terminal-chat-client 1.0.0

A secure end-to-end encrypted terminal-based chat client

Terminal Chat Client

A secure, end-to-end encrypted terminal-based chat application with a beautiful UI.

Features

• End-to-end encryption (E2EE) using Fernet symmetric encryption
• Real-time messaging via WebSockets
• Beautiful terminal UI powered by Textual
• Auto-reconnection with exponential backoff
• Message history with scroll-back support
• Cross-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• System notifications for new messages

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 or higher
• pip (Python package installer)

Quick Install

pip install terminal-chat-client

Alternative: Install from Wheel File

If you received a .whl file:

pip install terminal_chat_client-1.0.0-py3-none-any.whl

Alternative: Install from GitHub

pip install git+https://github.com/yourusername/terminal-chat.git

Usage

Starting the Client

Simply run:

terminal-chat

First Time Setup

1. When you first launch the client, you'll see a login screen
2. Choose "Register" to create a new account
3. Enter a unique username and password
4. After registration, you'll be automatically logged in

Chatting

• Type your message in the input field at the bottom
• Press Enter to send
• Messages are automatically encrypted before sending
• You'll see messages from other users in real-time

Commands

The client supports the following slash commands:

• /help - Show available commands
• /quit or /exit - Exit the application
• /clear - Clear the message history from screen
• /config - Show current configuration

Configuration

The client stores configuration in ~/.terminal-chat/config.json. You can customize:

{
  "server_url": "https://terminal-chat.fuadmuhammed.com",
  "auto_reconnect": true,
  "reconnect_delay": 1,
  "max_reconnect_delay": 60,
  "notification_sound": true,
  "message_history_limit": 50
}

You can also override the server URL using environment variable:

export CHAT_SERVER_URL=https://terminal-chat.fuadmuhammed.com
terminal-chat

Or using command-line argument:

terminal-chat --server https://terminal-chat.fuadmuhammed.com

Encryption Keys

Your encryption key is automatically generated on first run and stored at:

~/.terminal-chat/encryption.key

IMPORTANT: Keep this file safe! If you lose it, you won't be able to decrypt old messages.

Platform-Specific Notes

Windows

On Windows, install Python from python.org, then:

pip install terminal-chat-client
terminal-chat

Linux

Most Linux distributions come with Python pre-installed:

pip install terminal-chat-client
terminal-chat

If pip is not found, install it first:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install python3-pip

# Fedora
sudo dnf install python3-pip

# Arch
sudo pacman -S python-pip

macOS

Python 3 should be pre-installed. If not, install via Homebrew:

brew install python3
pip3 install terminal-chat-client
terminal-chat

Troubleshooting

Cannot connect to server

Check that:

1. You have internet connectivity
2. The server URL in config is correct
3. Firewall is not blocking the connection

Command not found: terminal-chat

If you get "command not found" after installation:

# Add Python scripts to PATH (Linux/Mac)
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

# Or use python -m instead
python -m client.main

On Windows, make sure Python Scripts folder is in your PATH.

Python version issues

Check your Python version:

python --version
# or
python3 --version

Make sure it's 3.8 or higher. If you have multiple Python versions, use:

python3.8 -m pip install terminal-chat-client
python3.8 -m client.main

Uninstallation

pip uninstall terminal-chat-client

To remove all data:

rm -rf ~/.terminal-chat

Support

For issues or questions:

• Check the main README
• Contact the server administrator
• Report bugs at: https://github.com/yourusername/terminal-chat/issues

Security

• All messages are encrypted end-to-end
• The server cannot read your messages
• Your password is hashed with bcrypt
• Always use HTTPS/WSS in production

License

MIT License