late.sh

A cozy terminal clubhouse for developers. Lofi beats, casual games, chat, and tech news, all via SSH.

ssh late.sh

late.sh is a terminal-first social app: real-time chat, music, games, news, profiles, and a shared always-on space you can enter from any SSH client.

Status

This repository is the main codebase for late.sh.

The project is open for source reading, local development, audits, and contributions.
The public hosted late.sh service remains the canonical deployment.
The code is source-available, not OSI open source, during the FSL protection period.

Read the details in LICENSE, the plain-English policy in LICENSING.md, and contribution rules in CONTRIBUTING.md.

What It Includes

SSH TUI with dashboard, chat, profile, news, and arcade screens
Real-time global chat and shared activity feed
Audio streaming via Icecast/Liquidsoap with browser and CLI pairing
Terminal games including 2048, Sudoku, Nonograms, Minesweeper, and Solitaire
Web frontend for landing, connect flow, and paired-client experiences
Companion CLI for local audio playback and synced visualizer data

Workspace

This is a Rust workspace with four crates:

Crate	Role
`late-cli`	Companion CLI for local audio playback, paired controls, and visualizer sync
`late-core`	Shared domain code, database layer, migrations, and infrastructure helpers
`late-ssh`	SSH server and terminal UI application
`late-web`	Web server, landing page, connect flow, and browser pairing

The stack is backed by PostgreSQL, Icecast, and Liquidsoap.

Quick Start

Try the live service:

ssh late.sh

Run it yourself (requires Docker):

git clone https://github.com/mpiorowski/late-sh
cd late-sh
make start

Then connect to your local instance:

ssh localhost -p 2222

That's it. Postgres, Icecast, and Liquidsoap all come up automatically.

Companion CLI

Install the companion CLI for local audio playback and synced visualizer:

macOS / Linux / Termux:

curl -fsSL https://cli.late.sh/install.sh | bash

On Termux, the installer fetches the Android CLI build instead of the GNU/Linux one.

Windows PowerShell (x64):

irm https://cli.late.sh/install.ps1 | iex

Or build it from source:

mise install        # optional — sets up the expected Rust toolchain
cargo build --release --bin late

Local Development

For development without Docker wrapping the Rust builds, you can run the infrastructure in Docker and the apps natively:

docker compose up -d postgres icecast liquidsoap
cargo run -p late-ssh
cargo run -p late-web

Local host development can use Cargo's normal defaults, including the standard repo-local target/ directory. The /app/target path is only for Docker/dev containers.

export CARGO_HOME=$HOME/.cargo

Use mise install to get the expected Rust toolchain, mold linker, and cargo-nextest.

Verification

Run before opening a PR:

make check

This runs cargo fmt --check, cargo clippy, and cargo nextest. Some integration tests require Docker via testcontainers.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome, but read the project policy first:

This repository uses DCO sign-off for commits:

git commit -s

If you distribute a fork, do not present it as the official late.sh service or use the project branding as your own.

More Context

CONTEXT.md — architecture, invariants, and working context. Written for LLMs — feed this to your AI editor for best results.
CONTRIBUTING.md — workflow, test rules, module patterns, and AI-assisted development tips.
THEME.md — how to contribute a new built-in SSH theme via PR.
late-cli/README.md — CLI-specific usage and behavior.

NAME

SYNOPSIS

INFO

DESCRIPTION

README