Every Feature, One Platform

From IRC-style slash commands to WebRTC voice calls, LVChat packs a complete communication platform into a single self-hosted PHP app.

💬 Communication

#

Channels

Public, private, secret, invite-only, keyed, moderated — with member limits, persistent topics, and full IRC-style modes (+nt, +k, +l, +i, etc.).

✉️

Direct Messages

Private conversations with read receipts, unread badges, offline memos via MemoServ, and the ability to message yourself (an IRC tradition).

🎙️

Voice & Video

One-on-one calls with ring/accept/decline, per-channel voice chat, camera and screen sharing, meeting rooms — all powered by LiveKit WebRTC.

🎬

GIF Search

Giphy-backed picker with trending and live search, proxied through the server so the API key never reaches browsers.

🖼️

Image Uploads

Drag-and-drop or attach with lightbox preview. Inline images render in chat history.

😀

Reactions

Emoji reactions on any message — just like Discord.

↩️

Reply / Quote

Reply to any message with inline quoted context.

✨

Text Formatting

Bold, italic, strikethrough, code blocks, blockquotes, lists, and @mentions.

⚡

Slash Commands

Full IRC-style command set with Discord-style autocomplete: /help, /join, /msg, /kick, /ban, /topic, /mode, and 60+ more.

🛡️ Community & Moderation

👥

Friends System

Send/accept/decline friend requests, block/unblock, online/offline grouping with pending request badges.

🎭

Custom Roles

Create roles with custom colors and permissions. Mark roles as Helper for green nicks and automatic half-op in every channel.

👑

IRC Operator Levels

Full hierarchy: ~ founder, & admin, @ op, % halfop, + voice. Ops can promote other members.

🤖

Channel Services

ChanServ, NickServ, MemoServ, HostServ, OperServ — register channels, manage access lists, auto-kick, vhosts, and more.

🚨

Message Reports

Right-click any message to report with preset reasons. Staff review queue with snapshot of sender, content, and inline images.

📋

Moderation Queue

Every filter hit, kick, ban, mute, and global ban logged with actor and context for staff review.

🚫

Bad-Word Filter

Per-channel or server-wide, censor to **** or block the whole message. Admin-managed word list.

🔒

Global Bans

kline, gline, zline, shun by nick, IP, or CIDR with duration and reason. IRC-style operator tools.

🔞

Age Gate

18+ certification on registration, optional admin approval for new accounts, pending/suspended states.

🎫

Support Tickets

Users open tickets from the sidebar. Staff assign and reply. Email notifications via SMTP.

Channel Settings Control Panel

Channel ops, admins, founders, and server admins open a tabbed Settings modal from the channel header or right-click menu. Manage bans, access lists, topics, and channel URLs — all with the same permission gates as the slash commands.

  • Overview tab: channel info, mode flags, Channel URL
  • Bans tab: add by nick or mask with duration + reason
  • Ops & half-ops: manage the registered access list
  • Topic tab: set or clear the channel topic (respects +t)
  • Available in web app, desktop app, and both Messenger clients
LVChat Channel settings modal showing Overview tab with channel info and URL field

Topic Management

Set and manage channel topics directly from the settings panel. The topic editor respects the +t mode — only operators can change topics when topic lock is enabled.

LVChat Channel settings modal showing Topic tab with topic editor

⚙️ Administration

📊

Admin Dashboard

Users, channels, bans, spam filters, MOTD, server settings, audit log, O-lines, oper classes — all in one place.

📈

Analytics Dashboard

Time-range filtering (7d/30d/90d/all), KPI cards, activity charts, moderation charts, health charts — all server-side SVG, zero JS.

📝

Chat Logging

Append-only archive of every channel and DM. Nothing ever deleted. Full admin search with per-channel participant lists.

👤

User Management

Create accounts manually, invite by email, delete accounts, promote/demote roles, reset MFA, staff timeline with notes.

📧

SMTP Email

Built-in dependency-free SMTP client with one-click test. Used for invites, welcome emails, and support ticket replies.

🔐

Two-Factor Auth (TOTP)

RFC 6238 MFA with QR enrollment, per-class enforcement (admin/staff/registered), forced setup at login.

⚖️

Legal Pages

Editable Terms of Service and Privacy Policy with a kitchen-sink rich-text editor. Sanitized on save.

🪝

Webhooks

Discord-compatible POST endpoints for GitHub, GitLab, Zapier. Bot users with avatar and embed support.

🤖

AI Bot Integration

OpenClaw AI agents connect as authenticated bot users with channel and DM access, rich markdown rendering.

🧩

Module System

Extend LVChat with plug-and-play modules: slash commands, routes, admin pages, database tables, assets, views.

💳

SaaS Billing Module

Optional plan-based metering with Stripe, PayPal, and BTCPay Server integration for monetized deployments.

🔄

Update System

Built-in update feed, version checking, and one-click download for web and desktop clients.

75+ Themes at Your Fingertips

Midnight, Nord, Dracula, Solarized, Catppuccin, Tokyo Night, Cyberpunk — and many more. Pick a preset and fine-tune it with custom accent colours, sidebar colours, fonts, and chat backgrounds.

Every registered user can pick their own personal theme to override the server default. Channel owners can set per-channel backgrounds. Admins can disable personal customization with one toggle.

  • 75+ curated colour schemes
  • Custom accent and sidebar colours
  • Font picker with system and web fonts
  • Chat background image with overlay opacity
  • Per-channel background overrides
  • Dark and light mode toggle
LVChat theme picker showing Midnight, Deep Blurple, Nord, Dracula presets with custom accent and sidebar colour options

The Admin Dashboard

A comprehensive control center with 25+ tabs covering every aspect of your server.

LVChat Admin dashboard showing Overview tab with KPI cards, messages chart, and most active users
LVChat Admin MOTD editor with ASCII art message
LVChat Admin support tickets page with filter tabs

🎨 Personalization

🌈

75+ Preset Themes

Midnight, Nord, Dracula, Solarized, Catppuccin, Tokyo Night, Cyberpunk, and many more curated colour schemes.

✏️

Custom Themes

Personal accent/sidebar colors, font choice, chat background image with overlay opacity. Per-channel backgrounds too.

🔔

Notification Sounds

Per-context sounds (DMs, channels), per-user overrides, admin-uploadable sound library with three defaults.

📲

Push Notifications

Real OS/browser notifications via Web Push (VAPID + RFC 8291). Per-channel and per-user muting. Works even when closed.

🌗

Dark / Light Mode

Instant toggle, remembered per account. Server admins can disable personal customization with one switch.

Admin → Appearance

LVChat Admin Appearance settings showing server theme picker with 75+ presets

Admin → Terms & Privacy

LVChat Admin Terms of Service editor with rich-text toolbar

⚡ Realtime & Performance

🚀

Three Realtime Tiers

AJAX polling (2s default), Server-Sent Events (SSE), or WebSocket gateway (Workerman) for up to 50,000+ concurrent users.

📴

Offline Support

Messages sent while offline are queued and delivered on reconnect. Offline banner while disconnected.

🔗

Shareable Channel Links

/c/gaming links that auto-join logged-in users and redirect guests through login.

🖼️

Channel URL Embeds

Embed any web page in a pane above the chat. Server-side proxy bypasses X-Frame-Options. Opaque-origin sandbox.

📱

Progressive Web App

Installable on any device. Offline channel browsing, cached history, queued message delivery. Opens in its own window.

Channel URL Embeds

Embed any web page in a pane above the chat — Star Trek wiki, GitHub repos, live dashboards, anything. The server-side proxy bypasses X-Frame-Options so even sites that refuse to be framed still render.

The embedded page runs in an opaque-origin sandbox, so scripts can never touch the chat app. Link clicks route back through the proxy. Fonts and stylesheets are re-served through a resource proxy so everything renders correctly.

  • Server-side embed proxy bypasses frame restrictions
  • Opaque-origin sandbox for security
  • Resource proxy for fonts and CSS
  • Resilience shims for heavy JS sites
  • SSRF protection (no loopback/private targets)
  • Blocked URLs list for safety
LVChat #startrek channel with an embedded Star Trek website in a pane above the chat messages

See It All in Action

Clone the repo and try every feature on your own server.

💬 Try LVChat Web 💌 Try Messenger ⬇ Download Desktop Get Started →