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v4call — Decentralised Paid Communications

⚠️ WARNING: This project was vibe-coded with Claude Opus 4.6. The author is a tinkerer, not a developer. Use at your own risk — review the code before trusting it with real money.

Video, audio and text calling with Hive blockchain identity, HBD micropayments, and custom Hive-Engine token support.

Callers pay to ring. Callees set their own rates. Unused credit is refunded. Everything is on-chain.

Key features:

  • Voice-only and video calls with separate rate tiers
  • Encrypted direct messages with persistent chat history
  • Custom token payments (any Hive-Engine token — CNOOBS, PIZZA, etc.)
  • Payment option picker — callers choose which currency to pay with
  • Free-market platform fees — servers set minimums, users shop around
  • Hive Keychain login — no key paste needed
  • Unread DM alerts and message previews on login
  • Ephemeral encrypted rooms with chat history for active members

Full Deploy Guide

New to self-hosting? Follow the complete step-by-step guide:

Deploy v4call on Ubuntu 24.04 with Docker

The guide covers everything from creating a VPS to a working HTTPS server — no coding knowledge required.

Quick Start (Docker)

Requirements

  • A VPS or server with Docker and Docker Compose installed
  • A domain name pointing to your server
  • A Hive account for your server identity
  • A separate Hive account for escrow (holds caller funds during calls)
  • Hive Keychain browser extension (for login and payments)

1. Clone and configure

git clone https://github.com/CompleteNoobs/v4call
cd v4call
cp .env.example .env
nano .env

Fill in all values in .env:

# ── Server Identity ──────────────────────────────────────
SERVER_NAME=yourcallapp
SERVER_DOMAIN=call.yourdomain.com
SERVER_HIVE_ACCOUNT=yourhiveaccount
ESCROW_ACCOUNT=yourescrowaccount
V4CALL_ESCROW_KEY=5Kxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ADMIN_KEY=make-up-a-long-random-string

# ── Platform Fee ─────────────────────────────────────────
# Minimum % your server takes from paid calls/DMs (10 = 10%)
DEFAULT_PLATFORM_FEE=10

# ── Chat Storage ─────────────────────────────────────────
DM_RETENTION_DAYS=33          # days to keep DMs (cleanup runs hourly)
ROOM_RETENTION_DAYS=33        # days to keep room messages
DM_PREVIEW_COUNT=1            # recent DMs per conversation on login (0 = off)

# ── Network ──────────────────────────────────────────────
PORT=3000
BIND_HOST=127.0.0.1

2. Configure Nginx

Edit nginx/v4call.conf — replace all occurrences of v4call.com with your domain.

3. Build and get SSL

# Start with HTTP only first (needed for Certbot verification)
docker compose up -d --build

# Get your SSL certificate
docker compose run --rm \
  --entrypoint certbot \
  certbot certonly \
  --webroot \
  -w /var/www/certbot \
  -d yourdomain.com \
  --email your@email.com \
  --agree-tos \
  --no-eff-email

# Update nginx/v4call.conf to enable HTTPS, then:
docker compose restart nginx

4. Done

Your v4call server is running at https://yourdomain.com

Important: After any code changes, always use the full rebuild cycle:

docker compose down
docker compose build --no-cache
docker compose up -d

Quick Start (without Docker — existing VPS with Nginx)

If you already have Nginx and Node.js set up:

cd /opt
git clone https://github.com/CompleteNoobs/v4call
cd v4call
npm install
cp .env.example .env
nano .env

Add to your systemd service file (/etc/systemd/system/v4call.service):

[Unit]
Description=v4call Server
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=www-data
WorkingDirectory=/opt/v4call
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /opt/v4call/server.js
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
EnvironmentFile=/opt/v4call/.env

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable v4call
systemctl start v4call

Features

Login Options

Two ways to sign in:

  • Hive Keychain (recommended) — no key paste needed. Keychain signs a challenge to prove identity. A 🔑 panel in the lobby lets you optionally enter your posting key to unlock encrypted messaging.
  • Manual posting key — paste your Hive posting private key directly. Stays in browser session memory only.

Voice and Video Calls

Each online user shows three action buttons:

  • 📞 Green phone — voice-only call (audio, no camera)
  • 🎥 Blue camera — video call (audio + camera)
  • 💬 Purple chat bubble — direct message

Separate rates can be set for voice and video in the rates post.

Direct Messages

  • End-to-end encrypted using Hive posting keys — server stores only ciphertext
  • Stored for up to DM_RETENTION_DAYS (default 33 days) with hourly cleanup
  • Both sender and recipient get their own encrypted copy for history retrieval
  • Unread alert popup on login showing message count and senders
  • Preview of recent DMs loaded into lobby on login (configurable via DM_PREVIEW_COUNT)
  • Full conversation history loaded on demand when opening a DM panel

Custom Token Payments

  • Users can accept any Hive-Engine token (e.g. CNOOBS, PIZZA) via [TOKEN:SYMBOL] sections in their rates post
  • Server checks caller's token balance via Hive-Engine API automatically
  • When multiple payment options qualify, a currency picker shows all options with balances
  • Token transfers use Keychain custom_json (Hive-Engine sidechain)
  • Escrow account must hold the accepted tokens for payouts and refunds

Platform Fee System

  • Server sets DEFAULT_PLATFORM_FEE in .env — this is the minimum fee
  • Users set PLATFORM-FEE in their rates post — this is the maximum they'll pay
  • If the user's fee is below the server minimum → paid contacts are rejected with a clear message
  • If the user's fee meets or exceeds the minimum → server charges its own rate (best price for the user)
  • No fee line in rates post → server default is used automatically
  • Free contacts are never affected by fee enforcement

Rooms

  • Private rooms with allowlist-based access
  • Encrypted messaging and WebRTC video/voice
  • Room history replayed to new joiners (broadcasts in full, encrypted messages only if addressed to them)
  • Ephemeral — when the last person leaves, the room and all its stored messages are deleted

Configuration Reference

Variable Default Description
SERVER_NAME v4call Display name for your server
SERVER_DOMAIN v4call.com Your server's domain
SERVER_HIVE_ACCOUNT v4call Hive account that receives platform fees
ESCROW_ACCOUNT v4call-escrow Hive account that holds funds during calls
V4CALL_ESCROW_KEY (none) Active private key for escrow account. Required.
ADMIN_KEY (none) Password for admin endpoints
DEFAULT_PLATFORM_FEE 10 Server's minimum platform fee (%)
DM_RETENTION_DAYS 33 Days to keep stored DMs
ROOM_RETENTION_DAYS 33 Days to keep stored room messages
DM_PREVIEW_COUNT 1 Recent DMs per conversation on login (0 = off)
HIVE_API (blank) Override Hive API node (blank = auto-select)
MAX_CALL_DURATION_MIN 120 Max call length before auto-disconnect
CALL_COOLDOWN_MS 30000 Cooldown between call attempts
PAYMENT_VERIFY_RETRIES 3 Payment verification retry attempts
PAYMENT_VERIFY_DELAY_MS 5000 Delay between verification retries

Admin & Debug Endpoints

# Debug — no auth required
GET /debug-state                                    # Current lobby users and rooms
GET /debug-rates/USERNAME                           # Parsed rates for a user
GET /debug-rates/USERNAME?caller=CALLER&type=voice  # Rates for a specific caller (checks tokens)

# Admin — requires ADMIN_KEY
GET /admin/ledger?key=YOUR_ADMIN_KEY                # Payment ledger
GET /admin/balance?key=YOUR_ADMIN_KEY               # Escrow HBD balance
GET /admin/ledger?key=YOUR_ADMIN_KEY&call_id=ID     # Specific call details

User Setup (Callers and Callees)

Setting your call rates (callees)

  1. Go to https://yourdomain.com/rate-editor.html
  2. Set your rates per time window and list
  3. Set PLATFORM-FEE to at least the server's minimum (e.g. 10 for 10%)
  4. Optionally add [TOKEN:SYMBOL] sections for custom token rates
  5. Click Post to Hive (requires Hive Keychain)

Example V2 rates post with a custom token:

[V4CALL-RATES-V2]
ACCOUNT:yourusername
SERVER:yourdomain.com
CHAIN:hive
PLATFORM-FEE:10%
ESCROW:your-escrow-account

[TOKEN:CNOOBS]
ALLOW-BLOCKED:yes
TEXT:1
VOICE:RING:1;CONNECT:1;RATE:33/hr;MIN-DEPOSIT:10min
VIDEO:RING:1;CONNECT:1;RATE:33/hr;MIN-DEPOSIT:10min
[/TOKEN]

[LIST:default]
[DAYS:mon-sun][TIME:00:00-23:59]
TEXT:0.100
VOICE:RING:0.100;CONNECT:0.500;RATE:2.000/hr;MIN-DEPOSIT:10min
VIDEO:RING:0.200;CONNECT:1.000;RATE:5.000/hr;MIN-DEPOSIT:10min
[/TIME]
[/LIST]
[/V4CALL-RATES-V2]

Making calls (callers)

  1. Log in with Hive Keychain or your posting key
  2. Click 📞 (voice), 🎥 (video), or 💬 (DM) next to any online user
  3. If payment is required, choose your preferred currency and approve via Keychain
  4. Call connects — unused credit refunded at call end

Architecture

Browser (caller)  ──WebRTC──►  Browser (callee)
       │                              │
       │ Socket.io                    │ Socket.io
       ▼                              ▼
  v4call Node.js server (signalling only — media is peer-to-peer)
       │
       ├── Hive blockchain (identity, rates, payments)
       ├── Hive-Engine API (custom token balances, transfers)
       ├── SQLite: v4call-ledger.db (call/payment records — server writes only)
       ├── SQLite: v4call-chat.db (encrypted DMs, room messages — separate for security)
       └── v4call-escrow Hive account (holds HBD + tokens during calls)

Viewing the Databases

# Payment ledger
sqlite3 data/logs/v4call-ledger.db
.headers on
.mode column
SELECT * FROM calls ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 20;
SELECT * FROM payments ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 20;
SELECT status, COUNT(*) FROM calls GROUP BY status;
.quit

# Chat storage
sqlite3 data/logs/v4call-chat.db
.headers on
.mode column
SELECT * FROM dm_messages ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 20;
SELECT * FROM room_messages ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 20;
SELECT username, last_seen FROM user_seen;
.quit

Customising Your Fork

All text, colours and branding are in public/index.html.

Search for v4call to find all instances of the brand name.

Key variables in .env:

  • SERVER_NAME — shown in the page title and header logo
  • SERVER_DOMAIN — your domain
  • SERVER_HIVE_ACCOUNT — where platform fees go
  • DEFAULT_PLATFORM_FEE — your server's minimum fee percentage

Federation (Coming Soon)

v4call is designed to be federated — users on different servers will be able to see each other online, call, and DM across server boundaries. Identity is verified on Hive, rates are read from Hive, payments flow through each server's escrow. Different servers can set different platform fees, creating a free market for server operators.

Add SERVER:yourdomain.com to your rates post now to be ready when federation launches.

License

MIT — fork freely, run your own server, keep all your platform fees.

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