jama 💬

just another messaging app

A modern, self-hosted team messaging Progressive Web App (PWA) built for small to medium teams. jama runs entirely in a single Docker container with no external database dependencies — all data is stored locally using SQLite.

---

Features

• 🔐 Authentication — Login, remember me, forced password change on first login
• 💬 Real-time messaging — WebSocket (Socket.io) powered chat
• 👥 Public channels — Admin-created, all users auto-joined
• 🔒 Private groups — User-created, owner-managed
• 📷 Image uploads — Attach images to messages
• 💬 Message quoting — Reply to any message with preview
• 😎 Emoji reactions — Quick reactions + full emoji picker
• @Mentions — @mention users with autocomplete, they get notified
• 🔗 Link previews — Auto-fetches OG metadata for URLs
• 📱 PWA — Install to home screen, works offline
• 👤 Profiles — Custom avatars, display names, about me
• ⚙️ Admin settings — Custom logo, app name
• 👨‍💼 User management — Create, suspend, delete, bulk CSV import
• 📢 Read-only channels — Announcement-style public channels

---

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Docker & Docker Compose

1. Build a versioned image

# Build and tag as v1.0.0 (also tags :latest)
./build.sh 1.0.0

# Build latest only
./build.sh

2. Deploy with Docker Compose

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env — set TEAMCHAT_VERSION, admin credentials, JWT_SECRET
nano .env

docker compose up -d

# View logs
docker compose logs -f

App will be available at http://localhost:3000

---

Release Workflow

TeamChat uses a build-then-run pattern. You build the image once on your build machine (or CI), then the compose file just runs the pre-built image — no build step at deploy time.

┌─────────────────────┐      ┌──────────────────────────┐
│  Build machine / CI │      │  Server / Portainer      │
│                     │      │                          │
│  ./build.sh 1.2.0   │─────▶│  TEAMCHAT_VERSION=1.2.0  │
│  (or push to        │      │  docker compose up -d    │
│   registry first)   │      │                          │
└─────────────────────┘      └──────────────────────────┘

Build script usage

# Build and tag as :latest only
./build.sh

# Build and tag as a specific version (also tags :latest)
./build.sh 1.0.0

# Build and push to Docker Hub
REGISTRY=yourdockerhubuser ./build.sh 1.0.0 push

# Build and push to GitHub Container Registry
REGISTRY=ghcr.io/yourorg ./build.sh 1.0.0 push

After a successful build the script prints the exact .env and docker compose commands needed to deploy.

---

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/yourorg/jama.git
cd jama

2. Build the Docker image

./build.sh 1.0.0

3. Configure environment

cp .env.example .env
nano .env

At minimum, change ADMIN_EMAIL, ADMIN_PASS, and JWT_SECRET. See Environment Variables for all options.

4. Start the container

docker compose up -d

# Follow startup logs
docker compose logs -f jama

On first startup you should see:

[DB] Default admin created: admin@yourdomain.com
[DB] Default jama group created
[DB] Support group created

5. Log in

Open http://your-server:3000 in a browser, log in with your ADMIN_EMAIL and ADMIN_PASS, and change your password when prompted.

---

HTTPS & SSL (Required for Web Push and PWA install prompt)

jama does not manage SSL itself. Use Caddy as a reverse proxy — it obtains and renews Let's Encrypt certificates automatically.

docker-compose.yaml (with Caddy)

version: '3.8'
services:
  jama:
    image: jama:${JAMA_VERSION:-latest}
    container_name: jama
    restart: unless-stopped
    expose:
      - "3000"          # internal only — Caddy is the sole entry point
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - ADMIN_NAME=${ADMIN_NAME:-Admin User}
      - ADMIN_EMAIL=${ADMIN_EMAIL:-admin@jama.local}
      - ADMIN_PASS=${ADMIN_PASS:-Admin@1234}
      - PW_RESET=${PW_RESET:-false}
      - JWT_SECRET=${JWT_SECRET:-changeme}
      - APP_NAME=${APP_NAME:-jama}
      - JAMA_VERSION=${JAMA_VERSION:-latest}
    volumes:
      - jama_db:/app/data
      - jama_uploads:/app/uploads
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "wget", "-q", "--spider", "http://localhost:3000/api/health"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3

  caddy:
    image: caddy:alpine
    container_name: caddy
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
      - "443:443/udp"   # HTTP/3
    volumes:
      - ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile:ro
      - caddy_data:/data
      - caddy_certs:/config
    depends_on:
      - jama

volumes:
  jama_db:
  jama_uploads:
  caddy_data:
  caddy_certs:

Caddyfile

Create a Caddyfile in the same directory as docker-compose.yaml:

chat.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy jama:3000
}

Prerequisites: Your domain's DNS A record must point to your server's public IP before starting Caddy, so the Let's Encrypt HTTP challenge can complete.

---

docker-compose.yaml Reference (without Caddy)

The default docker-compose.yaml exposes jama directly on a host port:

version: '3.8'
services:
  jama:
    image: jama:${JAMA_VERSION:-latest}
    container_name: jama
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "${PORT:-3000}:3000"    # change PORT in .env to use a different host port
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - ADMIN_NAME=${ADMIN_NAME:-Admin User}
      - ADMIN_EMAIL=${ADMIN_EMAIL:-admin@jama.local}
      - ADMIN_PASS=${ADMIN_PASS:-Admin@1234}
      - PW_RESET=${PW_RESET:-false}
      - JWT_SECRET=${JWT_SECRET:-changeme_super_secret_jwt_key_2024}
      - APP_NAME=${APP_NAME:-jama}
    volumes:
      - jama_db:/app/data         # SQLite database
      - jama_uploads:/app/uploads  # avatars, logos, message images
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "wget", "-q", "--spider", "http://localhost:3000/api/health"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3

volumes:
  jama_db:
    driver: local
  jama_uploads:
    driver: local

---

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
JAMA_VERSION	latest	Docker image tag to run. Set by build.sh or manually.
ADMIN_NAME	Admin User	Display name of the default admin account
ADMIN_EMAIL	admin@jama.local	Login email for the default admin account
ADMIN_PASS	Admin@1234	Initial password for the default admin account
PW_RESET	false	If true, resets the admin password to ADMIN_PASS on every container restart. Shows a warning banner on the login page. For emergency access recovery only.
JWT_SECRET	(insecure default)	Secret used to sign auth tokens. Must be changed in production. Use a long random string.
PORT	3000	Host port to bind (only applies when not using Caddy's expose setup)
APP_NAME	jama	Initial application name. Can also be changed at any time in the Settings UI.

Note: ADMIN_EMAIL and ADMIN_PASS are only used on the very first run to seed the admin account. Once the database exists these values are ignored — unless PW_RESET=true.

Example .env

JAMA_VERSION=1.0.0

ADMIN_NAME=Your Name
ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@yourdomain.com
ADMIN_PASS=ChangeThisNow!

PW_RESET=false

JWT_SECRET=replace-this-with-a-long-random-string-at-least-32-chars

PORT=3000
APP_NAME=jama

---

First Login & Setup Checklist

1. Open your app URL and log in with ADMIN_EMAIL / ADMIN_PASS
2. Change your password when prompted
3. Open ⚙️ Settings (bottom-left menu → Settings):
   • Upload a custom logo
   • Set the app name
   • Optionally upload custom New Chat and Group Info icons
4. Open 👥 User Manager to create accounts for your team
5. Create public channels or let users create private groups

---

User Management

Accessible from the bottom-left menu (admin only).

Action	Description
Create user	Set name, email, temporary password, and role
Bulk CSV import	Upload a CSV to create multiple users at once
Reset password	User is forced to set a new password on next login
Suspend	Blocks login; messages are preserved
Activate	Re-enables a suspended account
Delete	Removes account; messages remain attributed to user
Change role	Promote member → admin or demote admin → member

CSV Import Format

name,email,password,role
John Doe,john@example.com,TempPass123,member
Jane Smith,jane@example.com,Admin@456,admin

• role must be member or admin
• password is optional — defaults to TempPass@123 if omitted
• All imported users must change their password on first login

---

Group Types

	Public Channels	Private Groups
Who can create	Admin only	Any user
Membership	All users (automatic)	Invite-only by owner
Visible to admins	✅ Yes	❌ No
Leave	❌ Not allowed	✅ Yes
Rename	Admin only	Owner only
Read-only mode	✅ Optional	❌ N/A

---

Data Persistence

Volume	Container path	Contents
jama_db	/app/data	SQLite database (jama.db)
jama_uploads	/app/uploads	Avatars, logos, PWA icons, message images

Both volumes survive container restarts, image upgrades, and rollbacks.

Backup

# Backup database
docker run --rm \
  -v jama_db:/data \
  -v $(pwd):/backup alpine \
  tar czf /backup/jama_db_$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz -C /data .

# Backup uploads
docker run --rm \
  -v jama_uploads:/data \
  -v $(pwd):/backup alpine \
  tar czf /backup/jama_uploads_$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz -C /data .

---

Versioning, Upgrades & Rollbacks

jama uses a build-once, deploy-anywhere pattern:

Build machine              Server
./build.sh 1.1.0    →     JAMA_VERSION=1.1.0  →  docker compose up -d

Upgrade

# 1. Build new version
./build.sh 1.1.0

# 2. Update .env
JAMA_VERSION=1.1.0

# 3. Redeploy (data volumes untouched)
docker compose up -d

Rollback

# 1. Set previous version in .env
JAMA_VERSION=1.0.0

# 2. Redeploy
docker compose up -d

---

PWA Installation

HTTPS is required for the browser install prompt to appear.

Platform	How to install
Android (Chrome)	Tap the install banner, or Menu → Add to Home Screen
iOS (Safari)	Share → Add to Home Screen
Desktop Chrome/Edge	Click the install icon (⊕) in the address bar

After uploading a custom logo in Settings, the PWA shortcut icon updates automatically on the next app load.

---

PW_RESET Flag

Setting PW_RESET=true resets the default admin password to ADMIN_PASS on every container restart. Use only for emergency access recovery.

When active, a ⚠️ warning banner is shown on the login page and in the Settings panel.

Always set PW_RESET=false and redeploy after recovering access.

---

Development

# Start backend (port 3000)
cd backend && npm install && npm run dev

# Start frontend in a separate terminal (port 5173)
cd frontend && npm install && npm run dev

The Vite dev server proxies all /api and /socket.io requests to the backend automatically.

---

License

MIT