Talon
b14cf2a4e8
On iOS the remote end heard the mic twice and crackly (BT headset + internal mic in Voice Chat; mono + stereo copies of the internal mic in Stereo Mic). Root cause is an io-thread ordering race. `ensure_audio_running()` only set `external_capture` when a MIC stream already existed, but it also runs from `sync_remote_streams` on the post-auth `ServerStateSnapshot` — before the user joins voice. With `external_playback_` still false and no MIC stream, `AudioEngine::start()` opened a real miniaudio capture device that stayed open all session (later calls early-return on running()), racing the AVAudioEngine input tap fed via `vc_stream_feed_pcm`. `on_capture_frame` then encoded+sent both paths — the mic transmitted twice, the two unsynchronized capture clocks producing the crackle. - core (ensure_audio_running): force `external_capture = true` whenever `external_playback_` is set, so iOS unified mode never opens a hardware capture device. No-op on desktop. - ios (AppState): move `setExternalPlayback(true)` before `connect()`, so the flag is set before the io thread processes any message — closing the race. Verified on device: remote end hears the iOS mic once and clean in both Voice Chat (+ BT) and Stereo Mic.
VoiceCat
Self-hosted, native voice & text chat in the spirit of classic TeamSpeak / Mumble —
channel-based voice, channel + private text, one server you run yourself. Plain TCP
(control) and UDP (media), no WebRTC. Encrypted by default. A shared C++ core
(libvoicecat) drives native clients (Swift on macOS/iOS, C# on Windows) and the server.
Status: Design complete in
docs/. M1–M5 are implemented — real TLS control plane, encrypted UDP voice (Opus), multi-stream, TOFU identity pinning, channel tree, permissions, moderation, disconnect/keepalive/reaper. Windows WinForms C# client shipped (M4). macOS/iOS Swift client is next. SeePROGRESS.mdanddocs/roadmap.md.
Read the design first
The docs/ folder is the source of truth. Start at docs/README.md,
then architecture → protocol → voice → security → tech-stack → deployment →
roadmap.
Build
The default development preset is dev — it builds everything (server + tools + tests)
with real vcpkg deps. It works on Windows, Linux, and macOS (vcpkg triplet auto-resolved).
# one-time vcpkg setup:
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg && ./vcpkg/bootstrap-vcpkg.sh # .bat on Windows
export VCPKG_ROOT=/path/to/vcpkg # Linux/macOS; or $env:VCPKG_ROOT on PowerShell
# configure + build + test:
cmake --preset dev
cmake --build --preset dev
ctest --preset dev # 21 behavior tests
Artifacts land in build/dev/bin/ (voicecat-server, vccli, voicecat-admin).
The skeleton preset (no vcpkg deps, stubs only) is a fast smoke check that needs no
third-party libraries:
cmake --preset skeleton && cmake --build --preset skeleton && ctest --preset skeleton
See docs/building.md for the full preset matrix (including release,
server-release, windows-client, and Apple platform scaffolding).
Layout
docs/ design spec (read this)
core/ libvoicecat — the shared C++ core
include/ voicecat.h (the C ABI all clients call)
proto/ voicecat.proto (control-plane wire format, source of truth)
src/ net/ crypto/ codec/ protocol/ session/ audio/ (stubs today)
server/ voicecat-server (headless; links the core)
tools/vccli/ headless test client — drives the protocol from M1 on
clients/ apple/ (Swift, M4) windows/ (C#, M4) — placeholders for now
tests/ CTest targets
License
Permissive-only dependencies (no GPL/LGPL) so the project can be redistributed freely,
including closed-source. Project license: TBD (see docs/tech-stack.md §5).