What it is

Sharkord is a lightweight, self-hosted, open-source chat server written in TypeScript under the MIT license. It provides voice, video, text, and screen sharing for small groups that want privacy, simplicity, and full control over their data. The project lives in the Discord-like collaboration and communication ecosystem, and its topics emphasize realtime messaging, privacy, data ownership, and self-hosting.

The concrete problem it solves is the need for a real-time communication platform that can run on a user's own infrastructure instead of a hosted service. The README describes it as bringing the most important Discord-like features to your own infrastructure, with voice, video, and screen sharing without the bloat or surveillance. It is distributed as a standalone binary that bundles both server and client components, and it is currently in alpha stage.

Key capabilities

• Voice channels support video and screen sharing through a built-in mediasoup SFU.
• Text channels are grouped into categories and include threads, replies, reactions, pins, search, custom emoji, mentions, and channel references.
• Direct messages allow private conversations between members.
• Roles and permissions can be configured with per-channel overrides for individual roles and users.
• Invites can have usage limits and automatic role assignment.
• File uploads support per-user storage quotas and optional signed URLs.
• Plugins extend both server and client through the plugin SDK.

Who uses it and how

• Small groups that want a self-hosted Discord-like server can run Sharkord on their own machine or server.
• Users can install the standalone binary for Windows, macOS, or Linux, then open the client in a browser at http://localhost:4991.
• Operators can deploy the Docker image sharkord/sharkord:latest with TCP and UDP port mappings and a mounted ./data directory.
• Teams can use text channels, direct messages, voice channels, video, and screen sharing for day-to-day collaboration.
• Developers can extend the platform with plugins that target both the server and the client.

Getting started

The typical installation methods are downloading the latest standalone binary from the GitHub Releases page or running the sharkord/sharkord:latest Docker image. On first launch, Sharkord creates a secret token printed to the console, which grants owner access and signs session and file URLs, so it must be stored securely before opening the web client at http://localhost:4991.

When to use it — and when not to

Sharkord is appropriate for small groups that want self-hosted realtime chat and can tolerate an alpha-stage product with bugs, incomplete features, and breaking changes. It is less suitable for teams that need a mature, managed platform or cannot operate the server, preserve the owner token, expose the required ports, and manage the data directory. The project's main trade-off is control over data and infrastructure in exchange for self-hosting responsibility and current instability.

curl -L https://github.com/sharkord/sharkord/releases/latest/download/sharkord-linux-x64 -o sharkord
chmod +x sharkord
./sharkord

docker run \
  -p 4991:4991/tcp \
  -p 40000:40000/tcp \
  -p 40000:40000/udp \
  -v ./data:/home/bun/.config/sharkord \
  --name sharkord \
  sharkord/sharkord:latest