At a Glance:
Valour is an open-source, modern chat client built on a public API, offering multi-chat windows, built-in community economies, role-based permissions, and a decentralized node architecture where each server node runs independently of a central service.
Overview:
Valour is an open-source chat platform designed for community building. It provides a desktop-style client with a flexible window system that allows users to open multiple chats across different communities simultaneously. Communities, called Planets, can manage members through roles and per-channel permissions. A key differentiator is the built-in economy system, which lets Planet administrators deploy a currency and item-trading system without relying on third-party bots. The platform is built atop a public API for bot and application development, and it uses a decentralized node design where each server node operates independently to prevent total outages and allow provider-agnostic hosting.
Key Decision Points:
Decentralized Node Architecture: Each Valour Node runs independently, so a failure in one node does not affect others, which supports scaling and provider-agnostic hosting.
Built-in Economy System: Communities can deploy a currency and manage user-to-user transactions and item trading through a native system, accessible via the official API.
Public API Foundation: The client is built on top of an official API, which can be used by developers to create bots, custom applications, and integrated reward or payment systems.
Client-Side Multi-Chat Windows: The client supports opening, resizing, and arranging multiple dynamic chat windows, even from different communities, which is presented as a core workflow feature.
Trademark Restriction: The "Valour" name is a trademark, and forks or derivative projects cannot use it without permission, though the mark is allowed for bots, plugins, or integrations built for Valour.
Core Features:
Planets and Communities: Role management and per-channel permissions for structuring and moderating communities.
Multi-Chat Window System: A dynamic, resizable window system within the client to view multiple chats or communities side by side.
Built-in Economy and Items: A two-click system for deploying a community currency, which supports user-to-user transfers and trading for community-defined items.
Decentralized Nodes: A logical-server-based system where each node runs independently, designed to be resilient to single-node failures and cloud-provider agnostic.
Public API: An official API that underpins the client and is available for building bots, applications, and custom integrations.
Use Cases:
Community Managers and Moderation Teams: Running a Planet with granular permissions and a multi-chat window view to monitor activity across different channels.
Developers Building Community Bots and Integrations: Using the public API to create bots that interact with the built-in economy, such as rewarding users or charging for custom perks.
Open-Source Alternative Value:
Valour provides a chat application where the server infrastructure is designed for decentralization, with independent nodes that offer resilience against single points of failure. Its open-source nature allows developers to customize the client and build atop a public API that directly exposes the platform's features, including a native economic system. This API-driven design, combined with a stated commitment to transparency for bot authors regarding user data, offers a concrete foundation for creating community-specific tools and extensions.