shanter 2.0.1

A cross-platform terminal-based real-time chat application built with Python.

SHANTER

   _____ _    _          _   _ _______ ______ _____
  / ____| |  | |   /\   | \ | |__   __|  ____|  __ \
 | (___ | |__| |  /  \  |  \| |  | |  | |__  | |__) |
  \___ \|  __  | / /\ \ | . ` |  | |  |  __| |  _  /
  ____) | |  | |/ ____ \| |\  |  | |  | |____| | \ \
 |_____/|_|  |_/_/    \_\_| \_|  |_|  |______|_|  \_\

A cross-platform terminal-based real-time chat application for developers, built with Python.

GitHub
https://github.com/shreyash9999/shanter

PyPI
https://pypi.org/project/shanter/

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Overview

SHANTER is a terminal-first real-time chat application designed for developers who prefer working from the command line. It provides a lightweight, cross-platform chat experience with user authentication, private messaging, group conversations, and file transfer through a central server.

The project focuses on clean architecture, maintainability, and simplicity while demonstrating practical networking concepts such as TCP sockets, framed JSON protocols, concurrent client handling, and persistent user management.

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Features

Authentication

• User registration
• Secure password hashing
• Login / Logout

Messaging

• Private one-to-one messaging
• Online user discovery
• User search

Groups

• Create groups
• Join groups
• Leave groups
• Delete groups
• Group messaging

File Transfer

• Send files directly to online users
• Automatic download location
• Duplicate filename protection

Engineering

• Cross-platform support
• Structured JSON protocol
• SQLite persistence
• Multi-threaded server
• Logging
• Unit tests
• Ruff linting
• Packaged on PyPI

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Installation

Install from PyPI

pip install shanter

Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• Developed and tested using Python 3.11.5

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Quick Start

Start the server

python -m server.main

Start the client

shanter shell

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Available Commands

register

shell

version

Inside the interactive shell:

online

chat <username>

group create <name>
group join <name>
group leave <name>
group delete <name>
group list
group chat <name>

send <filepath> <username>

help

exit

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Architecture

               SHANTER

     +-----------------------+
     |      CLI Client       |
     +-----------------------+
                |
          TCP + JSON Protocol
                |
     +-----------------------+
     |    SHANTER Server     |
     +-----------------------+
       |        |         |
 Authentication Groups Messaging
                |
            SQLite Database

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Project Structure

shanter/
│
├── client/        Client application
├── server/        Server implementation
├── common/        Shared utilities and protocol
├── tests/         Unit tests
├── data/          SQLite database
├── README.md
├── pyproject.toml
└── LICENSE

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Development

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/shreyash9999/shanter.git
cd shanter

Create a virtual environment:

python -m venv .venv

Activate it:

macOS / Linux

source .venv/bin/activate

Windows

.venv\Scripts\activate

Install dependencies:

pip install -e .

Run the server:

python -m server.main

Run the client:

shanter shell

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Testing

Run the complete test suite:

pytest

Run Ruff:

ruff check .

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Technologies

• Python
• TCP Sockets
• SQLite
• Typer
• Pytest
• Ruff

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Roadmap

Version 2.x

• Authentication
• Interactive CLI
• Private messaging
• Group management
• Group chat
• File transfer
• Logging
• Automated tests

Future

• Invite code system
• Message history
• End-to-end encryption
• Typing indicators
• Read receipts
• User profiles

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome.

If you discover a bug or have an idea for an improvement, please open an issue before submitting a pull request.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

See the LICENSE file for the complete license text.

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Author

Shreyash Dongare

• GitHub: https://github.com/shreyash9999
• Project: https://github.com/shreyash9999/shanter

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If you found SHANTER useful, consider giving the repository a ⭐ on GitHub.