Introduction
Subspace Frequency is a self-hosted chat, voice and video platform. If you have used Discord, you already know how it works; the names are space-themed (see Terminology).
| You may know it as | In Subspace |
|---|---|
| Server | Beacon |
| Channel | Relay (text, forum, gallery, or Comm-Link for voice) |
| Message | Transmission |
| DM / Group DM | Point-to-Point Link / Subspace Mesh |
| Roles | Clearances |
| Admin panel | Command Console |
What it is made of
| Part | What it does | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Web edge | Serves the web app and routes /api, /gateway, /rtc and storage on one origin | docker/nginx/web.conf |
| API service | Accounts, beacons, relays, transmissions, search, calls, encryption keys | apps/api-service |
| Gateway | Real-time events over WebSocket: presence, typing, voice states, calls | apps/gateway-service |
| File service | The Subspace Vault (uploads, quotas), media uploads, cloud drive imports | apps/file-service |
| Badge worker | Awards commendations from event streams | apps/badge-worker |
| PostgreSQL | All persistent data | packages/database |
| Redis | Sessions, rate limits, presence, pub/sub between services | |
| MinIO (S3) | File storage | |
| LiveKit | Voice and video (SFU) |
Clients: the web app (apps/web), the desktop app (apps/desktop, Tauri) and the mobile app (apps/mobile, Expo). The desktop and mobile apps open your instance in a native shell, so every instance automatically has all three.
Where to go next
- Trying it on your machine: Run it locally.
- Putting it on a server: Deployment.
- How accounts, sessions and encryption are protected: Security and encryption.