# kkuchta/css-only-chat

A truly monstrous async web chat using no JS whatsoever on the frontend

Repository: https://github.com/kkuchta/css-only-chat
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/css-only-chat
Language: Ruby
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2023-09-08T09:40:31+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2675, "days_push": 1090, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 6592, forks 265 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:45.544360+00:00)

## What it is
A Ruby-based async web chat application that sends and receives messages in the browser using no JavaScript at all, relying on CSS pseudo-selector background-image tricks and a forever-loading chunked HTTP response (Comet-style). It is a demonstration of extreme CSS/HTTP hacks rather than a production chat system.

## Use cases
- chat without javascript in the browser
- send and receive messages with only css
- learn how comet long-polling works
- demo of chunked transfer encoding pushing html updates
- novelty hackathon project showing css can trigger server requests

## When to choose
- you want to study or demo browser hacks like :active background-image requests and never-ending pages
- you need a fun educational example of server-push without websockets or JS
- you're exploring the limits of what CSS and HTTP can do

## When to avoid
- you need a real production chat system with auth, scaling, or rich features
- you want maintainable, conventional frontend code
- you need mobile or accessibility-friendly chat UX

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: maintenance
- function: chat-interface, http-server, web-framework, websocket
- domain: web-development, chatbots, developer-tools
- platform: ruby, browser
- tags: css-hack, no-javascript, comet, chunked-transfer-encoding, novelty-project, async, web-server

## Member repositories
- kkuchta/css-only-chat (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:45.544360+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:43:33.602196+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/kkuchta/css-only-chat (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:45.544360+00:00, sha 5e36879418cf)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.