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💬 cthrone

Chat from one device to another — terminal, desktop window, or phone.
No account, no server, no cloud. One device hosts, the others connect, and every session is sealed end to end.

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🚀 Start in thirty seconds

# on the device that serves
cthrone host

# on the other one, with the address the host printed
cthrone connect 192.168.1.5

Both screens show a six-digit code the first time — 👀 compare them, accept on the host, and type. That is the whole setup.

🖥️ Prefer a window? Run cthrone_gui, or cthrone ui from the CLI build. 📱 On a phone, install the APK and use the Setup tab.

🗺️ How it fits together

flowchart LR
    T["💻 terminal"]
    W["🖥️ window"]
    P["📱 phone"]

    T --> S
    W --> S
    P --> S

    S{{"🔒 sealed session<br/>X25519 · AES-256-GCM"}}
    S --> R["💬 room<br/>the host relays to<br/>every other device"]

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The transport is a flag — websocket (default), NATS (a broker) or Bluetooth (no network at all). Everything above it is the same code, so the chat behaves the same whichever you pick.

🎯 Pick your path

I want to…	Go here
💬 chat right now	Host and connect — two commands
✂️ copy, delete or hide a message	Working with messages
🔑 understand the code both screens show	Pairing and peers
📎 send a picture, a file or a voice note	Send a file
🎞️ play a GIF or a video	Video in the app
📶 chat with no network at all	Bluetooth
🛰️ chat across two networks	NATS · Across networks
🚑 fix something	Troubleshooting
🔒 know what is protected	Security model
🧪 help prove what is unproven	Verifying on real hardware
🛠️ build or change it	Development

📊 What works, where

	Terminal	Window	Phone
websocket (default)	✅	✅	✅
NATS (needs a broker)	✅	✅	✅
Bluetooth (no network)	✅ Linux	✅ Linux	❌ not yet (#206)
files	❌ text only	✅	✅
audio (WAV/MP3)	❌	✅	✅
animated GIF	❌	✅	✅
video (MP4/H.264)	❌	❌ needs a codec (#389)	❌

🧪 What is proven, and what is not

This project says what it verified. ❌ means nobody has run it, not it is broken:

Claim	State
the app, the transports and the security model	✅ tested on every change
audio (WAV/MP3) with a waveform and a seek bar	⚠️ tested, not heard on a phone
an animated GIF playing in its row	⚠️ tested, not seen on a phone
the Bluetooth radio on Windows	❌ #224
the phone app on a device, and its radio	❌ #155, #206
video (MP4/H.264)	❌ needs a codec — #389

If you own one of the ❌ rows, Verifying on real hardware has the steps and the issue to report on. "It worked" is an answer.

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