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Voxium

A free, open-source real-time communication platform built for privacy.

Try it now: https://voxium.app

Tired of handing over your phone number, ID, and personal data just to chat with friends? Voxium is built for people who believe privacy isn't a premium feature — it's a right. No phone verification, no identity checks, no data harvesting. Just real-time voice and text chat that works.

Self-host it, audit the code, and own your conversations. No corporation sitting between you and your community.

Why Voxium?

  • Zero personal data required — No phone number, no ID verification, no tracking
  • Fully open source — Audit every line, self-host on your own infrastructure
  • Production-ready voice — mediasoup SFU for servers, direct P2P for DM calls, with AI noise suppression (RNNoise ML)
  • Cross-platform — Native desktop apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux via Tauri 2
  • Modern stack — React 19, TypeScript, Zustand, Tailwind CSS, real-time WebSockets

Features

Category Feature Description
Communication Servers & Channels Create servers, organize with categories, text and voice channels, drag-and-drop reordering, single-use invite links
Real-Time Messaging Instant delivery, typing indicators, cursor-based pagination, unread badges per channel and server
Message Replies Reply with compact preview, click to scroll to original, graceful handling of deleted parents
Message Editing & Deletion Edit inline, delete with confirmation; admins can delete any message
Reactions Emoji reactions with grouped display and toggle support (channels and DMs)
Direct Messages 1-on-1 text with real-time delivery, typing indicators, reactions, persistent unread tracking, conversation deletion
Message Search Full-text search across server channels and DM conversations with jump-to-message navigation
Voice Server Voice (SFU) mediasoup Selective Forwarding Unit for scalable voice (25+ users per channel), speaking indicators, latency display
DM Voice Calls 1-on-1 WebRTC P2P audio with incoming call modal, ringtone, speaking indicators, call history as system messages
Screen Sharing Share screen in voice channels with real-time video and system audio, inline/floating viewer modes
AI Noise Suppression ML-powered RNNoise WASM filter removes keyboard, mouse, and background noise in real time via AudioWorklet
Opus Optimization DTX for bandwidth savings, in-band FEC for packet loss recovery, optimized bitrate
Push-to-Talk Configurable input mode with key binding picker; noise gate sensitivity slider for voice activity mode
Audio Settings Input/output device selection, live mic level meter, noise suppression toggle, persisted preferences
Mute/Deaf Controls Always-visible controls that persist across channel switches, server switches, and app restarts
Social Friend System Send, accept, decline, and remove friend requests with real-time notifications
Roles & Permissions Owner/Admin/Member hierarchy; role changes, member kicks, ownership transfer
User Profiles Avatars with online/offline status, display names, bios with real-time sync across all clients
Presence Real-time online/offline status for all server members and DM participants
Admin Admin Dashboard Two-tier admin/superadmin panel with user/server/ban management, storage management (avatars/icons/attachments with top uploaders and orphan cleanup), live metrics, audit log, moderation queue
Resource Limits Dynamic limits (max channels, voice users, categories, members) — global defaults with per-server overrides
Feature Flags Toggle registration, invites, server creation, voice, DM voice, support — Redis-backed, no redeploy needed
Reports & Moderation User/message reports, admin moderation queue with resolve/dismiss/ban workflows
Support Tickets One-per-user real-time chat with staff, admin claim/close workflow, audit logging
Security Two-Factor Auth TOTP 2FA with authenticator app support, QR code setup, 8 backup codes, 30-day trusted device tokens
Authentication JWT with refresh tokens, remember me, forgot/reset password via email, token version-based session invalidation
Rate Limiting Per-endpoint and per-socket rate limiting, admin-editable via Redis-backed registry
Input Sanitization HTML stripping, validation, CORS protection
Platform File Uploads S3-compatible storage for avatars, server icons, and message attachments with presigned URLs; attachments proxied through server (S3 URL never exposed); 3-day retention with automated daily cleanup + email report
Notifications In-app toasts, notification sounds for voice join/leave and messages, native desktop notifications
Cross-Platform Desktop Tauri 2 native apps (Windows, macOS, Linux) with Discord-inspired dark UI
Landing Page Public-facing page for browser visitors with animated SVG illustrations

Tech Stack

Layer Technologies
Backend Node.js, Express, Socket.IO, Prisma, PostgreSQL, Redis
Frontend React 19, TypeScript, Vite, Zustand, Tailwind CSS
Desktop Tauri 2 (Rust)
Voice mediasoup SFU (server), WebRTC P2P (DM), RNNoise WASM, Web Audio API
Infrastructure S3-compatible storage, Nodemailer (SMTP)

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Tool Version Purpose
Node.js >= 20.x JavaScript runtime
pnpm >= 9.x Package manager
PostgreSQL >= 15.x Database (local installation)
Docker & Docker Compose Latest Redis container
Rust Latest stable Required by Tauri for desktop builds
Git Latest Version control

Platform-Specific Requirements

Windows:

  • Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Build Tools
  • WebView2 (included in Windows 11, install manually on Windows 10)

macOS:

  • Xcode Command Line Tools: xcode-select --install

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev build-essential curl wget file \
  libxdo-dev libssl-dev libayatana-appindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev

Install pnpm (if not installed)

npm install -g pnpm

Install Rust (if not installed)

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

1. Clone the Repository

git clone <repository-url>
cd Voxium

2. Install Dependencies

pnpm install

3. Set Up PostgreSQL

psql -U postgres -c "CREATE DATABASE voxium;"

4. Start Redis

docker compose up -d

5. Configure Environment

cp apps/server/.env.example apps/server/.env

Edit apps/server/.env and set DATABASE_URL with your local PostgreSQL password:

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://postgres:YOUR_PASSWORD@localhost:5432/voxium?schema=public"

6. Set Up the Database

# Generate Prisma client
pnpm --filter @voxium/server db:generate

# Run database migrations
pnpm --filter @voxium/server db:migrate

# (Optional) Seed with demo data
pnpm --filter @voxium/server db:seed

7. Build Shared Package

pnpm run build:shared

8. Start Development Servers

Option A: Start everything together

pnpm run dev

Option B: Start individually (recommended)

Terminal 1 — Backend:

pnpm run dev:server

Terminal 2 — Frontend:

pnpm run dev:desktop

The backend runs on http://localhost:3001 and the frontend on http://localhost:8080.

Open http://localhost:8080 in your browser to use Voxium. No additional setup needed — the Vite dev server serves the full web client.

9. Admin Dashboard (Optional)

The admin dashboard is a separate React app for managing users, servers, bans, feature flags, resource limits, and viewing live metrics.

Start it in a new terminal:

pnpm run dev:admin

The admin dashboard runs on http://localhost:8082. It connects to the same backend server.

Note: You need an admin account to log in. Use Prisma Studio (pnpm db:studio) to set a user's role field to admin or superadmin.

Running as Desktop App (Tauri)

If you want to run Voxium as a native desktop app:

cd apps/desktop
pnpm tauri:dev

This starts both the Vite dev server (http://localhost:8080) and the native Tauri desktop window simultaneously. You can use either the browser or the desktop app — both connect to the same backend.

Requires Tauri 2 prerequisites for your OS (Rust toolchain + platform-specific dependencies listed in Prerequisites above).

Building for Production

Build the Backend

pnpm run build:server

Run in production:

cd apps/server
NODE_ENV=production node dist/index.js

Build the Desktop App

cd apps/desktop
pnpm tauri:build

This creates platform-specific installers in apps/desktop/src-tauri/target/release/bundle/:

  • Windows: .msi and .exe installers
  • macOS: .dmg and .app bundle
  • Linux: .deb, .AppImage, and .rpm packages

Docker Deployment (Production)

Docker packages the backend server alongside PostgreSQL and Redis. This is the easiest way to deploy Voxium on your own server.

Prerequisites

  • Docker 20+
  • Docker Compose v2+

1. Create the Environment File

cp .env.production.example .env.production

2. Configure .env.production

Open .env.production and fill in all values:

# ── Database ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
# Pick a strong password — used by both PostgreSQL and the server
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your_strong_password_here

# ── Auth (generate with: openssl rand -hex 32) ───────────────────────────────
JWT_SECRET=your_random_64_char_secret
JWT_REFRESH_SECRET=another_random_64_char_secret

# ── TOTP (generate with: openssl rand -hex 32) ───────────────────────────────
TOTP_ENCRYPTION_KEY=your_32_byte_hex_key

# ── S3 / Object Storage (required for file uploads) ──────────────────────────
S3_ASSETS_ENDPOINT=https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
S3_ASSETS_REGION=us-east-1
S3_ACCESS_KEY=your_access_key
S3_SECRET_KEY=your_secret_key
S3_ASSETS_BUCKET=your-bucket-name

# ── SMTP (optional, for password reset emails) ───────────────────────────────
SMTP_HOST=smtp.example.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=your_smtp_user
SMTP_PASS=your_smtp_password
SMTP_FROM=noreply@yourdomain.com

# ── App ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
PORT=3001
# CORS_ORIGIN must match the URL where your frontend is hosted.
# For local testing with the dev frontend, use: http://localhost:8080
CORS_ORIGIN=https://yourdomain.com
CLIENT_URL=https://yourdomain.com

# ── mediasoup (Voice) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
# ANNOUNCED_IP must be your server's public IP for voice to work
MEDIASOUP_LISTEN_IP=0.0.0.0
MEDIASOUP_ANNOUNCED_IP=YOUR_SERVER_PUBLIC_IP
MEDIASOUP_MIN_PORT=10000
MEDIASOUP_MAX_PORT=10100

Important: MEDIASOUP_ANNOUNCED_IP must be your server's public IP address. Voice channels will not work without this.

Windows users: If ports 10000-10100 conflict with Hyper-V reserved ranges, use a different range like 20000-20100.

3. Start the Stack

docker compose -f docker-compose.production.yml --env-file .env.production up -d

This starts three services:

Service Description Port
voxium-server Backend API + WebSocket 3001
voxium-postgres PostgreSQL 16 internal
voxium-redis Redis 7 internal

Database migrations run automatically on first startup — no manual steps needed.

4. Verify It's Running

docker compose -f docker-compose.production.yml ps

All services should show healthy. You can also check the health endpoint:

curl http://localhost:3001/health

5. Connect a Client

Point the Voxium desktop app (or web client) to your server by setting these in the client's .env:

VITE_API_URL=http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:3001/api/v1
VITE_WS_URL=http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:3001

CORS: The CORS_ORIGIN value in .env.production must match the URL your frontend runs on. If you're testing locally with pnpm dev:desktop (which serves at http://localhost:8080), set CORS_ORIGIN=http://localhost:8080 in .env.production and restart the Docker server. Without this, the browser will block all requests.

Managing the Docker Stack

# View server logs
docker compose -f docker-compose.production.yml logs -f server

# Stop all services
docker compose -f docker-compose.production.yml down

# Stop and remove all data (database, Redis, etc.)
docker compose -f docker-compose.production.yml down -v

# Rebuild after pulling new code
docker compose -f docker-compose.production.yml --env-file .env.production up -d --build

Production Recommendations

  • Put nginx or another reverse proxy in front for TLS/SSL termination
  • Open UDP ports for the mediasoup range (MEDIASOUP_MIN_PORT to MEDIASOUP_MAX_PORT) in your firewall
  • For better reliability, use a managed PostgreSQL instance (override DATABASE_URL directly)
  • Set up regular database backups

Database Management

# Open Prisma Studio (visual database browser)
pnpm run db:studio

# Create a new migration
cd apps/server
npx prisma migrate dev --name your_migration_name

# Reset database (deletes all data)
npx prisma migrate reset

# Seed demo data
pnpm run db:seed

Demo seed creates:

  • Users: alice, bob, charlie (password: password123)
  • Server: "Voxium Community" with text and voice channels
  • Messages: Sample messages in #general

Testing the API

Health Check

curl http://localhost:3001/health

Register a User

curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/api/v1/auth/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"username":"testuser","email":"test@example.com","password":"password123"}'

Login

curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/api/v1/auth/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"test@example.com","password":"password123"}'

Use the Token

# Replace <TOKEN> with the accessToken from login response
curl http://localhost:3001/api/v1/servers \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>"

Configuration Reference

Server Environment Variables (apps/server/.env)

Variable Default Description
DATABASE_URL — Required. PostgreSQL connection string
REDIS_URL redis://localhost:6379 Redis connection string
JWT_SECRET — Required. Secret for signing access tokens
JWT_REFRESH_SECRET — Required. Secret for signing refresh tokens
JWT_EXPIRES_IN 15m Access token expiry
JWT_REFRESH_EXPIRES_IN 7d Refresh token expiry
PORT 3001 HTTP server port
NODE_ENV development Environment mode
CORS_ORIGIN http://localhost:8080 Allowed CORS origin(s)
S3_ASSETS_ENDPOINT — S3-compatible storage endpoint
S3_ASSETS_REGION — S3 bucket region
S3_ACCESS_KEY — S3 access key
S3_SECRET_KEY — S3 secret key
S3_ASSETS_BUCKET — S3 bucket name
SMTP_HOST localhost SMTP server host
SMTP_PORT 1025 SMTP server port
SMTP_USER — SMTP auth username
SMTP_PASS — SMTP auth password
SMTP_FROM noreply@voxium.app Sender email address
CLIENT_URL http://localhost:8080 Frontend URL (used in emails)
CLEANUP_REPORT_EMAIL — Email address for daily attachment cleanup reports. If not set, no report is sent.
TOTP_ENCRYPTION_KEY — 32-byte hex key for encrypting TOTP secrets at rest. Generate with openssl rand -hex 32. Optional — if not set, TOTP secrets are stored unencrypted.
MEDIASOUP_ANNOUNCED_IP — Public IP address announced to WebRTC clients for mediasoup SFU connectivity. Required for production.

Frontend Environment Variables (apps/desktop/.env)

Variable Default Description
VITE_API_URL http://localhost:3001/api/v1 Backend API base URL
VITE_WS_URL http://localhost:3001 WebSocket server URL

Admin Dashboard Environment Variables (apps/admin/.env)

Variable Default Description
VITE_API_URL http://localhost:3001/api/v1 Backend API base URL
VITE_WS_URL http://localhost:3001 WebSocket server URL

Troubleshooting

"Cannot find module '@voxium/shared'"

pnpm run build:shared

Database connection refused

# Check PostgreSQL is running
psql -U postgres -c "SELECT 1;"

# Create database if it doesn't exist
psql -U postgres -c "CREATE DATABASE voxium;"

# Check Redis is running
docker compose ps
docker compose up -d

Prisma client not generated

pnpm --filter @voxium/server db:generate

Port already in use

Change the port in .env (server) or vite.config.ts (frontend).

Tauri build fails

rustup update

On Linux, ensure all system dependencies are installed (see Prerequisites).

WebSocket connection fails

  1. Check that the backend server is running
  2. Verify CORS_ORIGIN matches the frontend URL
  3. Verify VITE_WS_URL points to the correct backend

Scripts Reference

Script Description
pnpm dev Start backend and frontend in parallel
pnpm dev:server Start backend with hot reload
pnpm dev:desktop Start frontend Vite dev server (browser at localhost:8080)
pnpm dev:admin Start admin dashboard (browser at localhost:8082)
pnpm build Build all packages for production
pnpm build:shared Build shared types package
pnpm build:server Build backend TypeScript
pnpm build:desktop Build frontend for production
pnpm typecheck Run TypeScript type checking across all packages
pnpm lint Run ESLint across all packages
pnpm db:migrate Run Prisma migrations
pnpm db:seed Seed database with demo data
pnpm db:studio Open Prisma Studio

License

This project is open source. See the repository for license details.

About

An open-source video calling and live-streaming platform designed for self-hosting, allowing you and your friends to deploy and manage your own private communication space or use my servers.

voxium.app

Topics

react docker rust redis jwt websocket postgresql pnpm prisma tauri

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Readme

License

AGPL-3.0 license

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Releases 5

Voxium v1.4.0 Latest
Mar 13, 2026
+ 4 releases

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