162 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
162 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
<p align="center">
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<a href="https://github.com/liamcottle/reticulum-webchat"><img src="./logo/logo-chat-bubble.png" width="150"></a>
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</p>
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<h2 align="center">Reticulum WebChat</h2>
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<p align="center">
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<a href="https://discord.gg/APQSQZNV7t"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Discord-Liam%20Cottle's%20Discord-%237289DA?style=flat&logo=discord" alt="discord"/></a>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/liamcottle"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Twitter-@liamcottle-%231DA1F2?style=flat&logo=twitter" alt="twitter"/></a>
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<br/>
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<a href="https://ko-fi.com/liamcottle"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Donate%20a%20Coffee-liamcottle-yellow?style=flat&logo=buy-me-a-coffee" alt="donate on ko-fi"/></a>
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<a href="./donate.md"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Donate%20Bitcoin-3FPBfiEwioWHFix3kZqe5bdU9F5o8mG8dh-%23FF9900?style=flat&logo=bitcoin" alt="donate bitcoin"/></a>
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</p>
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## What is Reticulum WebChat?
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A simple open-source web based [LXMF](https://github.com/markqvist/lxmf) client for [Reticulum](https://github.com/markqvist/Reticulum).
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<img src="./screenshots/screenshot.png">
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## Features
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- Supports sending and receiving messages between [Reticulum WebChat](https://github.com/liamcottle/reticulum-webchat), [Sideband](https://github.com/markqvist/Sideband/) and [Nomadnet](https://github.com/markqvist/nomadnet).
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- Supports receiving and saving images and attachments sent from Sideband.
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- Supports sending images and file attachments.
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- Supports saving inbound and outbound messages to a local database.
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- Supports sending an announce to the network.
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- Supports setting a custom display name to send in your announce.
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- Supports viewing and searching peers discovered from announces.
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## Beta Features
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- Support for Audio Calls to other [Reticulum WebChat](https://github.com/liamcottle/reticulum-webchat) users.
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- Audio is encoded with [codec2](https://github.com/drowe67/codec2) to support low bandwidth links.
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- Using a microphone requires using the web ui over localhost or https, due to [AudioWorklet](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/AudioWorklet) secure context.
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- I have tested two-way audio calls over LoRa with a single hop. It works well when a reasonable bitrate is configured on the RNode.
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- Support for browsing pages, and downloading files hosted on Nomad Network Nodes.
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> NOTE: micron format parsing is still in development, some pages may not render or work correctly at all.
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## How does it work?
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- A python script ([web.py](./web.py)) runs a Reticulum instance and a WebSocket server.
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- The web page sends and receives LXMF packets encoded in json via the WebSocket.
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- Web Browser -> WebSocket -> Python Reticulum -> (configured interfaces) -> (destination)
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- LXMF messages sent and received are saved to a local SQLite database.
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## How to use it?
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You will need to clone the repo, and run `web.py`.
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```
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git clone https://github.com/liamcottle/reticulum-webchat
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cd reticulum-webchat
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pip install -r requirements.txt
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python web.py
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```
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> NOTE: You should now be able to access the web interface at http://localhost:8000
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For a full list of command line options, you can run;
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```
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python web.py --help
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```
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```
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usage: web.py [-h] [--host [HOST]] [--port [PORT]] [--headless] [--identity-file IDENTITY_FILE] [--identity-base64 IDENTITY_BASE64] [--generate-identity-file GENERATE_IDENTITY_FILE] [--generate-identity-base64]
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[--reticulum-config-dir RETICULUM_CONFIG_DIR] [--storage-dir STORAGE_DIR]
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ReticulumWebChat
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options:
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-h, --help show this help message and exit
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--host [HOST] The address the web server should listen on.
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--port [PORT] The port the web server should listen on.
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--headless Web browser will not automatically launch when this flag is passed.
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--identity-file IDENTITY_FILE
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Path to a Reticulum Identity file to use as your LXMF address.
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--identity-base64 IDENTITY_BASE64
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A base64 encoded Reticulum Identity to use as your LXMF address.
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--generate-identity-file GENERATE_IDENTITY_FILE
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Generates and saves a new Reticulum Identity to the provided file path and then exits.
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--generate-identity-base64
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Outputs a randomly generated Reticulum Identity as base64 and then exits.
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--reticulum-config-dir RETICULUM_CONFIG_DIR
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Path to a Reticulum config directory for the RNS stack to use (e.g: ~/.reticulum)
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--storage-dir STORAGE_DIR
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Path to a directory for storing databases and config files (default: ./storage)
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```
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## Using an existing Reticulum Identity
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The first time you run this application, a new Reticulum identity is generated and saved to `storage/identity`.
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If you want to use an existing identity;
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- You can overwrite `storage/identity` with another identity file.
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- Or, you can pass in a custom identity file path as a command line argument.
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To use a custom identity file, provide the `--identity-file` argument followed by the path to your custom identity file.
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```
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python web.py --identity-file ./custom_identity_file
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```
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If you would like to generate a new identity, you can use the [rnid](https://reticulum.network/manual/using.html#the-rnid-utility) utility provided by Reticulum.
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```
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rnid --generate ./new_identity_file
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```
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If you don't have access to the `rnid` command, you can use the following:
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```
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python web.py --generate-identity-file ./new_identity_file
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```
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Alternatively, you can provide a base64 encoded private key, like so;
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```
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python web.py --identity-base64 "GCN6mMhVemdNIK/fw97C1zvU17qjQPFTXRBotVckeGmoOwQIF8VOjXwNNem3CUOJZCQQpJuc/4U94VSsC39Phw=="
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```
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> NOTE: this is a randomly generated identity for example purposes. Do not use it, it has been leaked!
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## Build Electron Application
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Reticulum WebChat can be run from source via a command line, as explained above, or as a standalone application.
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To run as a standalone application, we need to compile the python script and dependencies to an executable with [cxfreeze](https://github.com/marcelotduarte/cx_Freeze) and then build an [Electron](https://www.electronjs.org/) app which includes a bundled browser that can interact with the compiled python executable.
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This allows for the entire application to be run by double clicking a single file without the need for a user to manually install python, nor run any commands in a command line application.
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To build a `.exe` when running on Windows or a `.dmg` when running on a Mac, run the following;
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```
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pip install -r requirements.txt
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npm install
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npm run dist
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```
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> Note: cxfreeze only supports building an executable for the current platform. You will need a Mac to build for Mac, and a Windows PC to build for Windows.
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Once completed, you should have a `.exe` or a `.dmg` in the `dist` folder.
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## TODO
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- [ ] add build script for macos binary
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- [ ] auto build and release windows and macos binaries via github actions
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- [ ] conversations/contacts list ui with unread indicators
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- [ ] button to add peer to contacts, and show a tab for contacts, separate from peers list
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- [ ] allow setting a custom name to show for a contact
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- [ ] button to forget peers and contacts
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- [ ] optimise ui to work nicely on a mobile device, such as Android/iOS
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- [ ] support for managing Reticulum config/interfaces via the web ui
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- [ ] support for micron input fields, to allow interacting with pages like Retipedia
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## License
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MIT
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