⚡ zignal

A lightweight, fast terminal chat application written in Zig

For those moments when you need quick, hassle-free communication

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✨ Features

• 🍎 macOS & Linux — Full support for Unix-like systems
• 💬 Modern TUI — Beautiful terminal interface powered by libvaxis
• 🔌 Simple Networking — Connect to anyone instantly
• ⌨️ Intuitive Controls — Easy scrolling, filtering, and navigation
• 🪶 Lightweight — Single binary, minimal footprint

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📦 Installation

Prerequisites

• Zig 0.15.2
• macOS or Linux (Windows not supported)

Dependencies

• libvaxis — Modern TUI library (fetched automatically)

Build from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Blize/zignal.git

# Build the application
cd zignal && zig build

# The binary is ready at zig-out/bin/zignal

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🚀 Usage

Starting a Server

Host a chat room for others to join:

./zignal server

Server Options

Option	Description
-p, --port <port>	Set the server port (default: 8080, use 0 for any available)
-s, --size <size>	Set max number of clients (1-4095, default: 4095)

# Start with default settings (port 8080, max 4095 clients)
./zignal server

# Start on a custom port
./zignal server -p 9000
./zignal server --port 9000

# Start with limited clients
./zignal server -s 100
./zignal server --size 100

# Combine options
./zignal server -p 9000 -s 50
./zignal server --port 0 --size 100  # Port 0 assigns any available port

Share your IP address and port with others on your network so they can connect!

Joining as a Client

./zignal client <IP> <PORT>

Client Options

Option	Description
-u, --username <username>	Set your username to see in the chat (default: Anonymous)

# With a custom username
./zignal client <IP> <PORT> -u <username>
./zignal client <IP> <PORT> --username <username>

./zignal client -u <username> <IP> <PORT>
./zignal client --username <username> <IP> <PORT>

Examples

# Start a server with defaults
./zignal server

# Start a server on port 9000 with max 50 clients
./zignal server -p 9000 -s 50

# Connect to localhost
./zignal client 127.0.0.1 8080

# Connect with a username
./zignal client -u Alice 192.168.1.100 8080
./zignal client --username Bob 192.168.1.100 8080

Help

./zignal -h

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🎮 Controls & Commands

Client Features

• 📜 Scrollable chat history
• 🎮 Custom commands

Client Commands

Command	Description
/exit	Exit the application
/clear	Clear the message history
/help	Show available commands

Server Features

• 📊 Connected users display
• 🔍 Log filtering via input bar
• 📜 Scrollable log history

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🛣️ Roadmap

• 🔐 End-to-end encryption
• 💬 Multiple chat rooms
• 📨 Direct messaging (DMs)
• 🎨 Customizable themes
• 📁 File sharing

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to open issues or submit pull requests.

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 — see the LICENSE file for details.