💬 Messager — Self-Hosted Real-Time Room Chat

A lightweight, private, self-hosted web chat application with real-time messaging, room PIN codes, and image sharing. Packaged for zero-dependency deployment as standalone single-file executables for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

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✨ Features

• ⚡ Real-Time Messaging: Instant message delivery powered by Socket.io WebSockets.
• 🔑 5-Digit Room Codes: Create or join isolated rooms using simple PIN codes.
• 📸 Rich Media Sharing: Share images by uploading, dragging-and-dropping, or pasting directly from the clipboard (Ctrl+V).
• 📱 Mobile-First UI: Clean, responsive interface with dark theme and mobile device support.
• 📦 Single-File Executables: Built with pkg into portable binaries—run on Windows, macOS, or Linux without installing Node.js or npm!
• 🔒 Self-Hosted Privacy: Uploaded media is saved in a local messager-uploads directory in your home folder.

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📸 Interface Preview

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🚀 Quick Start

Running from Source

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Gilzone/messager.git
   cd messager

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Start the server:

   node server.js

4. Open your browser and navigate to:

   http://localhost:3002
   

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💻 Building Standalone Executables (No Node.js Required)

You can package Messager into standalone executable files using pkg:

# Build for Windows (.exe)
npm run build:win

# Build for macOS
npm run build:mac

# Build for Linux
npm run build:linux

# Build all three platforms simultaneously
npm run build:all

The compiled binaries will be output to the dist/ folder:

• dist/messager-win.exe
• dist/messager-mac
• dist/messager-linux

Run the generated binary directly on any system without installing dependencies!

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📁 Project Structure

messager/
├── server.js          # Express server, Multer upload config & Socket.io logic
├── public/            # Client web application
│   ├── index.html     # Join/Create room landing page
│   ├── room.html      # Main chat room interface
│   ├── client.js      # Socket.io client & image paste listener
│   └── style.css      # Responsive dark theme styles
├── package.json       # Dependencies and build targets
└── dist/              # Compiled standalone binaries (generated)

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⚙️ Configuration & Storage

• Default Port: 3002 (configurable via PORT environment variable).
• Uploaded Images: Stored locally in ~/messager-uploads/ on the host machine.
• Ephemeral Rooms: Rooms are created dynamically when users join and cleaned up when everyone leaves.

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📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.