SimpleX-Chat/blog/20201022-simplex-chat.md

---
layout: layouts/article.html
title: "Simplex Chat"
date: 2020-10-22
preview: The prototype of SimpleX Messaging Server implementing SMP protocol.
permalink: "/blog/20201022-simplex-chat.html"
---

# Simplex chat

**Published:** Oct 22, 2020

[https://simplex.chat](https://simplex.chat)

I'd really appreciate your feedback, criticism and suggestions on the open-source idea I was slowly working on since early 2020. I recently made the demo server for the low-level message queue protocol ("simplex messaging protocol") and the website to try to explain the chat idea that would use this protocol.

Haskell protocol implementation: [https://github.com/simplex-chat/simplexmq](https://github.com/simplex-chat/simplexmq)

In short, the protocol defines a minimalist set of commands and server responses (just 7 commands and 5 responses sent over TCP) to operate encrypted message queues with in-memory persistence - the implementation uses STM.

If anything, it was definitely helping to get to know Haskell types etc. much deeper than before :)

Any criticism would be great - thank you in advance!

Originally published at [https://www.reddit.com/r/haskell/comments/jg6uh4/simplex_chat/](https://www.reddit.com/r/haskell/comments/jg6uh4/simplex_chat/)
migrate website to 11ty site generator (#913) * readme: fix link * add 11ty files to website folder * add web.yml * add simplex web files * add font matter to some blogs * remove unnecessary things * change few settings * add a web script * update web.yml * update image format & add an image * add font matter to blogs * update blog.html * add article layout & give that layout to blogs * update the location of _includes * update article layout * change original blog links * add styling to blog * improve the links of blogs * update web.sh * add favicon * update a tag in a blog * improve stylings of article page * improve styling of blog page * update the theme * update font matter and update links in new blog. * add style changes * apply reverse chronology sort on articles * shift blogs links back to hashes * add ids to headers & smooth scrolling * make all blog links relative * add smooth scrolling & add relative to absolute links converter * add navigation * improve mobile nav * change desktop header style * convert blogs link text to "Read More" * change desktop header style * style mobile nav * fix landing page styling * update web workflow * update web workflow * nav setting * add tailwind links * update web workflow * remove app demo folder * remove special characters from the links * fix the issue of links * make web.sh executable * update blog links * move web.sh to website folder * code style * EOLs * format index.css & contact.css * add markdown-it configuration * add outline none on focus * remove extra Javascript * make mobile nav display none by default * add permalinks to markdown files * update 11ty config * update web.sh * update article * resolve issue of special characters in header ids introduce slugify * add target _blank to whitepaper link * add last post * EOLs * try to resolve bullets issue * use markdown-it-replace-link to convert relative .md extension to .html extension * add missing images, simpligy link parsing * add CNAME file * add CNAME file, rename config * fix jumping table issue Co-authored-by: Evgeny Poberezkin <2769109+epoberezkin@users.noreply.github.com> 2022-09-10 14:26:21 +05:00			`---`
			`layout: layouts/article.html`
			`title: "Simplex Chat"`
			`date: 2020-10-22`
new website (#1307) * nav in process * edited web.yml * navbar issue fixed * added theme switcher * added privacy matters section * added features section * updated nav padding * added network section * improved sidebar dark mode colors * added footer * simplex private section added * added some improvements * nav issue fixed * simplex unique section added * a small fix * added overlay & data to some sections * added overlay to simplex unique section added some improvements to other sections too * added a small fix * updated CNAME * markdown files for why simplex is unique * Revert "markdown files for why simplex is unique" This reverts commit ef728218f758c3d0b05b6ec794e257f80110e788. * added hero section * added comparison and simplex explained section * added blogs page * added articles page * a small fix in hero section * added contact page * updated contact * created files for overlay content * a light update * hero animation * working on hero * added responsiveness for mobile * a quick fix * added responsiveness to tablet screen * added responsiveness for desktop screen on hero section * switch theme of hero * nav color update * set comparisons sections * switch theme of comparisons section * added responsiveness in simplex explained section * add logic to simplex explained * added theme switcher to simplex explained * manage join simplex section * update what makes simplex private * a quick update * add improvements * a bit update * add improvements * texts for why privacy matters section * update headers * texts for "why unique" and "features" sections * EOLs * update swipers * update & add transitions to simplex unique section * updated overlays * increase the size of cross on overlays * add overlays to hero * website: texts for "private" and "explained" sections (#5) * website: texts for "private" section * texts for simplex explained * blog previews and images (#6) * blog previews and images * text for dark mode * add link style * add overlay to -> unlike p2p networks * add picture with blue arrows to simplex explained * update blog list layout * remove extra css * bigger navigation circles & center positions * make bullets (dots) bigger * make private scroll thicker * update hero & footer mobile download btns * fix dark mode animation files (#7) * improved contrast for light animation in hero section (#8) * remove old animation * Made Hero Pixel Perfect to Desktop * texts in hero section overlays (#10) * texts in hero section overlays * replace hero video * eol * update footer links (#11) * update footer links * eol * texts, links, fix layout (#12) * mailchimp form (#13) * site meta tags (#14) * site meta tags * update blog og:url * amend texts * font * update text * contact page * Making things Polished in Hero (#15) * Made Video Responsive on Tablet * Fixed the issues * remove extra files for home & contact page * update invitation * refactoring * fix nav for dark * quick fix * update blog list layout * refactoring * disable inactive nav circles * contact page * fix mobile * detect platform & show btns according to it * contact & invitation page setting * complete contact/invitation page * create variables for download btns * fixes for hero - for tablet & mobile * update hero layout * update footer layout * increase the size of logo in navbar * updated nav & footer logos * add links to join simplex section * text for p2p networks section * text on contact page about link * add touchstart handler to close popup * update APK links * update CNAME Co-authored-by: M Sarmad Qadeer <MSarmadQadeer@gmail.com> Co-authored-by: Ojas Shukla <54703305+whizzbbig@users.noreply.github.com> 2022-11-08 11:04:02 +00:00			`preview: The prototype of SimpleX Messaging Server implementing SMP protocol.`
migrate website to 11ty site generator (#913) * readme: fix link * add 11ty files to website folder * add web.yml * add simplex web files * add font matter to some blogs * remove unnecessary things * change few settings * add a web script * update web.yml * update image format & add an image * add font matter to blogs * update blog.html * add article layout & give that layout to blogs * update the location of _includes * update article layout * change original blog links * add styling to blog * improve the links of blogs * update web.sh * add favicon * update a tag in a blog * improve stylings of article page * improve styling of blog page * update the theme * update font matter and update links in new blog. * add style changes * apply reverse chronology sort on articles * shift blogs links back to hashes * add ids to headers & smooth scrolling * make all blog links relative * add smooth scrolling & add relative to absolute links converter * add navigation * improve mobile nav * change desktop header style * convert blogs link text to "Read More" * change desktop header style * style mobile nav * fix landing page styling * update web workflow * update web workflow * nav setting * add tailwind links * update web workflow * remove app demo folder * remove special characters from the links * fix the issue of links * make web.sh executable * update blog links * move web.sh to website folder * code style * EOLs * format index.css & contact.css * add markdown-it configuration * add outline none on focus * remove extra Javascript * make mobile nav display none by default * add permalinks to markdown files * update 11ty config * update web.sh * update article * resolve issue of special characters in header ids introduce slugify * add target _blank to whitepaper link * add last post * EOLs * try to resolve bullets issue * use markdown-it-replace-link to convert relative .md extension to .html extension * add missing images, simpligy link parsing * add CNAME file * add CNAME file, rename config * fix jumping table issue Co-authored-by: Evgeny Poberezkin <2769109+epoberezkin@users.noreply.github.com> 2022-09-10 14:26:21 +05:00			`permalink: "/blog/20201022-simplex-chat.html"`
			`---`

add blog (#187) * blog: v1 release notes * Update 20220112-simplex-chat-v1-released.md (#181) * Update 20220112-simplex-chat-v1-released.md (#183) updated intro and "journalist" description. * add blog posts * make corrections to v1 blog (#188) * update 20210512-simplex-chat-terminal-ui.md (#192) * Update 20210512-simplex-chat-terminal-ui.md * Update 20210914-simplex-chat-v0.4-released.md * Update 20210914-simplex-chat-v0.4-released.md * update blog post * add blog toc and old post Co-authored-by: Mark Aleksander Hil <32651095+markaleksanderh@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Rob Chandhok <rob@chandhok.net> Co-authored-by: Efim Poberezkin <8711996+efim-poberezkin@users.noreply.github.com> 2022-01-12 19:52:40 +00:00			`# Simplex chat`

			`Published: Oct 22, 2020`

migrate website to 11ty site generator (#913) * readme: fix link * add 11ty files to website folder * add web.yml * add simplex web files * add font matter to some blogs * remove unnecessary things * change few settings * add a web script * update web.yml * update image format & add an image * add font matter to blogs * update blog.html * add article layout & give that layout to blogs * update the location of _includes * update article layout * change original blog links * add styling to blog * improve the links of blogs * update web.sh * add favicon * update a tag in a blog * improve stylings of article page * improve styling of blog page * update the theme * update font matter and update links in new blog. * add style changes * apply reverse chronology sort on articles * shift blogs links back to hashes * add ids to headers & smooth scrolling * make all blog links relative * add smooth scrolling & add relative to absolute links converter * add navigation * improve mobile nav * change desktop header style * convert blogs link text to "Read More" * change desktop header style * style mobile nav * fix landing page styling * update web workflow * update web workflow * nav setting * add tailwind links * update web workflow * remove app demo folder * remove special characters from the links * fix the issue of links * make web.sh executable * update blog links * move web.sh to website folder * code style * EOLs * format index.css & contact.css * add markdown-it configuration * add outline none on focus * remove extra Javascript * make mobile nav display none by default * add permalinks to markdown files * update 11ty config * update web.sh * update article * resolve issue of special characters in header ids introduce slugify * add target _blank to whitepaper link * add last post * EOLs * try to resolve bullets issue * use markdown-it-replace-link to convert relative .md extension to .html extension * add missing images, simpligy link parsing * add CNAME file * add CNAME file, rename config * fix jumping table issue Co-authored-by: Evgeny Poberezkin <2769109+epoberezkin@users.noreply.github.com> 2022-09-10 14:26:21 +05:00			`[https://simplex.chat](https://simplex.chat)`
add blog (#187) * blog: v1 release notes * Update 20220112-simplex-chat-v1-released.md (#181) * Update 20220112-simplex-chat-v1-released.md (#183) updated intro and "journalist" description. * add blog posts * make corrections to v1 blog (#188) * update 20210512-simplex-chat-terminal-ui.md (#192) * Update 20210512-simplex-chat-terminal-ui.md * Update 20210914-simplex-chat-v0.4-released.md * Update 20210914-simplex-chat-v0.4-released.md * update blog post * add blog toc and old post Co-authored-by: Mark Aleksander Hil <32651095+markaleksanderh@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Rob Chandhok <rob@chandhok.net> Co-authored-by: Efim Poberezkin <8711996+efim-poberezkin@users.noreply.github.com> 2022-01-12 19:52:40 +00:00
			`I'd really appreciate your feedback, criticism and suggestions on the open-source idea I was slowly working on since early 2020. I recently made the demo server for the low-level message queue protocol ("simplex messaging protocol") and the website to try to explain the chat idea that would use this protocol.`

migrate website to 11ty site generator (#913) * readme: fix link * add 11ty files to website folder * add web.yml * add simplex web files * add font matter to some blogs * remove unnecessary things * change few settings * add a web script * update web.yml * update image format & add an image * add font matter to blogs * update blog.html * add article layout & give that layout to blogs * update the location of _includes * update article layout * change original blog links * add styling to blog * improve the links of blogs * update web.sh * add favicon * update a tag in a blog * improve stylings of article page * improve styling of blog page * update the theme * update font matter and update links in new blog. * add style changes * apply reverse chronology sort on articles * shift blogs links back to hashes * add ids to headers & smooth scrolling * make all blog links relative * add smooth scrolling & add relative to absolute links converter * add navigation * improve mobile nav * change desktop header style * convert blogs link text to "Read More" * change desktop header style * style mobile nav * fix landing page styling * update web workflow * update web workflow * nav setting * add tailwind links * update web workflow * remove app demo folder * remove special characters from the links * fix the issue of links * make web.sh executable * update blog links * move web.sh to website folder * code style * EOLs * format index.css & contact.css * add markdown-it configuration * add outline none on focus * remove extra Javascript * make mobile nav display none by default * add permalinks to markdown files * update 11ty config * update web.sh * update article * resolve issue of special characters in header ids introduce slugify * add target _blank to whitepaper link * add last post * EOLs * try to resolve bullets issue * use markdown-it-replace-link to convert relative .md extension to .html extension * add missing images, simpligy link parsing * add CNAME file * add CNAME file, rename config * fix jumping table issue Co-authored-by: Evgeny Poberezkin <2769109+epoberezkin@users.noreply.github.com> 2022-09-10 14:26:21 +05:00			`Haskell protocol implementation: [https://github.com/simplex-chat/simplexmq](https://github.com/simplex-chat/simplexmq)`
add blog (#187) * blog: v1 release notes * Update 20220112-simplex-chat-v1-released.md (#181) * Update 20220112-simplex-chat-v1-released.md (#183) updated intro and "journalist" description. * add blog posts * make corrections to v1 blog (#188) * update 20210512-simplex-chat-terminal-ui.md (#192) * Update 20210512-simplex-chat-terminal-ui.md * Update 20210914-simplex-chat-v0.4-released.md * Update 20210914-simplex-chat-v0.4-released.md * update blog post * add blog toc and old post Co-authored-by: Mark Aleksander Hil <32651095+markaleksanderh@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Rob Chandhok <rob@chandhok.net> Co-authored-by: Efim Poberezkin <8711996+efim-poberezkin@users.noreply.github.com> 2022-01-12 19:52:40 +00:00
			`In short, the protocol defines a minimalist set of commands and server responses (just 7 commands and 5 responses sent over TCP) to operate encrypted message queues with in-memory persistence - the implementation uses STM.`

			`If anything, it was definitely helping to get to know Haskell types etc. much deeper than before :)`

			`Any criticism would be great - thank you in advance!`

migrate website to 11ty site generator (#913) * readme: fix link * add 11ty files to website folder * add web.yml * add simplex web files * add font matter to some blogs * remove unnecessary things * change few settings * add a web script * update web.yml * update image format & add an image * add font matter to blogs * update blog.html * add article layout & give that layout to blogs * update the location of _includes * update article layout * change original blog links * add styling to blog * improve the links of blogs * update web.sh * add favicon * update a tag in a blog * improve stylings of article page * improve styling of blog page * update the theme * update font matter and update links in new blog. * add style changes * apply reverse chronology sort on articles * shift blogs links back to hashes * add ids to headers & smooth scrolling * make all blog links relative * add smooth scrolling & add relative to absolute links converter * add navigation * improve mobile nav * change desktop header style * convert blogs link text to "Read More" * change desktop header style * style mobile nav * fix landing page styling * update web workflow * update web workflow * nav setting * add tailwind links * update web workflow * remove app demo folder * remove special characters from the links * fix the issue of links * make web.sh executable * update blog links * move web.sh to website folder * code style * EOLs * format index.css & contact.css * add markdown-it configuration * add outline none on focus * remove extra Javascript * make mobile nav display none by default * add permalinks to markdown files * update 11ty config * update web.sh * update article * resolve issue of special characters in header ids introduce slugify * add target _blank to whitepaper link * add last post * EOLs * try to resolve bullets issue * use markdown-it-replace-link to convert relative .md extension to .html extension * add missing images, simpligy link parsing * add CNAME file * add CNAME file, rename config * fix jumping table issue Co-authored-by: Evgeny Poberezkin <2769109+epoberezkin@users.noreply.github.com> 2022-09-10 14:26:21 +05:00			`Originally published at [https://www.reddit.com/r/haskell/comments/jg6uh4/simplex_chat/](https://www.reddit.com/r/haskell/comments/jg6uh4/simplex_chat/)`