           # Shared utilities
├── certs/           # TLS certificates
└── Makefile         # Build automation

Permissions System

Opencord uses a role-based permission system where users belong to roles, and roles have specific rights for each group/channel.

Rights Levels

Level	Name	Description
0	Hidden	No access - group/channel is invisible
1	Ack	Can see the group/channel exists
2	Read	Can read messages and listen to voice
4	Write	Can send messages and speak in voice
8	ACL	Full control - manage permissions, kick users, delete messages

Special Roles

Role ID	Name	Description
1	Owner	Absolute authority over the server
2	Admin	Maximum rights everywhere, can do everything except modify Owner
3	Default	The role new users are assigned when they register

Who Can Do What

Action	Required Right	Notes
See a group/channel	Ack (1)
Read messages	Read (2)
Listen to voice	Read (2)
Send messages	Write (4)
Speak in voice	Write (4)
Join voice channel	Read (2)
Share screen/camera	Write (4)
Delete any message	ACL (8)
Kick users from voice	ACL (8)	Cannot kick Owner/Admin unless you are Owner
Modify permissions	ACL (8)	Only Owner/Admin can grant/remove ACL rights
Create groups/channels/roles	Owner/Admin
Delete normal users	Owner/Admin
Delete Admin users	Owner only
Assign role to normal user	Owner/Admin	Change which role a user belongs to
Assign role to Admin user	Owner only	Change which role an Admin belongs to

Permission Hierarchy

• Channels inherit permissions from their parent group
• Owner can moderate anyone
• Admin can moderate anyone except Owner
• Users with ACL can only moderate non-Owner, non-Admin users
• ACL rights for non-Owner/Admin users are local to each group - a user may have ACL in one group but not others

User Management Rules

• Only Owner or Admin can create groups, channels, and roles
• Owner or Admin can delete any normal user (role 3+)
• Only Owner can delete Admin users
• Owner or Admin can assign any role to normal users
• Only Owner can assign a different role to Admin users
• Owner's role cannot be changed

License

AGPL-3.0