MessageMesh

A decentralized, peer-to-peer messaging application built with Wails, Go, Svelte, and TypeScript. MessageMesh uses a Raft consensus algorithm to maintain a consistent state between all nodes in the network, ensuring secure and reliable communication.

Features

• Peer-to-Peer Messaging: Send and receive messages directly between users with no central server
• End-to-End Encryption: Secure communication with encrypted messages
• Decentralized Architecture: Resilient network with no single point of failure
• Consensus-Based: Uses Raft algorithm to maintain consistent blockchain state across nodes
• Cross-Platform: Desktop application available for Windows, macOS, and Linux

Technologies and Frameworks

Core Technologies

• Go: Backend language
• Svelte: Frontend UI library
• TypeScript: Type-safe JavaScript
• Wails: Framework for building desktop applications with Go backend and web frontend

Libraries and Tools

• Libp2p: Modular networking stack for peer-to-peer applications
• Hashicorp Raft: Consensus algorithm implementation
• Bbolt: Key/value store for Go
• Flowbite-Svelte: UI component library for Svelte
• Tailwind CSS: Utility-first CSS framework

Project Structure

The project follows a standard Wails application structure, with separate backend (Go) and frontend (Svelte/TypeScript) components:

MessageMesh/
├── backend/                 # Go backend code
│   ├── models/              # Data models
│   ├── consensus.go         # Raft consensus implementation
│   ├── interface.go         # Backend interface definitions
│   ├── keys.go              # Cryptographic key management
│   ├── p2p.go               # Peer-to-peer networking
│   ├── pubSub.go            # Publish-subscribe functionality
│   └── server.go            # Backend server functionality
├── db/                      # Database-related files$$
├── frontend/                # Svelte/TypeScript frontend
│   ├── dist/                # Compiled frontend assets
│   ├── src/                 # Source code
│   └── wailsjs/            # Wails-generated JavaScript bindings
├── app.go                   # Main application code
├── main.go                  # Entry point
├── go.mod                   # Go module definition
├── go.sum                   # Go dependencies checksum
└── wails.json               # Wails configuration

Setup and Installation

Prerequisites

• Go (version 1.18 or later)
• Node.js (version 16 or later)
• Wails CLI

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/MessageMesh.git
   cd MessageMesh

2. Install the Go dependencies:

   go mod download

Running the Project

Environment Configuration (.env)

Create a .env file in the root directory of the project with the following variables:

HEADLESS=false   # Set to true to run in non-GUI mode (for servers)
USERNAME=yourname  # Your username in the network

Development Mode

Run the application in development mode:

wails dev

This will start both the Go backend and the Svelte frontend with hot-reloading.

Building for Production

To build a production-ready application:

wails build

The compiled binaries will be available in the build/bin directory.

Start Screen

When you start the application, a new user is created instantly and you are prompted to enter the pubsub topic you want to join.

Chat Screen

When you join a topic, you can start sending messages to users in the topic.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.