Anonyma

Anonyma is a secure, privacy-first anonymous messaging and broadcast platform. It enables users to communicate without revealing their identities while providing modern social features including message reactions, comments, typing indicators, and real-time updates.

Features

Core Messaging

• Anonymous peer-to-peer messaging with thread-based conversations
• Real-time message delivery via Server-Sent Events
• Message reactions with enhanced emoji picker
• Read receipts for sent messages
• Full-text message search across conversations

Enhanced Messaging

• Message editing with complete edit history
• Soft deletion of messages and threads
• Message and conversation pinning
• Real-time typing indicators
• Auto-saving message drafts with restoration

Broadcasts

• Global broadcast board visible to all users
• Optional anonymous posting
• Threaded comment system with reactions
• Real-time view tracking and statistics

Social Features

• Customizable user profiles
• User blocking and management
• Active user discovery

User Experience

• Dark and light theme support with persistence
• Audio notifications for new messages
• Browser desktop notifications
• Comprehensive emoji library with search
• Smooth animations and transitions
• Fully responsive design

Technology Stack

Backend

• Rust with Axum 0.8 web framework
• PostgreSQL database with SQLx
• Authkestra for authentication (GitHub OAuth and local credentials)
• Server-Sent Events for real-time updates
• Structured logging with Tracing

Frontend

• React 18 with Vite build tool
• TypeScript for type safety
• Tailwind CSS for styling
• shadcn/ui component library
• TanStack Query for state management
• Framer Motion for animations
• Lucide React for icons

Documentation

• Complete Implementation Status - Detailed feature documentation
• Architecture and Design - System architecture overview
• Backend Development - Backend API documentation
• Frontend Development - Frontend development guide

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Rust (latest stable version)
• Node.js 18 or higher
• PostgreSQL 14 or higher
• Docker (optional, for containerized database)

Database Setup

Using Docker:

docker-compose up -d

Using local PostgreSQL:

createdb anonyma

Backend Setup

cd backend
cp .env.example .env
# Configure DATABASE_URL, HOST, PORT, APP_SCHEME, FRONTEND_URL, and OAuth credentials in .env
cargo build
cargo run

The backend server will start on http://localhost:3000

Frontend Setup

cd frontend
cp .env.example .env
# Configure VITE_API_URL and VITE_FRONTEND_URL in .env
npm install
npm run dev

The frontend application will be accessible at http://localhost:8080

Initial User Creation

1. Navigate to http://localhost:8080
2. Choose authentication method:
   • "Authenticate via GitHub" for OAuth login
   • "Authenticate with Password" for local credentials
3. For local authentication, enter a username and password (minimum 6 characters)
4. Begin using the application

Testing

Multi-User Testing

To test messaging between multiple users, use separate browser profiles:

Chrome or Edge:

1. Create multiple browser profiles via the profile menu
2. Open the application in each profile with different user accounts

Firefox:

1. Use Firefox profiles or container tabs
2. Alternatively, use different browsers simultaneously

Running Tests

Backend tests:

cd backend
cargo test
cargo clippy

Frontend tests:

cd frontend
npm run test
npm run lint

API Overview

Authentication

• POST /auth/register - Register new user with username and password
• POST /auth/login - Authenticate with credentials
• GET /auth/github - Initiate GitHub OAuth flow
• GET /logout - End current session

User Management

• GET /api/me - Retrieve current user profile
• POST /api/me - Update profile information
• GET /api/users - List all active users
• POST /api/users/{id}/block - Block specified user
• POST /api/users/{id}/unblock - Unblock specified user
• GET /api/users/blocked - Retrieve blocked users list

Messaging

• POST /api/messages - Send new message
• GET /api/messages/inbox - Retrieve inbox messages
• GET /api/messages/search - Search messages by content
• GET /api/conversations - List all conversations
• POST /api/messages/{id}/react - Add emoji reaction
• POST /api/messages/{id}/edit - Edit message content
• DELETE /api/messages/{id}/delete - Delete message
• DELETE /api/conversations/{thread_id}/delete - Delete conversation
• POST /api/messages/{id}/pin - Pin or unpin message
• POST /api/conversations/{thread_id}/pin - Pin or unpin conversation
• POST /api/conversations/{thread_id}/typing - Send typing indicator

Broadcasts

• GET /api/broadcasts - List all broadcasts
• POST /api/broadcasts - Create new broadcast
• POST /api/broadcasts/{id}/view - Track broadcast view
• GET /api/broadcasts/{id}/comments - Retrieve comments
• POST /api/broadcasts/{id}/comments - Create comment
• POST /api/broadcasts/comments/{id}/react - React to comment
• DELETE /api/broadcasts/comments/{id}/delete - Delete comment

Preferences

• GET /api/preferences - Retrieve user preferences
• POST /api/preferences - Update user preferences

Real-time

• GET /api/sse - Server-Sent Events stream for live updates

Security and Privacy

Anonymity Design

The system is architected with privacy as a core principle. Sender identities are stored server-side for reply routing but are never exposed to message recipients. Recipients see only "Anonymous Agent" for incoming messages, ensuring complete sender anonymity.

Data Protection

• HTTP-only session cookies prevent cross-site scripting attacks
• Argon2 password hashing provides secure credential storage
• Soft deletion preserves audit trails while removing content from view
• User blocking prevents unwanted communication
• Secure session management via Authkestra

Database Schema

The application uses a single comprehensive migration file containing 13 tables. See ARCHITECTURE.md for the complete Entity-Relationship diagram and detailed schema documentation.

Core Tables

• users - User accounts and authentication
• messages - Peer-to-peer messages with threading
• broadcasts - Public broadcast messages

Feature Tables

• user_preferences - User settings and preferences
• message_reactions - Emoji reactions on messages
• message_edits - Message modification history
• pinned_messages - User-pinned messages
• pinned_threads - User-pinned conversations
• typing_indicators - Real-time typing state
• user_blocks - Blocked user relationships
• broadcast_views - Broadcast view tracking
• broadcast_comments - Comments on broadcasts
• broadcast_comment_reactions - Reactions on comments

Feature Status

All core features are fully implemented and functional:

• Anonymous peer-to-peer messaging with threading
• Full-text message search
• Message editing with history tracking
• Message and thread deletion
• Message and conversation pinning
• Real-time typing indicators
• Read receipts for message tracking
• Auto-saving message drafts
• Enhanced emoji reactions
• User blocking and management
• Public broadcasts with view tracking
• Threaded comment system
• Dark and light theme support
• Audio and browser notifications
• Real-time updates via Server-Sent Events

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please ensure all tests pass and code follows the established style guidelines before submitting pull requests.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

This project is built with:

• Axum - Web framework
• shadcn/ui - UI component library
• Authkestra - Authentication framework
• Lucide - Icon library