pear-chat 0.1.0

P2P Terminal Chat - Decentralized chat application for local networks

🍐 Pear - P2P Terminal Chat MVP

A peer-to-peer command line messaging tool for local network communication with a beautiful terminal interface powered by Rich.

Features

• 🌐 P2P Networking: Direct peer-to-peer connections (currently mocked)
• 💬 Real-time Chat: Beautiful terminal-based chat interface
• 🔍 Network Discovery: Find active chat sessions on your network
• 👥 Multi-user Support: Multiple users in the same chat session
• 🎨 Rich UI: Beautiful terminal interface with panels, colors, and layouts
• ⚡ Commands: Built-in chat commands (/help, /quit, /stats, etc.)

Installation

1. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

2. Make the CLI executable:

   chmod +x pear_cli.py
   

Usage

Basic Commands

# Show help
python pear_cli.py --help

# Start a new chat session
python pear_cli.py start [session_name]

# Join an existing session
python pear_cli.py join [session_name]

# List available sessions
python pear_cli.py list

Interactive Chat Commands

Once in a chat session, you can use these commands:

• /help - Show available commands
• /quit or /exit - Leave the chat
• /clear - Clear message history
• /stats - Show chat statistics
• /users - Show connected users

Testing

Run the test suite to verify all components work:

python test_pear.py

MVP Architecture

The MVP consists of several modular components:

1. CLI Interface (pear_cli.py)

• Main entry point with argument parsing
• Command routing (start, join, list)
• Integration between all components

2. Network Layer (network_layer.py)

• P2P networking functionality (currently mocked)
• Session discovery and connection management
• Message broadcasting to peers

3. Message System (message_system.py)

• Message handling and storage
• Callback system for real-time updates
• Message formatting and statistics

4. Terminal UI (terminal_ui.py)

• Rich-powered beautiful terminal interface
• Live updating chat display
• User input handling and command processing

Current State

This is an MVP with mocked networking. The P2P networking components are currently simulated for testing and development purposes.

What Works:

✅ CLI argument parsing and command routing
✅ Beautiful terminal interface with Rich
✅ Message system with callbacks
✅ Mock network discovery and sessions
✅ Interactive chat interface
✅ Chat commands and user management

Next Steps:

🔄 Implement real UDP discovery protocol
🔄 Implement real TCP messaging between peers
🔄 Add proper connection management
🔄 Add user authentication
🔄 Add message encryption

Example Usage

1. Start a session:

   python pear_cli.py start my_chat
   

2. In another terminal, join the session:

   python pear_cli.py join my_chat
   

3. List available sessions:

   python pear_cli.py list
   

Dependencies

• rich: Beautiful terminal interface components
• Python 3.7+: Required for modern Python features

Development

The codebase is structured for easy extension:

• All networking is abstracted in NetworkManager
• Message handling is separate from UI
• Rich components make the UI easily customizable
• Mock implementations allow testing without network setup

To extend functionality, focus on replacing the mock methods in NetworkManager with real UDP/TCP implementations.