Loft Chat

Loft Chat is a self-hostable, team chat application. It features everything you would expect from Slack, and nothing more.

Features

• Real-time Messaging: Instant delivery via WebSockets + PostgreSQL LISTEN/NOTIFY with automatic reconnection and heartbeat monitoring.
• Channels & DMs: Public/private channels, direct messages, starred lists, archiving.
• Threaded Conversations: Thread replies with a dedicated panel.
• Unread + Notifications: Unread badges, browser notifications, per-channel/DM preferences (All, Mentions, Mute).
• Search: Find channels, people, and message content across the organization.
• Message Tools: Edit/delete, reactions, @mentions, pinning, bookmarks.
• Uploads & Storage: File/image uploads with quotas, local or S3-compatible storage backends.
• Custom Emoji: Organization-specific emoji with image uploads (admin only).
• Presence & Typing: Online/away/offline presence plus typing indicators.
• User Management: Profiles, admin tooling, invitation links, password reset.
• Multi-Organization: Support for multiple workspaces per deployment.
• Markdown: GitHub-flavored Markdown rendering in messages.
• Responsive UI: React + TailwindCSS + ShadCN.
• Self-Hostable: Simple setup via Docker or local installation.

Quickstart

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/loft/loft-open-source.git
cd loft-open-source

2. One-Command Start

A single command starts the entire stack: PostgreSQL, the Fastify backend (with automatic migrations), and the Vite frontend.

docker-compose up --build

• Frontend: http://localhost:5173
• Backend API: http://localhost:4000
• Database Admin (PgAdmin): http://localhost:5050 (Login: admin@admin.com / admin)

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Railway (I just like them)

Railway deployments are split into separate services (backend, frontend, and database). The repository is a monorepo, so each Railway service should target its own root directory. 1) Backend service (Fastify)

• Create a new Railway service connected to this repo.
• Set the service Root Directory to /server.
• Required variables:
  • DATABASE_URL (from Railway Postgres)
  • BETTER_AUTH_SECRET
  • BETTER_AUTH_URL
  • FRONTEND_URL
  • Storage vars if using S3/MinIO (didn't test this, let me know if it works)

2) Create a Railway project + Postgres

• Add a Postgres db in Railway
• Add the Postgres DATABASE_URL into your backend service variables from the provided prompt under backend variables

3) Frontend service (Vite)

• Create a second Railway service connected to this repo.
• Set the service Root Directory to /client.
• Required variables:
  • VITE_API_URL (backend url)

Environment Variables

Copy server/.env.example to server/.env and client/.env.example to client/.env before starting any service.

Backend Variables (server/.env)

Variable	Description	Default
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL connection string	Required
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET	Secret for JWT signing	Required
BETTER_AUTH_URL	Backend URL for auth callbacks	Required
FRONTEND_URL	Frontend URL for CORS and links	Required
UPLOAD_DIR	Local upload directory	uploads
STORAGE_BACKEND	local, s3, or minio	local
STORAGE_BUCKET, STORAGE_REGION, etc.	S3 configuration	Optional
MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE_MB	Maximum file size	25
ORG_STORAGE_QUOTA_MB	Organization storage limit	0 (unlimited)
USER_STORAGE_QUOTA_MB	Per-user storage limit	0 (unlimited)

Frontend Variables (client/.env)

Variable	Description	Default
VITE_API_URL	Backend API URL	http://localhost:4000

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Usage

1. Register: Go to /register once the frontend is up. The first user becomes the workspace admin.
2. Invite Users: As admin, go to Workspace Settings to generate invitation links.
3. Setup Profile: Personalize your name and bio in Settings.
4. Chat: Chat in #general, create channels, or start DMs.

---

Project Structure

loft-open-source/
├── client/                 # React frontend
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/     # UI components
│   │   ├── contexts/       # React contexts (Organization, Presence)
│   │   ├── hooks/          # Custom hooks (useChatSocket, useMarkAsRead)
│   │   ├── lib/            # API client, auth client, utilities
│   │   ├── pages/          # Route pages
│   │   └── types/          # TypeScript types
│   └── ...
├── server/                 # Fastify backend
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── routes/         # API route handlers
│   │   ├── schemas/        # Zod validation schemas
│   │   ├── plugins/        # Fastify plugins
│   │   ├── errors/         # Custom error classes
│   │   ├── utils/          # Utilities (storage, password, etc.)
│   │   ├── config/         # Configuration management
│   │   ├── realtime.ts     # WebSocket + presence handling
│   │   ├── auth.ts         # BetterAuth configuration
│   │   └── app.ts          # Fastify app setup
│   └── prisma/
│       └── schema.prisma   # Database schema
└── docker-compose.yml      # Full-stack Docker setup

License

AGPL-3.0. See LICENSE.