Self-Hosting InterChat

InterChat is open-source and can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure. This section provides guidance on setting up and maintaining your own instance of InterChat.

Why Self-Host?

There are several reasons you might want to self-host InterChat:

• Complete control over your data and privacy
• Customization of features to suit your specific needs
• No limitations on usage or connections
• Learning experience for Discord bot development

Requirements

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• A server or VPS running Linux
• Node.js 22+
• MongoDB database
• Redis server
• Discord bot token and application
• Basic knowledge of command line and server administration

License Considerations

InterChat is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0). This means:

• You can use, modify, and distribute the code
• If you modify the code and provide it as a service (even over a network), you must make your modifications available under the same license
• You must include the original copyright notice and license
• Creating "cheap copies" by rebranding without proper attribution is strictly prohibited

Support

While we provide documentation for self-hosting, please note:

• Official support is limited for self-hosted instances
• You're responsible for maintaining and securing your own instance
• The community may be able to help with issues in our support server

Contributing Back

If you make improvements to InterChat while self-hosting, consider contributing them back to the main project:

1. Fork the repository on GitHub
2. Make your changes
3. Submit a pull request

This helps the entire community benefit from your improvements!