TriChat

Temporary anonymous rooms for quick sharing between nearby devices.

No account. No phone login. No personal messenger on shared PCs.

Open a room. Share what you need. Everything clears after 5 hours.

Live Demo · Quick Start · Story · Architecture

PC-1 open no login	room: project-drop files links notes images quick exchange, same room, any browser	PC-2 join same room
Temporary by design  ·  auto-delete after 5 hours

No Login Open a room instantly.

Share Fast Drop files, links, and notes.

Temporary History clears after 5 hours.

Any Device Works in a browser.

---

The Little Office Problem

Three friends. Three computers. One tiny task. Can you send me that file? Sure. Wait... should I log into WhatsApp Web on your PC? Maybe email? No no, I do not want my personal account open here. And suddenly, sharing one small file becomes a whole ritual: open a personal messenger, scan a QR code, wait for sync, remember to log out, and hope nothing private stays open.

So TriChat started as a tiny escape hatch.

Not a social network. Not a permanent chat app. Just a quick temporary room where teammates can drop files, links, and notes without logging into personal accounts.

---

The Idea

What if sharing between office PCs felt like passing a sticky note? Create a room. Tell your friend the room name. Drop files, links, images, or text. Leave when the work is done. History disappears after 5 hours.

That is TriChat.

Need	TriChat answer
Move a file from one PC to another	Join the same room and upload it
Avoid WhatsApp, email, or personal logins	No account needed
Share quick links or notes	Send them as room messages
Avoid long-term clutter	Auto-clears after 5 hours
Use any device nearby	Works in a browser

---

Features

Anonymous rooms Join with a name and room. No account ceremony.	Quick sharing Send text, links, images, and files between devices.	Realtime chat WebSocket-powered messages feel instant.
5-hour expiry Messages and uploaded files are temporary by design.	Room cache Small in-memory cache keeps recent room loading snappy.	Self-hostable Run locally, in Docker, or on Hugging Face Spaces.

---

Sharing Flow

flowchart LR
    A[Open TriChat] --> B[Enter name + room]
    B --> C[Friend joins same room]
    C --> D[Share text, links, images, files]
    D --> E[Work gets done]
    E --> F[History clears after 5 hours]

Loading

---

Temporary By Design

Built to disappear after the job is done. Every saved message and uploaded file gets an expiry time. created_at + 5 hours = expires_at The cleanup worker runs in the background and removes expired database messages, uploaded files, and stale cached history. TriChat is intentionally short-lived. It is for quick exchange, not forever storage.

---

Quick Start

Run TriChat locally

git clone https://github.com/parthmax2/TriChat.git
cd TriChat
pip install -r requirements.txt

Create your environment file:

cp .env.example .env

Fill in:

SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project-ref.supabase.co
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=your-supabase-secret-key
SUPABASE_BUCKET=chat-files
ROOM_HISTORY_HOURS=5
HISTORY_CACHE_SECONDS=30
CLEANUP_INTERVAL_SECONDS=600
PORT=7860

Run it:

uvicorn app:app --reload --port 7860

Open:

http://127.0.0.1:7860

---

Setup

1. Create The Database

In your Supabase SQL editor, run:

supabase_schema.sql

This creates the messages table and adds:

• expires_at for 5-hour cleanup
• file_path so uploaded files can be deleted from storage
• indexes for faster room history

2. Create The File Bucket

Create a public storage bucket named:

chat-files

TriChat stores uploaded files there and deletes expired file objects during cleanup.

3. Add Environment Variables

Use .env.example as your guide.

Never commit your real .env file.

---

How It Works

Architecture map

Browser room UI	FastAPI routes + WebSockets	Supabase Postgres room history	Supabase Storage uploaded files
open room  →  send message/file  →  sync realtime  →  cleanup expired data

Core stack:

Layer	Tool	Why it is here
Backend	FastAPI	Serves the app, APIs, uploads, and room logic.
Realtime	WebSockets	Keeps room messages live across devices.
Database	Supabase Postgres	Stores temporary messages with expiry timestamps.
File storage	Supabase Storage	Stores uploaded files until cleanup removes them.
Deployment	Docker / Hugging Face Spaces	Makes the project easy to run and share.

---

Test The Integration

Run:

python test.py

Expected result:

Supabase database integration successful.
Inserted, read, and deleted test row id: ...

---

Perfect For

Office teammates Move files across shared PCs without personal logins.	Computer labs Share notes and files between lab machines.
Hackathon teams Drop links, screenshots, builds, and quick notes.	Support desks Create a temporary room for fast exchange.

---

Safety Note

TriChat is built for quick temporary exchange, not permanent private storage. Do not share passwords, private keys, confidential company documents, or anything that should not appear in a public temporary room.

---

The Short Story

I built TriChat because my coworkers and I often needed to move files between office PCs.

Using WhatsApp Web was annoying because nobody wanted to log into a personal account on someone else's computer.

TriChat is a temporary anonymous room: open a room, share files or links, and the history clears after 5 hours.

---

Roadmap

Copy invite link button	Room expiry countdown in the UI
Drag-and-drop file upload	Dark mode
Optional room password	One-click deploy buttons

---

Open a room. Share the thing. Leave no mess.

Temporary rooms. Quick sharing. No personal login.

Try TriChat live · Run locally