I made Hideout, a service for private, persistent chat rooms

Show and Tell
#1

What is Hideout?

Hideout is a self-hosted service that makes private, persistent chat rooms possible. It requires no installation or account creation. Unlike disposable chat, a Hideout room preserves privacy without expiring.

The GitHub repo contains a detailed introduction, and guides for hosting, building, and contributing: https://github.com/techmindful/hideout

A video demo can be watched here: https://vimeo.com/564494164.

A demo instance is running at hideout-demo.com. Uptime is expected to be unstable. Do not trust it for your own private conversations.

Language stack is Haskell/Elm. Haskell, Elm, and the privacy community need more killer apps! Hideout tries to be as pretty and feature-rich as possible, so that when people opt for privacy, they won’t be getting a lackluster alternative.

7 Likes
#2

A lot of security is about minimizing the attack surface.
The demo shows a web page with scripts running. How do you make sure the web browser won’t betray your users?

Edit: sorry, it says clearly in the Readme that the use case is a a convenient setup for non-tech-savvy friends, presumably more personalizeable than hosting a Matrix server and a webclient for that.

#3

Yes, a more tech-savvy person will host the server for their less tech-savvy friends.
Though I don’t think having more personalization is Hideout’s goal, if that’s what you mean. Compared to Matrix, Hideout is more convenient to use, because nobody needs to sign up for an account.

#4

I’ve meant the “tech-savvy person’s” preference for coding/hosting the thing exactly they way they want, haha!
With your own Matrix-compatible webclient, you could auto-signup people on your server with a link as well, using the same link to log back in and authenticate, why not.

1 Like
#5

Ah, I see what you mean now! Matrix auto signup is like creating an account, but nobody needs to do it manually. A Matrix account accessible with a link is similar to a Hideout room accessible with a link. The difference is that the account is there, and it can store a lot more information. In contrast, Hideout’s current design doesn’t seem capable of storing even username.

You presented a very new idea! I only know one Matrix client, which is Element. Maybe building a new client in Elm, and possibly some automation for the auto signup part on the server in Haskell, this really can work and simplify the user on-boarding for Matrix?

1 Like
#6

You got it, a link can store room invites/permissions and an authentication key, so you can have simple one-click invites and rejoins, but also build things on a better supported protocol that is already well-designed.

When it comes to Matrix clients, there’s a list: matrix.org/clients
But since you already have Hideout, you could just use the protocol in the back without showing your users that it is technically a Matrix client. Just connect to your own server without any federation nonsense (haha).
Adding fancy features like bridging other chats into your Hideout rooms etc. can always wait :slight_smile:

#7

Building on the better Matrix protocol will yield much benefit. I think I’m going to work on this idea of transforming it into a Matrix client, if similar projects aren’t existing or started elsewhere. The idea of auto signup and auto login with a link, which brings user to an account storing multiple rooms and settings, is very appealing. Thank you for that :+1: