# DamageLabs/kandan

Kandan is an Open Source Alternative to HipChat

Repository: https://github.com/DamageLabs/kandan
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/kandan
Language: TypeScript
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-04-06T02:21:12+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 66/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 75, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4969, "days_push": 150, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2685, forks 391 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:10.242018+00:00)

## What it is
Kandan is a self-hosted, open-source team chat application revived as a modern alternative to HipChat, built with Angular and an Express/TypeScript backend using Socket.io for real-time messaging. It is currently in early development with the backend scaffolded and the Angular client still to come.

## Use cases
- self-host a team chat app instead of HipChat or Slack
- run an open-source real-time messaging server with channels
- host a private chat server with JWT-based user accounts
- deploy a lightweight team communication tool on my own server
- chat app with typing indicators and message history
- admin-controlled chat with user approval and channel management

## When to choose
- you want a self-hosted, open-source team chat alternative you can fully control
- you prefer a lightweight SQLite-backed chat server over heavyweight platforms like Mattermost or Rocket.Chat
- you want a simple Angular + Express stack you can extend yourself

## When to avoid
- you need a production-ready chat platform today - the project is in early development with the client still unbuilt
- you need enterprise features like SSO, integrations, or mobile apps
- you need a proven, battle-tested solution with an active release history

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: experimental
- function: websocket, auth, http-server, orm, chat-interface
- domain: self-hosted, web-development, messaging-platforms
- platform: self-hosted
- tags: team-chat, slack-alternative, hipchat-alternative, socketio, angular, express, drizzle-orm, sqlite, real-time, nodejs, typescript, web-server

## Member repositories
- DamageLabs/kandan (main) score 66

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:10.242018+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 2026-08-30T02:17:48.758499+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/DamageLabs/kandan (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:10.242018+00:00, sha 4b1cd6efa167)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.