Ghost Chat

A secure group chat room with AES-256-CBC encryption supporting LAN and global connections

Features

• 🔐 End-to-End Encryption with AES-256-CBC and PBKDF2
• 🌐 Local (LAN) and Global (Ngrok) connections
• 👥 Group chat with real-time online user count
• 🎨 Beautiful CLI interface
• 📊 Status bar showing IP, port, online count, and username
• 🚀 Runs on Linux, macOS, and WSL
• 🔌 Ngrok support for internet connections
• ⚡ Lightweight and fast - no database required

📋 Prerequisites

• Ruby version 2.5 or higher
• Ngrok (only for global connections)
• Operating System: Linux, macOS, or WSL on Windows

Install Ruby

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt update && sudo apt install ruby-full

# macOS
brew install ruby

# Windows (WSL)
wsl --install
sudo apt update && sudo apt install ruby-full

Install Ngrok

# Download and install
wget https://bin.equinox.io/c/4VmDzA7iaHb/ngrok-stable-linux-amd64.zip
unzip ngrok-stable-linux-amd64.zip
sudo mv ngrok /usr/local/bin/

Set your auth token

ngrok authtoken YOUR_TOKEN

Direct Download

git clone https://github.com/monji024/ghostchat.git
cd ghostchat
ruby ghostchat.rb

User Guide

Main Menu

[1] Host - Local (LAN)     ← Host on local network
[2] Join - Local (LAN)     ← Connect to local network
[3] Host - Global (ngrok)  ← Host globally
[4] Join - Global (ngrok)  ← Connect globally
[5] Exit                   ← Exit

Usage Scenarios

1️⃣ LAN Chat

• Host:

  • Select option [1] Host - Local

  • Enter room password

  • Share your local IP with friends

• Friends:

  • Select option [2] Join - Local

  • Enter host IP and password

  • Start chatting :)

2️⃣ Global Chat (via Internet)

• Host:

  • Select option [3] Host - Global (ngrok)

  • Enter room password

  • Enter your Ngrok auth token

  • Share the public address (e.g., tcp://0.tcp.ngrok.io:12345) with friends

• Friends:

  • Select option [4] Join - Global (ngrok)

  • Enter public address and password

  • Start chatting :)

• 🔒 Security

  • ✅ AES-256-CBC encryption - Global standard

  • ✅ PBKDF2 - Standard compliant

  • ✅ End-to-End encryption - Messages only readable with password

  • ✅ No message storage - Messages never saved to disk

  • ✅ Password authentication - Only password holders can join

🛠 Technical Architecture

Project Structure

ghostchat/
├── ghostchat.rb      # Main application file
├── README-fa.md      # Persian documentation
├── README.md         # English documentation
└── LICENSE           # License

• Core Components

  • Crypto - Encryption management

  • ChatServer - Chat server (connection management & message broadcasting)

  • ChatClient - Chat client (send and receive messages)

  • StatusBar - Status bar (display information)

  • NgrokManager - Ngrok tunnel management

🐛 Troubleshooting

Issue: require 'openssl' failed

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install libssl-dev
gem install openssl

Issue: Port 5550 is in use

The program automatically frees the port. If not:

# Linux/macOS
fuser -k 5550/tcp
# OR
lsof -ti :5550 | xargs kill -9

Issue: Garbled/weird characters

** Make sure your terminal supports UTF-8: **

export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8

• Issue: Ngrok connection not working

  • Make sure ngrok is installed: which ngrok

  • Set your auth token: ngrok authtoken YOUR_TOKEN

  • Check your internet connection

🤝 Contributing

I'd be happy if you contribute to improving this project

Connect

• GitHub:
• Project:

License

MIT © monji