First Contact

First Contact is a sovereign, offline-first mesh communication protocol built for environments where traditional internet infrastructure is unavailable, untrustworthy, or actively compromised. Whether in disaster zones, remote deployments, or high-security facilities, First Contact allows teams to coordinate securely and efficiently without relying on centralized servers or cloud infrastructure.

Tech Stack

Screenshots

Features & Usage

First Contact creates a local mesh network. Devices connect directly to each other over local Wi-Fi or LAN. The network handles discovery, database synchronization, and peer connectivity automatically.

There are three ways to connect to the mesh:

1. Mobile Deployment (QR Code): For mobile devices. Scan the tactical barcode on a host node to instantly access the web client and connect directly to the server.
2. Terminal Deployment (URL): For laptops and tablets without a camera. Enter the secure mDNS frequency (e.g., http://hostname.local:5173) into a web browser to connect to a host node's server.
3. Server Node (Mesh): For true decentralization, run the full backend stack on another computer on the same network. The Bonjour service will automatically discover peers and set up a continuous, bidirectional CouchDB replication mesh on port 5984.

Environment Configuration (.env Example)

You will need to configure environment variables for both the frontend and backend.

Frontend (.env):

VITE_COUCHDB_USER=admin
VITE_COUCHDB_PASSWORD=password
VITE_COUCHDB_PORT=5984

Backend (.env):

COUCHDB_URL=http://admin:password@localhost:5984
PORT=5000

How to Run the Project

1. Database (Docker)

Ensure Docker is installed and running on your machine. Start the CouchDB container:

docker-compose up -d

2. Backend

Navigate to the backend directory, install dependencies, and start the development server:

cd backend
npm install
npm run dev

3. Frontend

Open a new terminal, navigate to the frontend directory, install dependencies, and start the development server:

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

The client will be available at http://localhost:5173.

Folder Structure

First_Contact/
├── backend/
│   ├── config/          # Database and Mesh Service configurations
│   ├── routes/          # API endpoints
│   ├── sockets/         # Real-time WebSocket handlers
│   ├── server.js        # Main Express server
│   ├── package.json     # Node.js dependencies
│   └── .env             # Backend environment variables
├── frontend/
│   ├── src/             # React application source code
│   │   ├── components/  # Reusable UI components
│   │   ├── pages/       # Application views (Setup, Chat)
│   │   ├── services/    # Socket and user state services
│   │   └── App.tsx      # Main application entry point
│   ├── public/          # Static assets (fonts, icons)
│   ├── package.json     # Frontend dependencies
│   └── .env             # Frontend environment variables
├── images/              # Example screenshots
├── docs/                # Architecture documentation
├── docker-compose.yml   # CouchDB deployment configuration
├── local.ini            # CouchDB configuration overrides
└── README.md            # Project documentation

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Built by team TetraFourge