# Socketchat

> End-to-end encrypted group chat for the terminal, on a server you run yourself.

- [Introduction](https://docs.socketchat.org/index.md): End-to-end encrypted group chat for the terminal, on a server you run yourself.
- [How Socketchat works](https://docs.socketchat.org/how-it-works.md): Every Socketchat message goes through a server. One person runs it, and everyone else only needs the app and an invite link.
- [Install Socketchat](https://docs.socketchat.org/install.md): One command installs Socketchat on macOS, Linux or Windows.
- [Quick start](https://docs.socketchat.org/quickstart.md): Set up a server on one computer, join it with the app on each person's computer, and start a room.
- [Host a server](https://docs.socketchat.org/hosting/overview.md): The ways to run a Socketchat server, and how to pick one.
- [Host on your local network](https://docs.socketchat.org/hosting/local-network.md): Run the server on a computer at home or in the office, for people on the same network.
- [Host at home with port forwarding](https://docs.socketchat.org/hosting/port-forwarding.md): Run the server on a home computer and let friends anywhere reach it through your router.
- [Host on a cloud server](https://docs.socketchat.org/hosting/cloud-server.md): Run an always-on Socketchat server on a small Linux VPS with your own domain name.
- [Tailscale or WireGuard?](https://docs.socketchat.org/hosting/vpn/overview.md): Both put your server and your friends on a private network, so nothing opens to the internet. How they differ, and which to pick.
- [Host on Tailscale](https://docs.socketchat.org/hosting/vpn/tailscale.md): Run the server on any machine in your tailnet. No port forwarding and no public IP.
- [Host on WireGuard](https://docs.socketchat.org/hosting/vpn/wireguard.md): Run your own private network with WireGuard, and reach the Socketchat server on it. No accounts and no outside service.
- [Hosted by Socketchat](https://docs.socketchat.org/hosting/hosted-by-socketchat.md): A ready-made Socketchat server you can buy from socketchat.org is coming.
- [Server settings and backups](https://docs.socketchat.org/hosting/server-settings.md): The server's config file, where its data lives, how it cleans up old data, and how to back it up.
- [The chat screen](https://docs.socketchat.org/use/chat-screen.md): Panels, keys, the mouse, Tab completion and colors.
- [Rooms and invites](https://docs.socketchat.org/use/rooms-and-invites.md): Make a room, invite people with a one-time link, verify them, and run the room as an admin.
- [Files, photos and videos](https://docs.socketchat.org/use/files-photos-videos.md): Send any file to a room. Photos lose their hidden location and device data before they leave.
- [Commands](https://docs.socketchat.org/use/commands.md): Every slash command in the chat screen and every socketchat terminal command, with its flags.
- [Agents and scripts](https://docs.socketchat.org/use/agents.md): A script or an AI agent joins a room with an invite link and reads and sends messages through the socketchat command.
- [What the server sees](https://docs.socketchat.org/security/what-the-server-sees.md): The server passes sealed messages along. What it can and cannot see, in plain words.
- [Encryption](https://docs.socketchat.org/security/encryption.md): How Socketchat locks messages, in plain words: MLS, OpenMLS and post-quantum protection.
- [Your passphrase](https://docs.socketchat.org/security/passphrase.md): What the passphrase locks, where your profile lives, and why nobody can recover it.
- [Report a security problem](https://docs.socketchat.org/security/reporting.md): How to tell the project about a security problem privately.
- [Troubleshooting](https://docs.socketchat.org/help/troubleshooting.md): Fixes for connection problems, certificate warnings, a lost passphrase and Windows quirks.
- [Updating](https://docs.socketchat.org/help/updating.md): Get the newest Socketchat by running the installer again.
- [Uninstalling](https://docs.socketchat.org/help/uninstalling.md): Remove the Socketchat program, your profile and any server data.
- [FAQ](https://docs.socketchat.org/help/faq.md): Short answers to common questions about Socketchat.
- [Contributing](https://docs.socketchat.org/help/contributing.md): Socketchat is open source, and contributors are welcome.


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