CLI SocialNet

A terminal-based social networking platform written in Python. Connect, share, and interact with users through a command-line interface.

This project was inspired by Twitter (X) and Mastodon

This project mainly served as a learning experience for SQL-based databases (this was my main goal, yeah)

Features

Posts & Content: Create text posts, image posts (converted to ASCII art), poll posts, and quote other posts.
Interactions: Like, comment, repost, pin and bookmark posts
Social Features: Follow/unfollow users, view profiles, and explore their profiles.
Direct Messages: Send and receive DMs with other users.
Notifications: Get notified about interactions and mentions.
Hashtags & Mentions: Use hashtags and mention other users in posts.
Search: Search for posts, users, hashtags and mentions.
ASCII Art Conversion: Convert images to ASCII art for terminal display (posts and avatars).
Big Texts: Create large text posts using ASCII art.
Polls: Create and participate in polls posts.
Pinned and Bookmarked Posts: Pin important posts to your profile and bookmark posts.
Private Accounts: Set your account to private mode.
User Profiles: customize your profile with display name, avatar, bio, status, location and website (+ pinned posts).
XP and Levels: Earn XP for interactions and level up to reach the top of the leaderboard.
Admin Features: Moderate content and manage users with admin privileges (account).

Commands Reference

Account:

Command	Description	Usage
register	Create a new account	`register <username>`
login	Login to your account	`login <username>`
logout	Logout from your account	`logout`
whoami	Show currently logged in user	`whoami`
deleteaccount	Delete your account permanently	`deleteaccount`
changepassword	Change your password	`changepassword`

Discovery:

Command	Description	Usage
home	View home feed	`home`
feed	View feed from followed users	`feed [page]`
explore	View global feed	`explore [page]`
search	Search posts	`search <query> [page]`
usersearch	Search users	`usersearch <query> [page]`
hashtag	View posts with hashtag	`hashtag <hashtag> [page]`
htrending	View trending hashtags	`htrending`
hsearch	Search hashtags	`hsearch <query> [page]`
mentions	View user mentions	`mentions <username> [page]`

Posts and Content:

Command	Description	Usage
post	Create a text post	`post <content>`
postimg	Create post with local image	`postimg <path> [caption]`
posturl	Create post with image from URL	`posturl <url> [caption]`
postbig	Create post with large ASCII text	`postbig <text> [content]`
postpoll	Create a poll	`postpoll <question> \| <?> \| <opt1> \| <opt2>...`
viewpost	View a specific post	`viewpost <post_id>`
deletepost	Delete your post	`deletepost <post_id>`
myposts	View all your posts	`myposts`

Interactions:

Command	Description	Usage
like	Like a post (+2 XP)	`like <post_id>`
unlike	Remove your like	`unlike <post_id>`
likes	View who liked a post	`likes <post_id>`
comment	Comment on a post (+5 XP)	`comment <post_id> <comment_text>`
delcomment	Delete your comment	`delcomment <comment_id>`
comments	View post comments	`comments <post_id>`
repost	Repost to your timeline (+5 XP)	`repost <post_id>`
unrepost	Remove your repost	`unrepost <post_id>`
quote	Quote a post with commentary	`quote <post_id> <comment>`
reposts	View who reposted	`reposts <post_id>`

Social:

Command	Description	Usage
follow	Follow a user (+5 XP)	`follow <username>`
unfollow	Unfollow a user	`unfollow <username>`
followers	View followers	`followers [username]`
following	View who you follow	`following [username]`
profile	View user profile	`profile [username]`
dm	Send direct message	`dm <username> <message>`
inbox	View your inbox	`inbox`
messages	View conversation	`messages <username>`
closedm	Close conversation	`closedm <username>`

Profile Customization:

Command	Description	Usage
displayname	Set display name	`displayname <new_display_name>`
bio	Set biography	`bio <new_bio>`
status	Set status message	`status <new_status>`
location	Set location	`location <new_location>`
website	Set website URL	`website <new_website>`
avatar	Set avatar from local image	`avatar <image_path>`
avatarurl	Set avatar from URL	`avatarurl <image_url>`
removeavatar	Remove your avatar	`removeavatar`
private	Toggle private account	`private`

Polls:

Command	Description	Usage
votepoll	Vote in a poll	`votepoll <poll_id> <option_num>`
mypolls	View your polls	`mypolls [page]`

Pins and Bookmarks:

Command	Description	Usage
pin	Pin a post to profile	`pin <post_id>`
unpin	Unpin a post	`unpin <post_id>`
pinned	View pinned posts	`pinned [username]`
bookmark	Save post for later	`bookmark <post_id>`
unbookmark	Remove bookmark	`unbookmark <post_id>`
bookmarks	View your bookmarks	`bookmarks`

XP and Achievements:

Command	Description	Usage
xp	View your XP and level	`xp`
achievements	View all achievements	`achievements`
leaderboard	View top players	`leaderboard [limit]`

Reports:

Command	Description	Usage
report	Report a post	`report <post/comment/user> <id/user> <reason>`

Notifications and Settings:

Command	Description	Usage
notifications	View notifications	`notifications`
clearn	Clear notifications	`clearn`
settings	View current settings	`settings`
setting	Change a setting	`setting <setting_name> <new_value>`

Utilities:

Command	Description	Usage
help	Show help message	`help`
exit / quit	Exit application	`exit` / `quit`
clear	Clear console	`clear`
alias	Create command alias	`alias [alias] [command]`
unalias	Remove alias	`unalias <alias>`
bigtext	Preview ASCII text	`bigtext <big_content>`

Requirements

Python: 3.7 or higher
Dependencies: Install via requirements.txt
- Pillow
- pymongo

Installation (or you can use the .exe release)

Clone the repository and navigate to the project folder:

git clone https://github.com/artur3333/CLI-SocialNet.git
cd CLI-SocialNet

Install the required Python packages:
```
pip install -r requirements.txt
```

Directory Tree

CLI-SocialNet/
├── main.py              # Main application entry point
├── config.json          # Configuration settings
├── config_loader.py     # Configuration loader
├── auth.py              # Authentication & session management
├── db.py                # Database abstraction layer
├── database_s.py        # SQLite
├── database_m.py        # MongoDB
├── posts.py             # Post creation & management
├── social.py            # Social features (follow, profile, dm)
├── admin.py             # Admin & moderation features
├── level.py             # XP, levels & achievements
├── ascii.py             # ASCII art conversion
├── utils.py             # Utility functions & helpers
└── __init__.py          # Package initializer

Configuration

The application uses a config.json file for configuration. On first run, a default configuration file will be automatically created if it doesn't exist.

Edit config.json to customize your installation:

{
    "DATABASE": "sqlite",
    "SQL_PATH": "socialnet.db",
    "MONGODB_URI": "mongodb://localhost:27017/",
    "MONGODB_NAME": "socialnet",
    "ENABLE_REGISTRATION_LIMIT": true,
    "DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD": "admin123"
}

Getting Started

Start the application:
```
python main.py
```
Register a new user:
```
register <username>
```
You'll be prompted to enter a password.
Login:
```
login <username>
```
View available commands:
```
help
```
You can login as an admin user with the username admin and the default password set in config.json. Admins have access to additional moderation commands.

Database Support

SQLite (Default)

No additional setup required
Stores data in socialnet.db file

MongoDB (Optional)

Requires MongoDB server installation

Switching to MongoDB:

Install MongoDB

Update config.json:

{
    "DATABASE": "mongodb",
    "MONGODB_URI": "mongodb://localhost:27017/"
}

Restart the application

XP and Achievements System

Earn XP for various activities:

Create a post: +10 XP
Comment: +5 XP
Like a post: +2 XP
Repost: +5 XP
Follow someone: +5 XP

or compleate achievements to gain bonus XP

Admin Commands

admin                             # View dashboard
admin ban  [reason]               # Ban a user
admin unban                       # Unban a user
admin deletepost                  # Delete any post
admin makeadmin                   # Grant admin rights
admin removeadmin                 # Remove admin rights
admin verify                      # Verify a user
admin unverify                    # Remove verification
admin reports [status] [page]     # View reports
admin resolve                     # Resolve a report
admin dismiss                     # Dismiss a report
admin logs [page]                 # View admin action logs

Settings and Aliases

Settings Customization

Users can customize their experience:

Color Scheme: Personalize colors
Terminal Width: Adjust display width
Posts per Page: Customize posts shown per page
Notifications: Configure notification preferences

Access settings with:

settings                                # View all settings
setting <setting_name> <new_value>      # Change a setting

Command Aliases

Create your own command shortcuts for existing commands:

alias [alias] [command]      # Create an alias
unalias <alias>              # Remove an alias

AI Usage

This project was developed with selective use of AI assistance. Most of the implementation was done independently, with AI mainly used for:

MongoDB Implementation (database_m.py)

AI was used extensively to help implement the MongoDB backend to speed up the implementation process
Primary focus was on fixing compatibility issues and bugs.
Significant use of tab autocomplete (code suggestions)

UI and Layout (utils.py formatting)

AI assistance was used to help with text wrapping, Unicode alignment and helped debug border rendering in the display UI system

Bug Fixing and Debugging

AI was consulted when facing difficult bugs, particularly in:
- Comment system implementation
- Database issues
- Alignment and formatting problems
- Other bugs

Documentation

This README was partially generated by AI and then modified to ensure accuracy.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 28 Commits
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
CLI-SocialNet.png		CLI-SocialNet.png
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
__init__.py		__init__.py
admin.py		admin.py
ascii.py		ascii.py
auth.py		auth.py
config.json		config.json
config_loader.py		config_loader.py
database_m.py		database_m.py
database_s.py		database_s.py
db.py		db.py
level.py		level.py
main.py		main.py
posts.py		posts.py
requirements.txt		requirements.txt
social.py		social.py
socialnet.spec		socialnet.spec
utils.py		utils.py

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CLI SocialNet

Table of Contents

Features

Commands Reference

Account:

Discovery:

Posts and Content:

Interactions:

Social:

Profile Customization:

Polls:

Pins and Bookmarks:

XP and Achievements:

Reports:

Notifications and Settings:

Utilities:

Requirements

Installation (or you can use the .exe release)

Directory Tree

Configuration

Getting Started

Database Support

SQLite (Default)

MongoDB (Optional)

XP and Achievements System

Admin Commands

Settings and Aliases

Settings Customization

Command Aliases

AI Usage

License

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