The communication layer for PostgreSQL applications.
A messenger and an embeddable conversation layer. Core is SQL.
There is no application server.
GitHub · Docs · Website · API · Repository · Packages · AGPL-3.0
Most chat stacks add Redis, Kafka, and an application server before the first message lands. Efelant is built for people who already have PostgreSQL and want conversations, activity feeds, and status events to live next to the data they already trust.
- 🐘 PostgreSQL is the API — stored functions, RLS, LISTEN/NOTIFY. No Node, Nest, FastAPI, or GraphQL in Core.
- 💬 Messenger and embeddable layer — standalone chat, or a thread next to a ticket, claim, or order.
- 🔐 Keys stay on the device — X25519 + AES-GCM. PostgreSQL stores ciphertext, never private keys.
- 🌐 Web without an app server — nginx or Caddy serves Flutter web;
/wsis a protocol adapter only. - 🔌 REST and gRPC as extensions —
efelant_restandefelant_grpccall the same SQL as native clients. - 🎨 Style Dictionary tokens — one command writes CSS, JS, Dart, Stencil, and the marketing site.
- 🧩 SDKs you can regenerate — TypeScript, bundled JS, Stencil
<efelant-*>, Flutter facades. - 🚀 Zero extra runtime — if Compose works on your machine, so does Efelant.
cp .env.example .env
./scripts/up.shOpen http://localhost:8080. The browser talks same-origin ws://localhost:8080/ws.
| username | password |
|---|---|
| alice | password123 |
| bob | password123 |
| charlie | password123 |
Seeded only on first init when EFELANT_SEED=1 (the default in .env.example). Self-host with EFELANT_SEED=0 and use create an account.
Native Flutter (optional):
asdf install # Flutter from .tool-versions
cd app && flutter runAndroid emulator host is usually 10.0.2.2 instead of localhost. Set it in the app (login or settings → efelant host) or at compile time:
flutter run --dart-define=EFELANT_DB_HOST=10.0.2.2Need Node 20+. From the repository root:
./scripts/packages.shThat is the whole pipeline: Style Dictionary → TypeScript / JS clients → Stencil → Flutter facades.
| you want | command |
|---|---|
| Style Dictionary only | ./scripts/packages.sh tokens |
@efelant/client + JS bundle |
./scripts/packages.sh clients |
<efelant-*> + Flutter widgets |
./scripts/packages.sh components |
Edit packages/tokens/tokens/*.json and packages/web-components/src/. Generated CSS, Dart, and dist/ are outputs — do not hand-edit them.
Full map: packages/README.md.
Run it on hardware or a VM you control. Paths: Docker, Compose, Swarm, Helm, or Kustomize. Full steps: docs/deployment.md.
./scripts/new-secrets.sh
# edit .env: EFELANT_DOMAIN=chat.example.com
# EFELANT_WS_ORIGINS=https://chat.example.com
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.caddy.yml up -d --buildCaddy obtains TLS for EFELANT_DOMAIN and reverse-proxies the web client. Postgres is not published. Users register in the app. Do not ship the development passwords.
Traefik overlay: docker-compose.traefik.yml. Swarm: tag GHCR images to the Compose names, then docker stack deploy. Kubernetes: helm install from oci://ghcr.io/tafaust/efelant/charts/efelant or kubectl apply -k deploy/kustomize/overlays/{dev,prod,prod-no-stackgres}. GHCR tags: 0, 0.1, 0.1.0, latest.
docker compose up -d --build
./database/tests/run.sh
cd app && flutter testefelant/
├── app/ Flutter messenger
├── database/ Core SQL, extensions, web-gateway, tests
├── packages/ tokens · clients · Stencil · Flutter SDK
├── site/ landing + HTML docs
├── deploy/ nginx, Caddy, Traefik, Helm, Kustomize
├── docs/ markdown source of truth
└── scripts/ up, migrate, secrets, packages
How the folders fit together: docs/repository.md.
Architecture, security, function API: docs/core.md.
| 📚 Docs | docs/ |
| 🌐 Website | site/ |
| 🎨 Tokens & SDKs | docs/styles.md · docs/sdk.md · packages/ |
| 🚀 Commands | scripts/ |
| 🔌 REST / gRPC | docs/api.md |
| 🚢 Self-host | docs/deployment.md |
GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later. Full text: LICENSE. Details: docs/license.md.
Using Efelant? Read the use cases and tell a colleague.