# Apron Chat Protocol

Source: https://apron.chat
Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Apron-Chat-Protocol?index=0x6ae101a722757df3bdad90241a48f129d0716faa60a6cf6c08adc5a4b8afb8eb8ed3d0ca
Submitted by tim on 2026-10-27 UTC, 2 upvotes, 0 comments

## Summary

Apron is a minimal JSON-based protocol for self-hosted chat, described as simple enough to write a server in about 100 lines while still supporting rooms, threads, bots, reactions and more. It runs over transports such as WebSocket, with a small core specification and optional incremental capabilities that have graceful fallbacks. The page points to a public demo server with restricted functionality, a web frontend that can connect to a user's own server, and example use cases including team chat and coding agents that stream terminal output into a thread using embed:stream.

## Article

Apron is a minimal protocol for self-hosted chats. Simple enough to write a server in ~100 lines, powerful enough for rooms, threads, bots, reactions, and more.

1.The Protocol

JSON over any transport, like WebSocket. Small core specification and optional incremental capabilities with graceful fallbacks.

{"method": "server", "params": {"apron": 9, "auth": ["guest"]}} {"method": "auth", "id": "c1", "params": {"scheme": "guest", "name": "Ada"}} {"id": "c1", "result": {"you": {"user_id": "guest_1234", "name": "Ada"}}} {"method": "message", "id": "c2", "params": {"body": {"text": "Hello"}}} {"method": "message", "params": {"room_id": "general", "from": {"user_id": "guest_1234"}, ...}} {"id": "c2", "result": {"message_id": "1724803200042"}}

2.Live Demo

Chat on the public demo server with restricted functionality, or point the web frontend at your own server.

Team chat. Rooms, a thread, bots, replies, a code block, reactions and presence.

Coding agents. A bot streams its terminal into a thread, live, with embed:stream.

Rich messages. Uploads, link previews, mentions, reactions and typing.

3.Servers

Run one, read one, or write your own.

4.Clients

Any client works with any server.

5.FAQ

Who are you?

Why did you make the Apron Chat Protocol?

Is there encryption? Is it safe?

Why not XMPP/Matrix/IRCv3/etc?

Why not Slack/Discord/Zulip/etc?

How was AI used to create Apron? Is it slop?

Is Apron a business?

Why is it named Apron?

Ok fine, how can I try it?