Introducing marchat: A Real-Time Terminal-Based Chat App in Go

I’m excited to share marchat, a minimalist, terminal-based group chat application built with Go. Designed for developers and enthusiasts who prefer the command line, marchat offers a fast, distraction-free chat experience suitable for pair programming, remote LAN parties, or simple terminal conversations.

What is marchat?

marchat is a self-hosted chat server and client with a text-based user interface (TUI) built on Bubble Tea. It uses WebSockets for real-time communication, making it lightweight and responsive. Its core goals are simplicity, extensibility, and terminal-native usability.

Key Features

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  Real-time terminal chat with a clean, scrollable interface
  


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  File sharing support for small files (under 1MB)
  


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  Configurable themes via JSON, including patriot, retro, and modern
  


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  Basic admin controls for managing users and clearing data
  


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  Self-hosted server that you can run locally or expose remotely
  


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  Clipboard support for convenient copy/paste operations in the terminal
  


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  @Mention highlighting and live user list for collaborative interaction
  

Current Status

marchat is in early beta (v0.1.0-beta.2) with prebuilt binaries for Linux, Windows, and macOS (amd64). It’s actively under development, and feedback at this stage is crucial for shaping the project.

Getting Started

You can quickly try marchat by downloading prebuilt binaries from the GitHub releases page. Running the server and client is straightforward, and configuration is flexible via flags or a JSON config file.

For detailed installation and usage instructions, please see the marchat README.

Why build marchat?

This project started as a way to share coding and collaboration joy in a terminal environment — inspired by simple, retro tools and a love for command-line workflows. If you appreciate lightweight, self-hosted solutions and real-time terminal apps, marchat might be a great fit.

Contributing and Feedback

I welcome contributions, bug reports, and feature requests. No prior Go experience is required to help out — feel free to check the good first issues or open a new issue for feedback.

Repository

Explore the source code, download releases, and learn more:


https://github.com/Cod-e-Codes/marchat

Thank you for your interest in marchat. I’m eager to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

This post is part of an ongoing project in early beta — please consider providing feedback to help improve the app.