Chirpy

Chirpy is a fully self‑hostable, privacy‑first comment system designed to replace services like Disqus while offering a richer developer experience. Built with modern web technologies, it exposes a robust API surface that allows integration into any website or CMS. From the perspective of an engineer, Chirpy is a micro‑service that runs as a Next.js application with tRPC for type‑safe API routes, Prisma for data persistence, and TailwindCSS for a customizable UI component. The architecture is intentionally modular: the widget can be embedded via a simple script tag, while the back‑end exposes GraphQL‑like queries and mutations through tRPC, enabling fine‑grained control over comment creation, moderation, analytics, and user management.

Technical Stack & Architecture

• Frontend: Next.js (React) + TypeScript, leveraging server‑side rendering for SEO and performance. The widget is a stateless React component that can be styled via CSS variables or Tailwind utilities, making it trivial to match any design system.
• API Layer: tRPC provides fully typed, RPC‑style endpoints that eliminate the need for manual schema definitions. This guarantees compile‑time safety between client and server, which is a significant advantage when building custom integrations or extending the system.
• Database: Prisma ORM abstracts over PostgreSQL (default) but supports MySQL, SQLite, and others. The schema includes tables for Project, Thread, Comment, User, and analytics metrics, allowing developers to query historical data or build custom dashboards.
• Auth & Privacy: The system supports anonymous sign‑in, magic link email login, and social OAuth providers. No personally identifiable information is stored unless explicitly requested by the developer, aligning with privacy‑first principles.
• Real‑time: WebSocket support via Next.js API routes (or a separate Node server) pushes new comments and moderation actions instantly to all connected clients, ensuring a live discussion experience.

Core Capabilities

• Rich Text & Markdown: Comments support markdown shortcuts and basic formatting, parsed on the server for consistency across clients.
• Anti‑toxic & Moderation: Built‑in NLP filters can be toggled per project, and moderation queues expose APIs to approve or delete content. Developers can hook into these events via webhooks.
• Analytics: Exposes endpoints for pageview counts, comment density, and engagement metrics. These can be consumed by custom dashboards or third‑party analytics tools.
• Notifications: Email and web push notifications are configurable per project; the API allows developers to customize templates or trigger additional workflows.
• Plugin Extensibility: The project configuration file (chirpy.config.ts) supports custom middleware, route overrides, and integration of external services (e.g., Slack alerts for new comments).

Deployment & Infrastructure

Chirpy ships as a Docker image, making it straightforward to run in Kubernetes, Docker Compose, or any cloud provider that supports containers. The application is stateless apart from the database, enabling horizontal scaling behind a load balancer. For developers who prefer serverless, the Next.js API routes can be exported to Vercel or Netlify Edge Functions with minimal adjustments. The self‑hosted nature gives full control over data residency, compliance, and feature rollouts.

Integration & Extensibility

• Widget Integration: A single <script src="...chirpy.js"></script> tag injects the comment box; developers can pass configuration via global window.chirpyConfig.
• API Consumption: tRPC endpoints are accessible through generated TypeScript clients, allowing developers to build custom UIs or integrate with existing CMS comment modules.
• Webhooks: Events such as commentCreated, moderationDecision, and userSignedUp can be exposed to external services for automation.
• Custom Themes: TailwindCSS utilities and CSS variables let developers override colors, spacing, and typography without touching the source code.

Developer Experience

The project includes comprehensive documentation covering installation, configuration, and advanced usage. The TypeScript typings ensure that developers receive instant feedback when calling APIs or extending the widget. Community support is active on GitHub, with an open issue tracker and a dedicated Discord channel for real‑time help. Licensing is MIT, allowing unrestricted commercial use and modification.

Use Cases

• Blog Platforms: Replace third‑party comment widgets with a self‑hosted, privacy‑compliant alternative that still offers real‑time updates and analytics.
• Enterprise Knowledge Bases: Embed a moderated discussion area in internal documentation portals without exposing user data to external services.
• Open‑Source Projects: Provide a lightweight, self‑hosted comment system for project websites or documentation sites that require fine‑grained control over moderation policies.
• Event Websites: Use real‑time comments and notifications to engage attendees during live streams or webinars.

Advantages

• Performance: Server‑side rendering and type‑safe RPC reduce latency; WebSocket pushes keep clients in sync without polling.
• Flexibility: The modular architecture lets developers swap out authentication providers, database backends, or UI frameworks with minimal friction.
• Privacy: No third‑party tracking; data stays within the host environment, satisfying GDPR and other compliance requirements.
• Cost‑Effective: Self‑hosting eliminates subscription fees, while the open‑source license removes vendor lock‑in.
• Developer Friendly: TypeScript, tRPC, and Prisma provide a modern developer workflow that reduces bugs and speeds feature development.

In summary, Chirpy offers