Publik aims to be an subset of IRC, replacing the "default permit" policy with "invite only". New users can be added by modifying the authorization file Authfile either via the chat interface or by editing it externally.

Roadmap

SSH authentication and authorization
Ability for admins to reload Authfile with Ctrl r
Emacs-like shortcuts for textarea
multiline support with Alt Return
Adjustable parameters:
- history size
- Authfile path
- Listening port number
/commit command to commit in-memory changes to Authfile
/rename command
#mention tags
/add command to add new keys

Authfile

The Authfile is the source of truth.

Though keys can be added via the chat interface, unless they are committed using the /commit command, they will NOT persist on the subsequent runs or reload.

Consider the following keys added to Authfile

ssh-ed25519 AAAA... bob@work
ssh-ed25519 AAAA... h@cafe:admin

The Authfile intentionally uses the same format as the ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file, with the only difference is that it parses the last field, the comment. This will be used to assign usernames.

For example, the first key has a comment bob@work which will be the username assigned to people joining in with the respective privileges. Further, bob@work can join only with normal privileges.

h@cafe, whose comment is tagged as :admin will be able to join the chat with admin privileges.

Note

Usernames may only contain ASCII alphanumeric characters and the symbols @-_.. All other characters will be stripped.

Getting started

Create a file called Authfile and add the SSH public keys of trusted members as described in the previous section.

Inside the project directory run

cargo r

This binds to localhost on port 2222 over all interfaces. Members with the respective private keys will now be able to SSH as

ssh 0.0.0.0 -p 2222 -oStrictHostKeyChecking=No