School Chat Server

A small simple HTTP chat server. made for use in school where all messengers are blocked.

Summary

This project is a lightweight Java HTTP server that serves a chat UI and provides simple REST endpoints for creating users and sending/receiving messages. Source is under src/main/java and static UI files are under src/main/resources/html.

Requirements

• Java 17+ (or the version configured in build.gradle)
• Git (optional)
• Gradle wrapper included (./gradlew)

Build

From the repository root run:

./gradlew clean ShadowJar

This produces artifacts under build/libs/.

Run (development)

./gradlew ShadowJar 
java -jar build/libs/school_chat_server_java-0.1-all.jar 

If the project produces a fat/shadow jar.

Configuration & Data

• Server config stored in school_chat_server_java/src/main/java/school/chat/core/Config.java
• Stored runtime data (users, messages, verification text): the server_data/ directory contains JSON files such as users.json, chat_messages.json, and verification_text.json.

Modify those files or the server source if you need different default data.

Networking

The server runs over plain HTTP only. There is no built-in TLS configuration, and no keystore setup is required.

Notes

• Review src/main/java/school/chat/Main.java if you need to change the server port or add extra Javalin configuration.

Quick start checklist

1. Install Java 17+
2. Build: ./gradlew clean ShadowJar
3. Run: java -jar build/libs/*.jar