inTox: A Secure Peer-to-Peer Messenger

inTox is a privacy-focused, peer-to-peer (P2P) instant messenger engineered in Python. It is designed to provide secure and direct communication channels, combining a modern PyQt6 desktop application with a Flask-SocketIO backend. By using a lightweight relay node for connection bootstrapping, inTox delivers the reliability of a centralized service with the privacy of a decentralized network.

🏛️ Core Architecture

inTox is built on a P2P philosophy where users, not servers, are the primary focus. The architecture is designed to maximize privacy and user control.

• Connection Relay (Flask-SocketIO): The backend acts as a "discovery" service or a connection facilitator. Its sole purpose is to help peers find each other and relay messages when a direct connection is not possible due to network restrictions. It is fundamentally zero-knowledge and never stores message content.

• Desktop Client (PyQt6 + QWebEngine): The client is your secure gateway to the network. It's a cross-platform desktop application that handles all cryptographic operations (in future versions), manages your private keys, and stores your data locally. The QWebEngine integration allows for a rich, modern interface.

• Communication Protocol: Communication is handled via WebSockets, providing a persistent and low-latency channel for instant message delivery. The protocol is designed to be lightweight and efficient.

✨ Key Features

• 🔗 Secure Peer-to-Peer Network
  Connect and communicate directly with your peers. The relay server only assists in establishing connections, ensuring that your communication path is as direct as possible. This model enhances privacy and reduces dependency on central points of failure.

• 🔐 Privacy-First Design
  Privacy is the foundation of inTox. The relay server has zero knowledge of the content passing through it and does not log conversations. From the server's perspective, all communication is ephemeral, ensuring your data remains private and under your control.

• 💬 Real-Time Chat & Presence
  Experience instant, real-time messaging with your contacts. A built-in heartbeat mechanism securely announces your online status to your peers, allowing for accurate presence detection (Online/Offline) without compromising privacy.

• 🖥️ Modern Cross-Platform GUI
  Built with the powerful PyQt6 framework, inTox offers a native and responsive desktop experience on Windows, macOS, and Linux, ensuring consistent and reliable performance on any platform.

• 🔑 Secure Session Authentication
  Features robust JWT (JSON Web Token) based authentication. This verifies user identity upon connection, preventing unauthorized access and ensuring you are always communicating with a legitimate, trusted peer.

• 🗄️ User-Controlled Persistence
  You are in complete control of your data. Chat history and application settings are stored exclusively on your local device in a secure SQLite database. No message history is ever stored on or accessible by the server.

🛠️ Technology Stack

• Backend: Python, Flask, Flask-SocketIO
• Desktop Client: PyQt6, QWebEngine
• Database: SQLite
• Protocols: WebSockets, HTTP
• Authentication: JSON Web Tokens (JWT)