Local Chat

Private peer-to-peer chat for developers on the same local network — directly in VS Code.

No external servers. No accounts. No configuration. Just chat.

Features · Installation · How It Works · Contributing · License

🗂 Overview

Local Chat is an open-source VS Code extension that lets developers chat instantly with teammates on the same local network (Wi-Fi or LAN) — without any external servers, cloud services, or accounts.

Inspired by LocalSend, it uses multicast UDP for automatic peer discovery and a lightweight HTTP server on each device for message delivery. Everything stays on your local network.

Developer A (VS Code)         Developer B (VS Code)
      │                               │
      │  UDP Multicast 224.0.0.167    │
      │◄─────────────────────────────►│   ← Auto-discover each other
      │                               │
      │  HTTP POST /message           │
      │──────────────────────────────►│   ← Send message
      │                               │
      │◄──────────────────────────────│   ← Reply

✨ Features

📦 Installation

⚡ One-liner from Git (Recommended for teammates)

Requires Node.js and VS Code with the code CLI in PATH.

Windows (PowerShell):

git clone https://github.com/triode-devs/local-chat.git
cd local-chat
.\install.ps1

macOS / Linux:

git clone https://github.com/triode-devs/local-chat.git
cd local-chat
bash install.sh

The script automatically checks prerequisites → packages the .vsix → installs it into VS Code.

Option A — Install from VSIX (no git needed)

1. Download the latest .vsix from Releases
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+P → Extensions: Install from VSIX…
3. Select the file and reload VS Code

Or via terminal:

code --install-extension local-chat-0.1.0.vsix

Option B — Manual build

git clone https://github.com/triode-devs/local-chat.git
cd local-chat
npm install
npx vsce package --no-dependencies --allow-missing-repository
code --install-extension local-chat-0.1.0.vsix

Option C — Development Mode (F5)

git clone https://github.com/triode-devs/local-chat.git
cd local-chat

Open the folder in VS Code and press F5 — an Extension Development Host launches with Local Chat active.

🚀 Quick Start

1. After installing, click the 💬 icon in the Activity Bar (or press Alt+Q)
2. Choose your avatar, enter a display name, and pick a theme
3. Hit Start Chatting — teammates on the same network appear automatically
4. Start messaging in #general, or create a new room

Note: All teammates must have the extension installed. They don't need to do anything extra — peer discovery is automatic.

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

⚙️ Settings

🏗 How It Works

Local Chat takes a protocol-first approach inspired by LocalSend:

1. Peer Discovery — Multicast UDP

• On startup, each device announces itself to the multicast group 224.0.0.167:53317 every 4 seconds
• The announcement includes: alias, fingerprint, HTTP port, rooms, status, avatar
• Falls back to UDP broadcast (255.255.255.255) if multicast is unavailable
• Peers not seen for 15 seconds are removed automatically

2. Messaging — HTTP REST

• Each device runs a small HTTP server on a random available port
• Messages are sent via POST /message with a JSON body
• Device info is available at GET /info
• No persistent connections — fire-and-forget with a 3s timeout

3. Device Identity

• Each installation generates a random fingerprint (UUID) on first run
• Persisted in VS Code globalState — survives restarts
• Used to deduplicate self-announcements and identify devices

4. Persistence

• Settings (username, avatar, theme, rooms) → VS Code globalState
• Message history (per room, last 500 msgs) → JSON file in globalStorageUri

Tech Stack

Extension Host (Node.js)          Webview (Vanilla JS/CSS)
├── src/store.js       ←──────────── Persistence layer
├── src/peerDiscovery.js           Media folder
│   └── dgram (UDP multicast)     ├── media/main.js
├── src/chatServer.js              │   └── Full UI state machine
│   └── http (REST server)        └── media/style.css
├── src/chatManager.js                 └── Glassmorphism theme
└── src/chatViewProvider.js ──────────► IPC bridge (postMessage)

🌐 Network Requirements

• All devices must be on the same subnet (same Wi-Fi router or LAN switch)
• UDP port 53317 must be reachable between devices (firewall)
• No internet access required at any point

Firewall (Windows):

# Allow UDP discovery (run as Administrator)
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Local Chat Discovery" -Direction Inbound -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 53317 -Action Allow

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Local Chat is an open-source project by Triode Devs.

# Fork and clone
git clone https://github.com/triode-devs/local-chat.git

# Create a feature branch
git checkout -b feature/my-feature

# Make your changes and test with F5

# Commit and push
git commit -m "feat: add my feature"
git push origin feature/my-feature

# Open a Pull Request

Ideas for Contributions

• 📎 File sharing (drag & drop, inspired by LocalSend)
• 🔐 Message encryption (HTTPS with self-signed certificates)
• 📋 Code snippet sharing with syntax highlighting
• 🖼 Image paste support
• 🔔 VS Code notification popups for new messages
• 📌 Pinned messages
• 🔍 Message search

Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before submitting a PR.

📁 Project Structure

local-chat/
├── extension.js              # Extension entry point & command registration
├── package.json              # Extension manifest & configuration schema
├── src/
│   ├── store.js              # Persistence (VS Code globalState + JSON file)
│   ├── chatManager.js        # Core orchestration (rooms, messages, peers)
│   ├── chatServer.js         # HTTP server receiving messages
│   ├── peerDiscovery.js      # Multicast UDP peer discovery
│   └── chatViewProvider.js   # Webview provider + IPC bridge
├── media/
│   ├── main.js               # Webview UI (vanilla JS, zero dependencies)
│   └── style.css             # Glassmorphism light/dark theme (Poppins)
├── resources/
│   ├── icon.png              # Extension icon (128×128)
│   └── chat-icon.svg         # Activity bar icon (Lucide MessageSquare)
├── .vscode/
│   └── launch.json           # F5 dev launch config
└── README.md

📄 License

MIT © 2026 Triode Devs

See LICENSE.txt for details.

💙 Acknowledgements

• LocalSend — Protocol design inspiration (multicast UDP + HTTP)
• Lucide Icons — Icon design language
• VS Code Extension API — Extension platform