IRC
Chat and channels on the original open protocol.
Protocol gateway for the web
Chat, feeds, and metadata through one API.
Sockethub lets browser apps talk to IRC, XMPP, RSS/Atom feeds and more, all through a single ActivityStreams 2.0 message format.
npm install -g sockethub@alpha
v5.0.0-alpha.12
Fan out
One message, every protocol
Your app sends one JSON shape. Sockethub routes it to the right protocol, and the response comes back in the same shape.
Sockethub is a protocol gateway for the web. It lets browser apps talk to protocols and services that JavaScript can't reach on its own — IRC, XMPP, RSS/Atom, link-metadata services — using one standard message format: ActivityStreams 2.0.
By holding the long-lived connections, credentials, and protocol-specific logic on the server, Sockethub gives browser apps a single, consistent JSON API for reaching networks the web usually walls off.
Platforms
Supported platforms
Sockethub ships with these protocols today. Add your own by implementing the platform interface.
XMPP
Federated messaging, rooms, and presence.
RSS / Atom
Poll, parse, and stream updates from feeds.
Metadata
Link previews and structured-data extraction.
New in 5.0Why Sockethub
Why Sockethub
One format, every protocol
ActivityStreams 2.0 JSON in, ActivityStreams 2.0 JSON out. No protocol-specific code in your frontend.
Browser-safe, server-side state
Sockethub holds long-lived connections, session credentials, and reconnect logic. Your app stays thin.
Pluggable platforms
Add support for new protocols by implementing a small platform interface. Your frontend never changes.
The same envelope for every protocol
Every message is a JSON-LD ActivityStreams 2.0 object. The
@context array names the AS2 base, the Sockethub
vocabulary, and the specific platform — swap the platform URL and the
same call reaches a different network.
{
"@context": [
"https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
"https://sockethub.org/ns/context/v1.jsonld",
"https://sockethub.org/ns/context/platform/xmpp/v1.jsonld"
],
"type": "send",
"actor": { "id": "alice@chat.example", "type": "person" },
"target": { "id": "bob@chat.example", "type": "person" },
"object": { "type": "message",
"content": "Hello across protocols!" }
}Latest news
All news →-
Alpha 12 — Canonical AS2.0 contexts
With the 5.0.0-alpha.12 release, Sockethub's message envelope is a first-class ActivityStreams 2.0 and JSON-LD citizen. Every outgoing and incoming message carries a canonical…
-
Sockethub 5.0.0 alpha releases
Sockethub 5.0.0 has been a multi-year project, and we've been quietely releasing alpha builds for testing. These alpha releases have major rewrite and architectural improvements…
-
Sockethub 4.1.0
Sockethub 4.1.0 has been released! Lots of stability improvements, for a list see the Sockethub release page .
Support the project
Sockethub is free and open source. Starring the repo helps visibility; donations help keep development going.