Chat-Connect

Original Creator: Prajjwal | © 2025 All Rights Reserved Unauthorized copying or redistribution is strictly prohibited.

A full-featured, real-time CLI chat application built entirely with the Python standard library (no third-party packages needed). Supports multiple simultaneous users, server-side authentication, ANSI colors, message timestamps, slash commands, and graceful shutdown.

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Features

Category	Details
Networking	TCP sockets, multi-threaded (one thread per client)
Security	Server password auth, duplicate username prevention, regex username validation, rate limiting (1 msg/sec), 500-char message cap
UI	ANSI colors, HH:MM timestamps on every message, join/leave notifications
CLI	argparse on both server and client — full --help, --version, --host, --port, etc.
Slash commands	/help, /list, /clear, /quit
Logging	Colored structured logging on the server; optional file logging via --log
Shutdown	Ctrl+C on the server notifies all clients and closes sockets cleanly

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Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• No third-party libraries — pure standard library

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Quick Start

1. Start the server

python server.py

2. Connect a client (in a new terminal)

python clinet.py

You will be prompted for the server password (prajjwal@chat by default) and a username.

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Server — Full CLI Reference

python server.py [OPTIONS]

Flag	Default	Description
--host ADDR	127.0.0.1	Address to bind the server to
--port PORT	57815	TCP port to listen on
--password PASS	prajjwal@chat	Password clients must supply to connect
--limit N	5	Maximum simultaneous clients
--log FILE	(none)	Also write structured logs to a file
--no-color	—	Disable ANSI color output
--version	—	Print version and exit
--help	—	Show help and exit

Examples:

# Default run
python server.py

# Custom port, password, and file logging
python server.py --port 9090 --password s3cr3t --limit 10 --log chat.log

# Accept connections from any machine on the network
python server.py --host 0.0.0.0 --port 9090

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Client — Full CLI Reference

python clinet.py [OPTIONS]

Flag	Default	Description
--host ADDR	127.0.0.1	Server address to connect to
--port PORT	57815	Server port
--password PASS	(prompted)	Server password (hidden prompt if omitted)
--username NAME	(prompted)	Your display name
--no-color	—	Disable ANSI color output
--version	—	Print version and exit
--help	—	Show help and exit

Examples:

# Default run
python clinet.py

# Connect to a remote server with a pre-set username
python clinet.py --host 192.168.1.10 --port 9090 --username Alice

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In-Chat Slash Commands

Command	Description
/help	Show available commands
/list	List all currently online users
/clear	Clear your terminal screen
/quit	Disconnect gracefully and exit

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Finding a Free Port

If 57815 is already in use on your machine, run:

python to_find_a_free_port.py

Then pass the printed number with --port on both the server and all clients.

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Project Structure

Chat-Connect/
├── server.py               # Multi-client TCP server
├── clinet.py               # CLI chat client
├── to_find_a_free_port.py  # Utility: find a free OS port
├── requirements.txt        # Dependency notes (stdlib only)
└── README.md               # This file

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Communication Sequence

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License

© 2025 Prajjwal. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized copying, redistribution, or modification of this project is strictly prohibited.