Kaidan

Cross-platform chat client for the XMPP protocol

1. Install Nix

   Arch Linux

   Bash

   $ pacman --sync --refresh --noconfirm curl git jq nix

   Debian

   Bash

   $ apt install --yes curl git jq nix

   Ubuntu

   Bash

   $ apt install --yes curl git jq nix

2. Download a configuration file

   # default.nix
   {
     ngipkgs ? import (fetchTarball "https://github.com/ngi-nix/ngipkgs/tarball/main") { },
   }:
   ngipkgs.demo-vm (
     {
       programs.kaidan.enable = true;
   
       # Enable graphical session
       services.xserver.enable = true;
     }
   
   )
   

   Download
3. Enable binary substituters

   Bash

   $ export NIX_CONFIG='substituters = https://cache.nixos.org/ https://ngi.cachix.org/
   trusted-public-keys = cache.nixos.org-1:6nchdd59x431o0gwypbmraurkbj16zpmqfgspcdshjy= ngi.cachix.org-1:n+cal72roc3qqulxihpv+tw5t42whxmmhpragkrsrow='

4. Build and run a virtual machine

   Arch Linux, Debian Sid/Trixie and Ubuntu 25.04

   Bash

   $ nix-build ./default.nix && ./result

   Ubuntu 24.04/24.10

   Bash

   $ rev=$(nix-instantiate --eval --attr sources.nixpkgs.rev https://github.com/ngi-nix/ngipkgs/archive/master.tar.gz | jq --raw-output)

   $ nix-shell -I nixpkgs=https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/$rev.tar.gz --packages nix --run "nix-build ./default.nix && ./result"

5. Usage Instructions Once the graphical environment is running, open Kaidan from Menu > Network. Right-click on its entry on the window bar and choose "Maximize Alt+f10" to fit the Kaidan window to the screen size. NOTE: You need an XMPP user account to use Kaidan. If you have an account, use that to login and you should be able to send/receive a message. If you don't have one, two demo-user accounts, `alice` and `john`, are available. Login as the first user: - Chat address: `john@example.org` - Password: `foobar` When logged in, choose "add contact by chat address" on the hamburger menu. Add `alice@example.com`, and a chat will be started. Send a message to `alice`. You can verify that `alice` has received the message by logging out `john` and logging in as `alice` - Chat address: `alice@example.org` - Password: `foobar`

{
  programs.kaidan.enable = true;

  # Enable graphical session
  services.xserver.enable = true;
}

This project is funded by NLnet through these subgrants:

• Kaidan
• Kaidan-Groups
• Kaidan-AV
• Kaidan-Auth
• Kaidan-Mediasharing
• Kaidan-MUC

Related links:

• Build Kaidan from source
• Git repository