How it works, what to expect, and what to keep in mind.
Do I need an account to use the chat?
No. You can read the Welcome room as a guest without registering. Guests see only the most recent messages and cannot post. To participate and access all rooms, you need to create an account.
How does registration work?
Pick a username (3–24 characters, letters, numbers, spaces, _ and - allowed). The app generates a private key — a long random string — in your browser. That key is hashed before being sent to the server. The server never sees your actual key, only its hash. After registration, copy the key somewhere safe and then log in.
What is the private key exactly?
It is your password. It is a 64-character hexadecimal string generated randomly in your browser. It is hashed (SHA-256) locally before transmission, so the server stores only the hash — not the key itself.
How do I log in?
Enter your username and paste your private key into the login form. The key is hashed in your browser and compared against the stored hash. Your key is never sent in plain text.
Can I use the same account on multiple devices?
Yes. Log in with your username and key on any device. Each login creates an independent session valid for 24 hours.
How do I log out?
Use the Sign out button in the top bar. This invalidates your current session on the server immediately.
What rooms are available?
There are three rooms: Welcome, Tech, and Random. Guests can only see the Welcome room. Logged-in users can switch freely between all three.
How long is message history kept?
Messages are retained for 24 hours from the time they were sent. After that they are deleted automatically and cannot be retrieved.
Can guests read history?
No. Guests only receive the most recent few messages as they arrive live. Scrolling back through history requires being logged in.
How long can a message be?
Up to 1000 characters per message.
How does the chat update?
The page polls the server for new messages every few seconds — no page refresh needed. Logged-in users poll more frequently than guests.
What data does the server store?
Your username, the hash of your private key, and the messages you post (for up to 24 hours). No email address, no IP address in a user profile. Server access logs may record IP addresses as part of standard hosting infrastructure.
Is there moderation?
Yes. Administrators and moderators can remove messages, ban users or IP addresses (temporarily or permanently), and force-logout active sessions. If you are banned, you will be notified of the reason and expiry date when you try to log in.
Who can see who is online?
Logged-in users can see the Participants panel, which lists accounts that have been active in the last 5 minutes. Users idle for more than 90 seconds are shown as inactive. Guests do not see the participants list.