The backend services and libraries powering the Stoat chat platform, built in Rust.
Stoat Backend is the server-side software that powers the Stoat chat service, providing the infrastructure for real-time messaging, user presence, file management, and API interactions. It is built as a collection of modular Rust services and libraries, enabling communities to run their own independent chat platforms.
Developers and communities looking to self-host a customizable, real-time chat platform with full control over their data and infrastructure.
It offers a fully open-source, modular, and self-hostable alternative to proprietary chat services, built in Rust for performance and reliability, with a clear separation of concerns across its service components.
The software powering Stoat
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Separates concerns into independent crates (e.g., Delta for REST, Bonfire for WebSocket), enabling scalable, maintainable deployments and easier updates per component.
Built in Rust with a dedicated WebSocket server (Bonfire) for low-latency messaging and presence updates, leveraging Rust's efficiency for concurrent connections.
Includes Autumn file server with S3-compatible storage and encryption subroutines, ensuring protected uploads and storage without relying on external services.
Provides all necessary services, from proxies (January, Gifbox) to daemons (Crond, Pushd), for a complete, independent chat platform with full data control.
Requires Docker, multiple databases (MongoDB, Redis), and tools like mise, with complex configuration overrides, as shown in the development guide's port management tips.
Limited third-party integrations and community plugins compared to established alternatives, with no built-in client SDKs beyond the referenced web app.
Managing inter-service dependencies and configurations (e.g., via Revolt.overrides.toml) adds maintenance burden, especially for scaling or debugging in production.