Talon
b4766d2f24
Lays the groundwork for the macOS (AppKit) and iOS (SwiftUI) clients with a shared Swift core wrapping the C ABI, mirroring the proven Windows VoiceCat.Interop layer. Architecture decision: macOS UI = AppKit (not SwiftUI) for the most mature VoiceOver accessibility story — same rationale as the Windows client's WinForms-over-WinUI-3 decision. iOS stays SwiftUI. Recorded in docs/roadmap.md §2. Build infrastructure (Phase 0): - clients/apple/scripts/build-xcframework.sh: runs cmake --preset apple-dev, merges libvoicecat.a + 107 vcpkg static deps into a single ~30 MB fat static library (libvoicecat-fat.a) via libtool -static (SPM binary targets link one .a per slice), stages voicecat.h + a generated module.modulemap (module VoiceCatC) into the headers, runs xcodebuild -create-xcframework -> clients/apple/VoiceCatCore.xcframework. VoiceCatCore Swift Package (Phase 1): - Package.swift: binary target (VoiceCatCoreXCF) + library (VoiceCatCore) + test target. - Sources/VoiceCatCore/: 7 files mirroring the C# VoiceCat.Interop patterns adapted to Swift native C interop — Enums (9 Swift mirrors of C enums, UInt32-backed), Config, Event (copies ev.text to String inside the callback — the #1 lifetime rule), Models (10 Swift value types), Marshaling (C arrays -> Swift + immediate vc_free_*), Callbacks (@convention(c) + Unmanaged.passUnretained, the Swift analog of C#'s [UnmanagedCallersOnly] + GCHandle), VoiceCatClient (owns vc_client* as OpaquePointer, all 38 C ABI functions, deinit -> vc_client_destroy then frees config CStrings, event delivery on main queue via coalesced DispatchQueue.main drain). Tests — 6/6 green (swift test against a real voicecat-server): - testConnectTofuAuthListChannelsRoundTrips, testAdminChannelCrudAccountCrudRoundTrips, testScreenAudioStreamStartsAndStops, testPerStreamRecvControlsRoundTrip, plus two static smoke tests. Catches Swift-specific interop bugs (@convention(c) callback lifetime, Unmanaged pointer resolution, CString memory management, enum raw-value bridging, struct layout) that C++ ctest cannot. C++ suite still 21/21 green. Docs updated (house rule): tech-stack.md §2, architecture.md §4, roadmap.md M4 + §2, clients/apple/README.md (full rewrite), PROGRESS.md, .gitignore.
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).