LoginSign Up
← Back to all sparks
T

Tinode

COMMS
Velocity2.5

Open-source instant messaging platform — backend in Go, native iOS/Android clients, federation, and scriptable chatbots.

tinode.co ↗

An open-source chat server in steady maintenance while reactions sit in alpha

open-sourcemessagingmaintenanceself-hosteddependencies
◆Current state
Tinode's release stream is dominated by dependency upgrades and bug fixes across the 0.25.x line — a gRPC auth-level fix, the Postgres driver moved to v5, AWS to v2. The last substantive user-facing work was pinned chats, subscriber counts and a system-default UI mode in late 2025. A 0.26.0 alpha exists on a reactions branch but has not converged.
◆Where it's heading
Development is consolidation-shaped: the maintainers are keeping the 0.25 line current and correct rather than opening new surface. Performance work in push dispatch and intra-cluster buffers suggests attention on deployments running at size. The reactions branch is the only visible feature bet, and it has been in alpha since January.
◆Prediction
The next meaningful release is most likely 0.26.0 carrying reactions out of alpha, but the alpha has sat untouched in the window, so a date is not something the entries support.

◆Recent moves

  1. 1mo ago

    Auth-level gRPC fix and driver upgrades

    A gRPC authLevel handling bug plus Postgres v5 and AWS v2 driver bumps. Housekeeping on the 0.25 line with no change a user would see.

    View source ↗
  2. 5mo ago

    Push dispatch and cluster buffer tuning

    Push notification dispatch is optimized and intra-cluster buffers enlarged, with tn-cli refactored into modules. Operator-facing rather than user-facing, and the clearest sign of attention on larger deployments.

    View source ↗
  3. 6mo ago

    Reactions branch merged into a 0.26 alpha

    A pre-release alpha carrying a branch merge, not a shipped capability. It is the only evidence in the window that reactions are being built at all.

    View source ↗
  4. 7mo ago

    Wallpaper bundle and UserUpdate fixes

    Missing release-bundle files, a broken UserUpdate path, Docker healthchecks and dead code removal. Pure correction work.

    View source ↗
  5. 7mo ago

    Pinning chats, subscriber count

    The last release in the window with real user-facing additions: pinned chats, subscriber counts in group chats and channels, and system-default light/dark mode. It requires a database migration, which marks it as the line's last structural change.

    View source ↗
  6. 9mo ago

    CORS wildcards, bug fixes

    CORS wildcard support plus unread-counter and media-server fixes. Deployment ergonomics for self-hosters rather than product surface.

    View source ↗