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* Add capability bits to announce TLV Announces now carry an optional capabilities TLV (0x05): a little-endian bitfield with named bits for upcoming features (prekeys, wifiBulk, gateway, groups, board, vouch, meshDiagnostics). Old clients skip the unknown TLV; peers without it decode as nil so features can distinguish "legacy peer" from "advertises nothing". PeerCapabilities lives in BitFoundation with a minimal-length encoding that preserves unknown bits for forward compatibility. Peer capabilities are stored in the BLE peer registry on verified announce and exposed via BLEService.peerCapabilities(_:). The local advertisement set is empty until each feature ships its bit. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> * Private groups: creator-managed encrypted group chat over the mesh Small encrypted crews (hard cap 16) between public broadcast and 1:1 DMs: Protocol - MessageType.groupMessage = 0x25: broadcast packets with a cleartext 16-byte group ID + epoch, ChaCha20-Poly1305 ciphertext (epoch bound as AEAD AAD), inner Ed25519 sender signature over "bitchat-group-msg-v1"|groupID|messageID|timestamp|content - NoisePayloadType.groupInvite = 0x06 / .groupKeyUpdate = 0x07: creator-signed group state (key, epoch, roster) 1:1 over Noise; signature over "bitchat-group-v1"|groupID|epoch|key-hash|roster-hash and the Noise session peer must BE the creator - SyncTypeFlags bit 10 (groupMessage): variable-length LE bitfield widens 1 -> 2 bytes inside the length-prefixed REQUEST_SYNC TLV; old clients ignore unknown bits and answer with types they know - PeerCapabilities.localSupported now advertises .groups Storage - GroupStore: symmetric keys in the keychain, roster/name/epoch as protected JSON in Application Support; wiped in panicClearAllData() Behavior - Non-members relay 0x25 like any broadcast but cannot read it; group messages join gossip-sync backfill with the public-message window - Receivers drop wrong-epoch envelopes, bad sender signatures, and senders missing from the creator-signed roster - Fire-and-flood delivery (no per-member acks in v1) UI - Groups open as chat windows through the private-chat sheet (virtual "group_" peer IDs); groups section in the people sheet; /group create/invite/remove/leave/list commands; invitees get a system message + notification and the group appears in their people sheet Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> * Private groups: fix TLV truncation, roster downgrade, removal notice, block, media, signable bytes Addresses the Codex review and adversarial-review findings on #1383: - TLV encoding now throws GroupTLVError.valueTooLong instead of clamping to 65535 and truncating, so an oversize group message fails to seal and surfaces send_failed rather than shipping ciphertext recipients drop. - Roster nicknames truncate on a Character boundary (never mid-scalar), so a multi-byte nickname can no longer make the whole signed roster undecodable. - Invites now bump the epoch (rotate the key) like removals, giving every roster change a strictly-increasing epoch so out-of-order invite states no longer last-writer-wins a just-added member back out. - Removing a member now sends them a creator-signed roster-without-them under a throwaway all-zero key (never the rotated key), so their client deactivates the group and surfaces "removed" instead of going silently dark. - /block is enforced in the group receive path: a blocked member's messages are dropped from display and notifications, consistent with every other inbound path. - Media affordances are disabled in group chats (both computed sites) so the composer can't strand a media placeholder that never sends; media-in-groups is a documented v2 item. - Creator signature now covers the group name and the sender signature covers the epoch (wire-format-affecting; needs Android parity before ship). - Explicit isGroup guard in markPrivateMessagesAsRead so read/delivered receipts can never leak into group conversations under a future refactor. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> --------- Co-authored-by: jack <jackjackbits@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
bitchat
A decentralized peer-to-peer messaging app with dual transport architecture: local Bluetooth mesh networks for offline communication and internet-based Nostr protocol for global reach. No accounts, no phone numbers, no central servers. It's the side-groupchat.
License
This project is released into the public domain. See the LICENSE file for details.
Features
- Dual Transport Architecture: Bluetooth mesh for offline + Nostr protocol for internet-based messaging
- Location-Based Channels: Geographic chat rooms using geohash coordinates over global Nostr relays
- Intelligent Message Routing: Automatically chooses best transport (Bluetooth → Nostr fallback)
- Decentralized Mesh Network: Automatic peer discovery and multi-hop message relay over Bluetooth LE
- Privacy First: No accounts, no phone numbers, no persistent identifiers
- Private Message End-to-End Encryption: Noise Protocol for mesh, NIP-17 for Nostr
- IRC-Style Commands: Familiar
/slap,/msg,/whostyle interface - Universal App: Native support for iOS and macOS
- Emergency Wipe: Triple-tap to instantly clear all data
- Performance Optimizations: LZ4 message compression, adaptive battery modes, and optimized networking
Technical Architecture
BitChat uses a hybrid messaging architecture with two complementary transport layers:
Bluetooth Mesh Network (Offline)
- Local Communication: Direct peer-to-peer within Bluetooth range
- Multi-hop Relay: Messages route through nearby devices (max 7 hops)
- No Internet Required: Works completely offline in disaster scenarios
- Noise Protocol Encryption: End-to-end encryption with forward secrecy
- Binary Protocol: Compact packet format optimized for Bluetooth LE constraints
- Automatic Discovery: Peer discovery and connection management
- Adaptive Power: Battery-optimized duty cycling
Nostr Protocol (Internet)
- Global Reach: Connect with users worldwide via internet relays
- Location Channels: Geographic chat rooms using geohash coordinates
- 290+ Relay Network: Distributed across the globe for reliability
- NIP-17 Encryption: Gift-wrapped private messages for internet privacy
- Ephemeral Keys: Fresh cryptographic identity per geohash area
Channel Types
mesh #bluetooth
- Transport: Bluetooth Low Energy mesh network
- Scope: Local devices within multi-hop range
- Internet: Not required
- Use Case: Offline communication, protests, disasters, remote areas
Location Channels (block #dr5rsj7, neighborhood #dr5rs, country #dr)
- Transport: Nostr protocol over internet
- Scope: Geographic areas defined by geohash precision
block(7 chars): City block levelneighborhood(6 chars): District/neighborhoodcity(5 chars): City levelprovince(4 chars): State/provinceregion(2 chars): Country/large region
- Internet: Required (connects to Nostr relays)
- Use Case: Location-based community chat, local events, regional discussions
Direct Message Routing
Private messages use intelligent transport selection:
-
Bluetooth First (preferred when available)
- Direct connection with established Noise session
- Fastest and most private option
-
Nostr Fallback (when Bluetooth unavailable)
- Uses recipient's Nostr public key
- NIP-17 gift-wrapping for privacy
- Routes through global relay network
-
Smart Queuing (when neither available)
- Messages queued until transport becomes available
- Automatic delivery when connection established
For detailed protocol documentation, see the Technical Whitepaper.
Setup
Option 1: Using Xcode
cd bitchat
open bitchat.xcodeproj
To run on a device there're a few steps to prepare the code:
- Clone the local configs:
cp Configs/Local.xcconfig.example Configs/Local.xcconfig - Add your Developer Team ID into the newly created
Configs/Local.xcconfig- Bundle ID would be set to
chat.bitchat.<team_id>(unless you set to something else)
- Bundle ID would be set to
- Entitlements need to be updated manually (TODO: Automate):
- Search and replace
group.chat.bitchatwithgroup.<your_bundle_id>(e.g.group.chat.bitchat.ABC123)
- Search and replace
Option 2: Using just
brew install just
Want to try this on macos: just run will set it up and run from source.
Run just clean afterwards to restore things to original state for mobile app building and development.
Localization
- Base app resources live under
bitchat/Localization/Base.lproj/. Add new copy toLocalizable.stringsand plural rules toLocalizable.stringsdict. - Share extension strings are separate in
bitchatShareExtension/Localization/Base.lproj/Localizable.strings. - Prefer keys that describe intent (
app_info.features.offline.title) and reuse existing ones where possible. - Run
xcodebuild -project bitchat.xcodeproj -scheme "bitchat (macOS)" -configuration Debug CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO buildto compile-check any localization updates.