plugNmeet

Plug‑N‑Meet is a self‑hosted WebRTC conferencing platform that leverages the high‑performance LiveKit server as its core media engine. Built in Go, the backend exposes a RESTful API and WebSocket endpoints for session orchestration while the frontend is a modular React/Redux SPA that consumes those APIs. The stack is intentionally lightweight so that the entire application can be distributed as a single binary or containerized image, making it straightforward to deploy in Kubernetes, Docker Compose, or even bare‑metal environments. The system is designed for horizontal scaling: each instance can run a LiveKit node, and the plug‑N‑Meet server coordinates rooms across nodes through a shared PostgreSQL database (or any compatible SQL store) and Redis for real‑time messaging.

Key Features & Core Capabilities

• Adaptive Streaming – Simulcast and Dynacast are natively supported, giving clients the ability to receive multiple video layers or have the server dynamically adjust bandwidth based on network conditions. This is critical for large‑scale rooms where participants have heterogeneous connections.
• Rich Collaboration – The platform bundles a collaborative whiteboard, shared notepad, polls, breakout rooms, and file sharing (PDF/DOCX/PPTX) out of the box. These features are exposed through REST endpoints and WebSocket events, allowing developers to embed them in custom UIs or extend their behavior.
• Recording & Broadcasting – A dedicated Go service (plugNmeet-recorder) handles MP4 recordings and RTMP/WHIP ingress. The recorder can be spun up independently, which lets you off‑load heavy transcoding tasks from the main server.
• Security – WebRTC‑level encryption is mandatory; optional E2EE can be enabled for media and data channels, providing a zero‑knowledge guarantee. The API layer also supports JWT authentication with configurable scopes, making it easy to integrate with existing identity providers.
• Extensibility – Plug‑N‑Meet offers a plugin architecture for both backend and frontend. Backends can register new HTTP routes or WebSocket events, while the client exposes a hook system for UI customization. Official SDKs are available in PHP and JavaScript, and community plugins exist for Joomla, Moodle, WordPress, and LTI‑compatible LMSs.

Architecture & Technical Stack

The system follows a micro‑service pattern: the main server handles authentication, room lifecycle, and feature toggles; the recorder service is decoupled to allow independent scaling. All services communicate over gRPC or HTTP/JSON, and the front‑end talks to the API via a lightweight SDK that abstracts token generation and room joining.

Deployment & Infrastructure

Plug‑N‑Meet ships with a ready‑to‑run Docker Compose file that pulls the three core images (plugnmeet-server, plugnmeet-recorder, and optional plugnmeet-etherpad for collaborative documents). For production, the recommended stack is:

1. LiveKit – run one or more nodes behind a load balancer; expose the signaling port (default 7880) and media ports (10000–20000 UDP).
2. Plug‑N‑Meet Server – scale horizontally; use a shared PostgreSQL instance and Redis cluster.
3. Recorder – deploy as a separate pod; use persistent storage for recordings and an RTMP endpoint for broadcasting.
4. TLS & CORS – the server accepts self‑signed or CA certificates; CORS policies can be tuned per domain.

Because every component is containerized, you can spin up a new room cluster in minutes and tear it down when not needed. The system also supports single‑binary deployment for environments without Docker, making it suitable for edge devices or low‑resource servers.

Integration & Extensibility

Developers can integrate Plug‑N‑Meet into existing applications by:

• Embedding the React client as a micro‑frontend or via an iframe.
• Using the PHP/JS SDKs to generate JWT tokens and retrieve room metadata.
• Hooking into WebSocket events (room:joined, participant:left) to trigger side‑effects (e.g., logging, analytics).
• Extending the backend with custom middleware to enforce organization‑level policies or integrate with external services (e.g., Slack notifications, database audit logs).

Webhooks are available for key lifecycle events, allowing third‑party systems to react in real time. The plugin system also lets you replace UI components or add new features without touching the core codebase.

Developer Experience

• Documentation – The official docs cover installation, API reference, SDK usage, and advanced configuration. A dedicated Discord channel provides real‑time support.
• Community – The project is open source under the MIT license, with an active contributor base. Issues and pull requests are triaged quickly.
• Configuration – Most settings are exposed via environment variables or a YAML file; feature