IntraChat

IntraChat is a real-time internal chat application built with Flask, Flask-SocketIO, and SQLite. It is designed for teams, schools, and small communities that need a lightweight self-hosted chat with moderation tools, direct messages, uploads, and simple administration.

Overview

• Real-time public rooms and private conversations
• User accounts with display names, ranks, avatars, and language preferences
• Admin moderation with bans, temporary bans, pinning, room clearing, and role changes
• File uploads, image/video/audio previews, and Tenor GIF search
• Dark mode, multi-language UI, and dynamic SVG branding driven by configuration
• Discord webhook logging for admin actions and system activity

Current State

The project is configured to run directly from the repository with the included SQLite database layout. If you keep the bundled database snapshot in instance/chat.db, the default account is:

• Username: System
• Password: system

Change that password immediately after first login.

Technology Stack

• Python 3.11+
• Flask
• Flask-Login
• Flask-SocketIO
• Flask-SQLAlchemy / SQLAlchemy
• eventlet
• SQLite
• Vanilla HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Discord Webhook API
• Tenor GIF API

Main Features

Chat

• Real-time message delivery over Socket.IO
• Public chat rooms and private PM threads
• Persistent message history
• Pinned messages per public room
• Styled admin announcements using the ANNOUNCEMENT: prefix

User Experience

• Login flow with session handling
• Profile editing with display name, avatar upload, and password change
• Supported UI languages: Slovencina, English, Polski
• Light and dark theme support
• Browser notifications for incoming messages

Moderation

• Permanent bans and temporary bans
• Ban reason and expiration tracking
• Admin-only room clearing
• Admin-only pin and unpin actions
• System account can grant or revoke admin rights via chat commands

Integrations

• Discord webhook logging for moderation and admin actions
• Tenor-powered GIF search
• Dynamic app naming and SVG logo generation from configuration

Interface Preview

Login

Chat Views

General Room	Private Messages

Profile and Administration

User Profile	User Management

Project Structure

.
├── intrachat.py               # Main Flask application and Socket.IO handlers
├── database.py                # SQLAlchemy models
├── config.json                # Local configuration fallback
├── requirements.txt           # Python dependencies
├── lang/                      # Translation files
├── templates/                 # Jinja templates
│   ├── branding/              # SVG logo templates
│   ├── chat.html
│   ├── login.html
│   ├── admin_users.html
│   └── ...
├── static/                    # CSS and static assets
├── instance/                  # SQLite database storage
├── propic/                    # User avatars
└── uploads/                   # Uploaded files

Getting Started

1. Download the repository

git clone https://github.com/adriansimo2008/intrachat.git
cd intrachat

Or download release

2. Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Configure the application

You can configure the app through environment variables or config.json. Environment variables take precedence where supported.

Example config.json:

{
  "app_name": "IntraChat",
  "discord_webhook_url": "discord_webhook_url_HERE",
  "server_id": "IntraServer1",
  "tenor_api_key": "tenor_api_key_HERE",
  "FLASK_SECRET_KEY": "",
  "FLASK_DEBUG": "False"
}

• FLASK_SECRET_KEY - MANDATORY secret key for Flask sessions. The application will refuse to start without this. Generate one with: python -c 'import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(32))'

4. Start the server

python intrachat.py

I recomend using astral - UV then you will need to setup it like this

uv venv
uv pip install -r requirements.txt

and run it with

uv run intrachat.py

The app runs on 0.0.0.0:5000 by default.

Configuration Reference

Environment variables

• APP_NAME: Overrides the application name used in the UI and generated SVG logos
• DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL: Discord webhook for admin and moderation logs
• SERVER_ID: Server label used in Discord log messages
• TENOR_API_KEY: Enables GIF search
• FLASK_SECRET_KEY: Required secret for Flask sessions if not present in config.json
• FLASK_DEBUG: Set to true to enable debug mode

config.json options

• app_name
• discord_webhook_url
• server_id
• tenor_api_key
• FLASK_SECRET_KEY
• FLASK_DEBUG
• chat_rooms

Routes

• / and /login: Login page
• /logout: End session
• /chat: Main chat interface
• /user/<id>: User profile
• /change_password: Password change page
• /add_user: Admin-only user creation
• /admin/users: Admin-only user management
• /history: Conversation history JSON
• /pinned: Current pinned message JSON
• /upload: File upload endpoint
• /uploads/<filename>: Uploaded file access
• /brand/mark.svg: Monogram logo
• /brand/wordmark.svg: Full SVG wordmark

Chat Commands

General

• /version
• /date
• /time
• /help
• /rules
• /uptime
• /server-uptime

Admin

• /clear
• /pin <message_id>
• /unpin <message_id>
• /ban <username> <reason>
• /unban <username>
• /tempban @<username> <duration> <reason>

System account only

• /makeadmin <username>
• /deladmin <username>

Special admin message format

• ANNOUNCEMENT: your text here

Database Models

User

• Authentication and profile data
• Admin flag
• Ban state, reason, and expiry
• Avatar path
• Preferred language

ChatMessage

• Message content
• Timestamp
• Pinned state
• Room or PM key

ban_log

• Moderation history with type, target user, admin, and reason

IPLog

• Username, IP address, and timestamp for audit logging

Deployment Notes

• The application is suited for always-on environments that support WebSockets
• SQLite is the default database and is stored under instance/chat.db
• File uploads are stored in uploads/
• Avatar uploads are stored in propic/
• System announcements are emitted periodically in the background

Security Notes

• Passwords are hashed with Werkzeug security utilities
• Upload filenames are sanitized with secure_filename
• Bans are enforced on both HTTP routes and Socket.IO connections
• Admin actions can be logged externally through Discord webhooks

License

This project uses a custom license for personal or internal use only.

• Forking and modification are allowed for personal or internal use
• Public redistribution is not allowed

See LICENSE for the exact terms.