# basecamp/once-campfire

Super simple group chat, without a subscription

Repository: https://github.com/basecamp/once-campfire
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/once-campfire
Homepage: https://once.com/campfire
Language: Ruby
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-26T07:19:33+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 84/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 96, longevity 27
- inputs: {"age_days": 383, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 29, "gap_med": 3.0, "n_releases_24m": 11}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4526, forks 775 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:52.846239+00:00)

## What it is
Campfire is a self-hosted, web-based group chat application from Basecamp, written in Ruby on Rails, offering rooms, DMs, file sharing, search, and bot integrations. It ships as a single Docker image for one-machine deployment with no subscription fees.

## Use cases
- self-host a team chat to replace Slack or Teams
- run a private internal chat on my own server without subscription fees
- set up a backup chat system when Slack goes down
- host a private chat space for an executive team or event
- study a well-written Rails codebase as educational material
- deploy a chat app with one command using Docker

## When to choose
- you want to own your chat data and avoid recurring SaaS costs
- you need simple group chat with rooms, DMs, mentions, and search
- you prefer a single-machine Docker deployment that is easy to maintain
- you want customizable chat software with the full source code under MIT

## When to avoid
- you need enterprise features like SSO, compliance, or advanced integrations
- you rely on Slack's extensive app ecosystem or video calls
- you cannot operate your own server or handle updates and backups

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: chat-interface, http-server, websocket, search-engine, file-upload, webhook
- domain: self-hosted, messaging-platforms, web-development, developer-tools
- platform: self-hosted, ruby
- tags: group-chat, slack-alternative, team-communication, rails, single-machine-deployment, once, docker, linux, web-server

## Member repositories
- basecamp/once-campfire (main) score 84

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:52.846239+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 2026-08-29T18:20:15.002966+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/basecamp/once-campfire (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:52.846239+00:00, sha 6e5e444fd74a)
  - homepage: https://once.com/campfire (fetched 2026-08-29T09:06:01.154732+00:00, sha 1fddaac8de45)
  - site_page: https://once.com/campfire/changelog (fetched 2026-08-29T09:06:01.163821+00:00, sha 088b38ce73e5)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.