Highlights

• Added message reactions with server-side aggregation and client-side rendering.
• Introduced msg_id in message events for safer reaction targeting and replay correlation.
• Added reaction_sync protocol event for reconnect/bootstrap hydration.
• Added client commands for reaction workflows:
  • /react
  • /recent
  • /sync

Improvements

• Hardened server-side validation for reaction payload fields: msg_id and emoji.
• Optimized reaction synchronization by querying reaction events directly.
• Improved client deduplication logic for message IDs and reaction events to prevent double counting.

Test Coverage

• Added contract tests for reaction broadcast and synchronization aggregation flow.
• Added contract tests for invalid reaction payload rejection.

Production Hardening

• Graceful shutdown with configurable drain timeout (--shutdown-timeout-secs, default: 30s)
• Per-user message rate limiting with token bucket algorithm (--max-msgs-per-minute, --enable-user-rate-limit)
• Config hot-reload via SIGHUP signal on Unix systems (--enable-hot-reload)
• HTTP shutdown endpoint for container orchestration (POST /shutdown)
• Kubernetes liveness probe endpoint (/live)

Client UX

• Animated ASCII art logo on startup with typewriter effect
• Branded goodbye animation on exit
• Both animations are skippable (press any key)
• --no-animation CLI flag to disable animations
• ui.disable_animations config option

Full Changelog: v0.1.0...v0.2.0

Changelog

All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.

This format is based on Keep a Changelog and the project follows Semantic Versioning.

Planned

• Add reproducible benchmark runs and publish measured results for each tagged release.
• Continue protocol hardening and trust-model improvements.

0.1.0 - 2026-03-23

Initial public release of Chatify as a terminal-first, self-hosted Rust chat platform.

Added

• Rust server binary for WebSocket-based chat transport.
• Rust terminal client binary with command-driven workflow.
• Core chat features: channels, direct messages, presence, and command discovery.
• SQLite-backed persistence for timeline durability and replay workflows.
• History and discovery commands including history, search, and rewind flows.
• Crypto utility layer for password hashing, key derivation, key management helpers, and authenticated encryption primitives.
• Optional Discord bridge binary behind the discord-bridge feature flag.
• Windows packaging script that produces distributable ZIP artifacts and SHA256 checksums.

Changed

• Authentication and protocol validation paths were tightened with nonce and timestamp validation to reduce replay risk.
• Server and client internals were refactored for improved readability and maintainability.
• Event and schema handling were refined to support safer persistence evolution.

Security

• Added replay-protection improvements through nonce and timestamp checks in authentication flows.
• Reintroduced modern key-exchange support and aligned cryptographic utilities with current implementation needs.

Fixed

• Multiple CI and runtime reliability issues were resolved during stabilization.
• Bridge reconnect and source-loop filtering regressions are covered by targeted tests.

Documentation

• Expanded architecture and roadmap documentation.
• Added recruiter-facing engineering documentation: security notes, benchmark methodology, and engineering case study.
• Improved README with clearer project positioning, quality posture, and release context.

CI and Release

• Added CI quality gates for formatting, linting, tests, and feature-specific checks.
• Added release automation for Windows package artifacts on published GitHub releases.