Rigel is a minimalist, self-hosted chat platform built for those who value privacy, speed, and independence. We are building a space where your data belongs to you, free from the noise and tracking of centralized giants.
We aim to provide a familiar experience without the bloat—lightweight, customizable, and yours to control.
The project originally began under the name Oxicord. At first, it was just a fun experiment—a way to learn and see if we could build a functional chat platform from scratch.
However, as the prototype evolved, so did the vision. We realized that this "toy project" had the potential to become a robust, serious alternative for communities seeking independence. But to be taken seriously, we needed to shed our past. Sticking to the "cord" naming convention tied us too closely to the platforms we wanted to challenge.
We didn't want to be just another "clone" or a shadow. We wanted to shine on our own.
In our search for identity, we looked up to the open-source pioneers who came before us. We received permission to carry the torch of the Spacebar visual identity, adopting their iconic astronaut cat logo. It serves as a reminder of the open-source spirit: code may change, but the community lives on.
To mark this new chapter, we chose a name that reflects our ambition:
- The Project: Rigel. Named after the brightest star in the Orion constellation. It is a blue supergiant—powerful, luminous, and visible from everywhere. It symbolizes our goal to be a fast and brilliant alternative in the chat ecosystem.
- The Mascot: Leo. We named our astronaut cat Leo. While Rigel is our star, Leo (the Lion constellation) represents the feline spirit of independence and agility.
- Self-Hostable: You own the server, you own the data.
- Discord-Compatible API: Don't lose your ecosystem. Rigel is designed to be compatible with the Discord API, allowing you to easily port your existing bots and tools.
- Minimalist: No bloatware, no crypto-scams, just chat.
- Modern UI: A clean interface that feels like home.
- Open Source: Built by the community, for the community.
Where does the community hang out? On Rigel, of course.
We believe in dogfooding: we use our own software to build our software. To chat with the developers, report bugs in real-time, or just hang out, join our official instance:
👉 Join the Rigel Public Instance
Rigel is currently in active development. We welcome developers, designers, and dreamers to join us in building the next star in the open-source galaxy.
- 🐛 Report Bugs: Issues
- 💡 Suggest Features: Discussions
- 💻 Contribute Code: Check out our repositories!