Valour

Valour is an open-source, modern chat client designed by communities for communities.

Try it at: https://valour.gg/

Design

Valour is designed to be as flexible as possible - with a client built atop an official API for use in bots and applications. Valour is open-source, and your personal client can be as creative as your imagination allows. We believe in an open ecosystem for Valour - and hold bot authors to follow in our transparency to respect user data and privacy.

Windows and Multi-chat

Valour's client allows you to open multiple chats at once - even across several communities. Valour's flexible in-built window system allows you to multitask, and for moderation teams to keep an eye on the action. Every chat window is dynamic and responsive, allowing you to resize and space your chats how you want. It's your client, after all.

Planets and Communities

Planets are the communities of Valour, allowing you to build your ideas and foster strong interactions. With role management and per-channel permissions, you can ensure that your community is managed how you see fit.

Economies and Items

Planets can deploy a currency and economic system in two clicks. Why? Don't bother managing 20 different 'coins' and 'xp' from different bots, and use one built-in system to handle user value tracking. Users can send your currency to each other in the community, and even trade it for community-defined items. You can even hook the API into your own systems, allowing your community members to pay for custom perks and be rewarded for anything!

Total-Outage-proof Node System

Valour Nodes are designed to be able to run independently of any central server or service. One node failing has no effect on other nodes, allowing Valour to scale safely and efficiently. Our logical-server based system, rather than depending on cloud services, also allows us to be provider-agnostic, hosting Valour across different providers and giving us the ability to dedicate resources to large communities that need it.

Contribute

To contribute to Valour, set up a local server + client environment first.

1) Prerequisites

1. Install .NET SDK 10 (the repo is pinned to 10.0.100 in global.json): https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/10.0
2. Use any IDE/editor with modern .NET support (Rider, Visual Studio, VS Code, etc.)
3. Install PostgreSQL: https://www.postgresql.org/
4. Install Redis: https://redis.com/

2) Restore dependencies

From the repo root:

dotnet workload restore
dotnet restore

3) Configure local settings

1. Create Valour/Server/appsettings.json (the file is gitignored).
2. You can start from Config/appsettings.helper.json.
3. Fill in at least these required sections for local startup:
   • Database (Host, Database, Username, Password)
   • Redis (ConnectionString)
   • Node (Key, Name, Location)
4. Optional integrations:
   • CDN for uploads / media storage (S3-compatible)
   • Email for real email delivery
   • Notifications for push notifications
   • Cloudflare for Cloudflare-backed features
     • For RealtimeKit voice, set RealtimeAccountId, RealtimeAppId, and RealtimeApiToken

4) Database setup

Valour now applies EF Core migrations automatically on server startup (db.Database.Migrate()), so manual definitions.sql execution is no longer the primary setup path.

5) Run locally

Run the server project (it serves API + SignalR + client assets):

cd Valour/Server
dotnet run

Default local URLs:

• https://localhost:5001
• http://localhost:5000

6) Build and test

From the repo root:

dotnet build
dotnet test

Notes

• The active web app flow is centered on Valour.Client.Blazor + server-hosted assets.
• You generally should not need to manually edit ValourClient.cs BaseAddress for normal local development.
• Docker images are published by CI, but still require valid appsettings and backing services (Postgres/Redis/etc.).

Trademark Notice

The name "Valour" is a trademark of Valour Software LLC, and a trademark application is pending. While the project is open-source, use of the trademark must not imply endorsement by Valour Software LLC or mislead others regarding the origin of the project.

Forks or derivative projects may not use the name "Valour" or related branding without prior written permission from Valour Software LLC. Any use of the trademark outside the scope of this project requires explicit permission.

While use of the trademark is not permitted for forks of the project itself, use of the mark is allowed for Valour bots, plugins, or integrations. If you are unsure, contact us!