⬡ AMNI-HAVEN — Private Chat That Lives On Your Machine

Your server. Your rules. No cloud. No accounts with Big Tech. No one reading your messages.

Amni-Haven is a self-hosted Discord alternative. Run it on your machine. Invite friends with a code. No cloud. No email signup. No tracking. Free forever.

🖥️ NEW — Amni-Haven Desktop (Beta)

Want a native desktop experience? Amni-Haven Desktop is a standalone app that connects to any Amni-Haven server — with features that go beyond the browser.

Amni-Haven Desktop is now available as a public beta. Download the installer and connect to your server in seconds.

Per-Application Audio — share audio from a single app during screen share, just like Discord. Powered by native WASAPI (Windows) and PulseAudio (Linux) hooks.
Audio Device Switching — change your mic and speaker mid-call without leaving voice chat
Native Desktop Notifications — OS-level notifications via the system tray
Minimize to Tray — keeps running quietly in the background
One-Click Install — NSIS installer (Windows), AppImage / .deb (Linux). Download, run, done.

⚠️ This is a beta release. Bugs are expected. Your feedback is what makes it better — please open an issue if something breaks or feels off.

You still need an Amni-Haven server. The desktop app is a client — it connects to an Amni-Haven server. Download and run Amni-Haven first if you haven't already.

📥 Download Amni-Haven Desktop →

📱 NEW — Amni-Haven Android (Closed Beta)

Want Amni-Haven on your phone? Amni-Haven Android is a native Android app built from the ground up, now in closed beta on Google Play.

Amni-Haven Android features full chat and voice support, push notifications, and a true mobile-native experience.

Native Android — built from scratch specifically for Amni-Haven, not a web wrapper
Push Notifications — real-time notifications via Google Play services
Full Chat & Voice — all the features you love, in your pocket

🚀 Want to join the beta? Visit amni-scient.com/amni-haven.html to request access to the closed beta.

You still need an Amni-Haven server. The Android app is a client — it connects to an Amni-Haven server. Download and run Amni-Haven first if you haven't already.

Built with ❤️ by Amnibro — huge thanks for his incredible work building the Amni-Haven Android app from the ground up.

📲 Request Android Beta Access →

NEW in v2.0.0 — Import Your Discord History

Leaving Discord? Amni-Haven can import your entire server's message history — directly from the app. No external tools, no command-line exports, no hassle.

Open Settings → Import and connect with your Discord token. Amni-Haven pulls every channel, thread, forum post, announcement, reaction, pin, attachment, and avatar — then lets you map them to Amni-Haven channels. Your community's history comes with you.

Direct Connect — paste your Discord token, pick a server, select channels & threads, import
File Upload — or upload a DiscordChatExporter JSON/ZIP if you prefer
Full fidelity — messages, replies, embeds, attachments, reactions, pins, forum tags, all preserved
Discord avatars — imported messages show the original author's Discord profile picture
All channel types — text, announcement, forum, media, plus active & archived threads

Your entire Discord history, now on a server you own. No one can delete it, no one can read it, no one can take it away.

Quick Start — Docker (Recommended)

Option A — Pre-built image (fastest, easiest updates):

docker pull ghcr.io/ancsemi/haven:latest
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 -v haven_data:/data ghcr.io/ancsemi/haven:latest

Or with Docker Compose (recommended):

git clone https://github.com/ancsemi/Haven.git
cd Haven
docker compose up -d

The shipped docker-compose.yml uses the pre-built image by default.

Option B — Build from source (only if you need to modify the code):

git clone https://github.com/ancsemi/Haven.git
cd Haven

Uncomment build: . in docker-compose.yml, then:

docker compose up -d

Open https://localhost:3000 → Register with username admin → Create a channel → Share the code with friends. Done.

Certificate warning is normal — click Advanced → Proceed. Amni-Haven uses a self-signed cert for encryption.

Updating — if using the pre-built image (default):

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d --force-recreate

Check your version: visit https://localhost:3000/api/version in your browser.

Option C — One-click cloud deploy (Zeabur):

Quick Start — Windows (No Docker)

Download and unzip this repository
Double-click Start Haven.bat
If Node.js isn't installed, the script will offer to install it for you automatically

That's it. The batch file handles everything — Node.js installation, dependencies, SSL certificates, config — and opens your browser. Register as admin to get started.

Don't have Node.js? No problem. The launcher detects this and can install it for you with one keypress. Or install it yourself from nodejs.org and restart your PC.

Quick Start — Linux / macOS (No Docker)

chmod +x start.sh
./start.sh

Or manually: npm install && node server.js

Who Is This For?

Small friend groups who want a private place to talk
Self-hosters who run services on their own hardware
Privacy-conscious communities done with Big Tech
LAN gaming crews who need voice + screen share without Discord
Homelab enthusiasts looking for a lightweight chat service

Why Not Discord?

| | Discord | Amni-Haven | |---|---------|-------| | Hosting | Their cloud | Your machine | | Account | Email + phone required | No email, no verification | | Your data | Stored by Discord Inc. | Never leaves your server | | Cost | Nitro upsells, boosts | Free forever | | Telemetry | Analytics, tracking | Zero telemetry | | Source code | Closed | Open (MIT-NC) |

Features

| Category | What You Get | |----------|-------------| | Chat | Real-time messaging, image uploads (paste/drag/drop) with click-to-enlarge lightbox, typing indicators, message editing, replies, emoji reactions, @mentions with autocomplete, :emoji autocomplete, message pinning (admin) | | Voice | Peer-to-peer audio chat, per-user volume sliders, mute/deafen, join/leave audio cues, talking indicators, click usernames for profile/DM | | Screen Share | Multi-stream screen sharing with tiled grid layout, per-user video tiles, one-click close | | Channels | Hierarchical channels with sub-channels, private (invite-only) sub-channels with 🔒 indicator, channel topics | | Join Codes | Per-channel invite codes with admin controls: public/private visibility, static/dynamic mode, time-based or join-based auto-rotation, manual rotation | | Avatars | Upload profile pictures (including animated GIFs!), choose avatar shape (circle/square/hexagon/diamond), per-user shapes visible to everyone | | Formatting | Bold, italic, ~~strikethrough~~, code, ||spoilers||, auto-linked URLs, fenced code blocks with language labels, blockquotes | | Link Previews | Automatic OG metadata previews for shared URLs with title, description, and thumbnail | | GIF Search | GIPHY-powered GIF picker — search and send GIFs inline (admin-configurable API key) | | Direct Messages | Private 1-on-1 conversations — click 💬 on any user in the member list | | User Status | Online, Away, Do Not Disturb, Invisible — with custom status text and auto-away after 5 min idle | | File Sharing | Upload and share PDFs, documents, audio, video, archives (up to 25 MB) with inline players | | Persistent Unread | Server-tracked read state — unread badges survive page refreshes and reconnects | | Slash Commands | /shrug, /tableflip, /roll 2d20, /flip, /me, /spoiler, /tts, and more — type / to see them all | | Search | Search messages in any channel with Ctrl+F | | Themes | 20+ themes with stackable visual effects: CRT, Matrix Rain, Cyberpunk Text Scramble, Snowfall, Campfire Embers, and more — configurable intensity/frequency sliders | | Multi-Server | Add friends' Amni-Haven servers to your sidebar with live online/offline status | | Notifications | 5 notification sounds, per-channel volume controls | | Moderation | Admin: kick, mute (timed), ban, delete users, delete channels, auto-cleanup. Role system with granular permissions. | | Security | Bcrypt passwords, JWT auth, HTTPS/SSL, rate limiting, CSP headers, input validation | | E2E Encryption | ECDH P-256 + AES-256-GCM encrypted DMs — private keys never leave the browser | | Discord Import | Import your entire Discord server h

Haven

Install / Use

README