Hotline!

[fogWraith]

This is a fairly ambitious project, while supporting (hopefully) all known Hotline client / server features, there are also extensions to the protocol.
The extensions (and more) are available at GitHub, and yes - I use AI to assist with processing documentation. And no, I don't care about how butthurt / annoyed some would be over this.

Client - Hermes Zephyr
Zephyr has been released, and replaces the old "reference client" that showcased protocol extensions.
While Zephyr has full support for the Hotline protocol as it was and is, it also takes advantage of the many protocol extensions - personal opinion; it is the best modern implementation of a Hotline client.

Zephyr is macOS exclusive, signed and notarized.

Client - Liteline
Welcome to the world of Hotline, System 6 users.
A feature-complete client, read the online documentation here.

Server - Janus
Most features are listed on the website.

Tracker - Argus
Most features are listed on the website.

Instant Messenger - Nyx | Iris
Built on the Hotline protocol and takes full advantage of the IM extension (as supported in Janus), features are listed on the website.

---

Other Hotline related things
To showcase a bit of the API (as well as Mnemosyne, a content indexing service), there is Agora. It lists tracked servers and offers searching content on servers that makes use of the indexing service.

Leaving this post short and concise, mostly to spark a bit of interest, exploration, hopefully testing and perhaps a bit of feedback.

---

Instant Messaging Notes
This is but one of my extensions to the already existing Hotline protocol as it is documented today, it allows for a Hotline server to also act as a server for pure instant messaging ~as it were back in the day. Think AIM / ICQ / MSN etc.

 

[Byte Knight]

Client - Hermes
Currently realeased as an Alpha, this to showcase some of the features a modern client could implement.
Most features are listed on the website.

So does this have anything to do with the new Hermes BBS terminal?

 

[fogWraith]

So does this have anything to do with the new Hermes BBS terminal?

It does not! And thank you for the link.
My Hotline lineup simply follows ~sensical naming after a certain theme (Pantheon, Agora, Argus, Janus, Hermes, Mnemosyne)

 

[ScutBoy]

It does not! And thank you for the link.
My Hotline lineup simply follows ~sensical naming after a certain theme (Pantheon, Agora, Argus, Janus, Hermes, Mnemosyne)

the ancient history major in me salutes you!

 

[fogWraith]

Tacked on some relevant new things at the end of the first post. I bet excitement is through the roof.

Anyways, a minor note on the Hotline extension in the Bonus section, once the documentation with implementation details is released, creating yet another IM client for vintage / legacy systems should be easy peasy lemon squeezy. It does, after all, use the Hotline protocol.

 

[fogWraith]

Another update before the Instant Messenger client and updated documentation is made available, the Hotline server (Janus) has reached 2.0.10 stable and comes with a fairly large update, it comes with a new method of storing files - HFS+ volume support. Still a bit on the experimental side of things, but it's there, it works.

Apart from that, plenty of fixes to go around.

 

[fogWraith]

The first Beta of my instant messenger, Nyx, is finally available for download and testing.

Due to VesperNet, I run an official Hotline server under its name, which in turn runs my own software.
The Messenger tab at the website uses the API found in the Hotline server, and the account creation (instant) creates actual accounts on the Hotline server using a template with the correct priv bits, thus the account works on the Hotline server itself as well as for the IM client.

So, since the server (also available for download) supports the protocol extension which is being worked on, one can host their own server, the client supports picking different servers from day 1. Latest changes are always found on the official server however.

For macOS users, I'll have you know that the .app has not yet been notarized, but may be in the future (final release). For a beta product this should be sufficient as there are still tiny updates and fixes being made as I discover them. Feedback is highly appreciated.

As for the protocol extension documentation, it's being cleaned up and polished - a separate document is also being crafted for anyone that would want to create an instant messenger based on this. Coming ~soon.

Update 2026-08-14: 0.1.2 (QoL updates) released, from this point forward, the Mac application will be notarized.

 

[fogWraith]

Picked up from where I left off with Iris, and while there is progress there is a lot left to do before it can be released for testing. A sneak preview of the current status. Courtesy of Snow, Mac SE ROM and helpful documentation.

As usual, at the core we have the most important and vital parts of the Hotline protocol along with partial protocol extension support which also includes HOPE secure sign-on at this time (not sending the password in plaintext is a good thing), buddylist with user - status - statustext, message window per buddy, crude file transfer support (either issues with MacTCP, Snow or Iris code itself - needs to be verified on actual real hardware), ability to search, add, remove and block friends, set presence and update status message. Of course, offline messages also work, but needs further testing since they will be coming in from the server at sign-on, and having multiple sources bombarding the client, i reckon it will need a bit of testing.

Still, as mentioned, there is still much to do (improving, fixing, cleaning and optimizing). Back to the books!
Oh, right, final note for this update - it might not be entirely impossible that an actual System 6+ compatible Hotline client will be made after this, mostly for my own amusement. Not in a hurry.

 

[nilobject]

good work.
web client interface?
what extension/capabilities are you planning for future releases? game server "emulation" would be cool

 

[fogWraith]

good work.
web client interface?
what extension/capabilities are you planning for future releases? game server "emulation" would be cool

No web client interface (yet), it could be done "the old fashioned way" by using the current server API though - more or less. There is a rather ambitious dashboard in the works for both the Tracker software as well as the Hotline Server.

The current extensions / capabilities are fine right now, a few roundtrips for polishing may be required since I am pretty much the sole individual testing the implementations on the regular.

Game server emulation would be awesome, though I believe those would run as standalone projects - got any in mind?

Also, here's a little teaser in regards to Hotline.

 

[nilobject]

No web client interface (yet), it could be done "the old fashioned way" by using the current server API though - more or less. There is a rather ambitious dashboard in the works for both the Tracker software as well as the Hotline Server.

The current extensions / capabilities are fine right now, a few roundtrips for polishing may be required since I am pretty much the sole individual testing the implementations on the regular.

Game server emulation would be awesome, though I believe those would run as standalone projects - got any in mind?

Also, here's a little teaser in regards to Hotline.

View attachment 30049 View attachment 30050

i've got a web file browser in the works. it can view zip and sit cpt contents without unarchiving, and resource forks. adding a hotline client to it would be nice. can hotline support browsing archives and rf's?

what kind of testing do you need done? just general?

actually, escape velocity multiplayer is another project i'm working on. having always online/non-dedicated servers would help immensely.

Liteline looks sweet. what are your thoughts on 68k dev?

 

[fogWraith]

i've got a web file browser in the works. it can view zip and sit cpt contents without unarchiving, and resource forks. adding a hotline client to it would be nice. can hotline support browsing archives and rf's?

what kind of testing do you need done? just general?

actually, escape velocity multiplayer is another project i'm working on. having always online/non-dedicated servers would help immensely.

Liteline looks sweet. what are your thoughts on 68k dev?

It's possible to browse the contents of a server via the API, but it doesn't involve any file transfers. I guess it would be possible to add functionality to explore archives as well, it doesn't affect Hotline as such but will probably require a bit of magic so that nothing is "locked" while reading.

Testing in general is preferred, all clients all platforms, perhaps probing with custom stuff to see if it holds up as intended (and how people ~remember how Hotline worked/works). Got two previously unknown bugs fixed today (new binaries released of the server) thanks to a third party client developer

Escape Velocity is highly ranked by a lot of people, and I can understand why. If someone else beats me to server-side work, I can gladly host one or more.

Thoughts on 68k dev? Hmm, well it hasn't helped with my headaches, I have begun questioning my actions and decisions a lot more as of recently, such as "why did i even...". The sole light at the end of the tunnel is all the books, reference material and open source projects passed on throughout the ages. I'm sure there are those that find it fun, easy and relaxing / soothing... while fun many a time (discovery and progress), my mind often wanders to John Martin's "Pandemonium".

 

[fogWraith]

Developer Release 1 of Liteline is available for download and testing via Agora, or via the VesperNet Hotline Server (hotline.vespernet.net). Iris will be joining the lineup sometime later this week.

There are some questionable UX decisions, there is no readme or help at this time mostly because I would like to see how the interface is received (provided there is any feedback). While it might work just fine for System 7 and up, it was designed with the compact mac lineup and constraints in mind.

 

[nilobject]

good work as always!
------


# VesperNet Hotline smoke (for fogWraith / TD)

**Client:** minimal Python 3 (`hl_fetch.py`, `hl_session.py`) on nilBookPro2014
**Nick:** `fogwraith-tester` · **Auth:** guest / empty password (XOR 0xFF)

## Connection / login
- TCP `hotline.vespernet.net:5500` OK; transfer `:5501` OK
- Handshake `TRTPHOTL` / `TRTP` error=0 OK
- Guest login works (also tried guest/guest, empty/empty earlier; guest+empty succeeded first)
- Login reply is **Type=0, is_reply=1, error=0** (fields 160/162 empty on this server)
- Agreement (109) shown (~292 bytes, Mastercard joke + vespernet.org/net)
- **Agreed (121)** with nick 102 + icon 104 + options 113 → reply error=0

## User list / chat
- **GetUserNameList (300):** guest only sees **self** (`fogwraith-tester`) — likely Janus/ACL “see others” restricted for guest (Janus ACL?)
- **Public chat (105) works:** sent a hi; received echo + live traffic from **fogWraith** and **Knezzen** (so others *are* online; list just doesn’t show them to guest)
- IM not tried against others (userlist didn’t expose their socket IDs)

## Downloads (Hotline)
Both files from `/Pantheon/Liteline/` downloaded cleanly over Hotline and **byte-matched** Agora HTTP copies:

| File | Hotline data fork | Agora HTTP | SHA-256 |
|------|------------------|------------|---------|
| Liteline.hqx | 211443 | 211443 | `1cae73c3…156ab` match |
| Liteline.dsk | 819200 | 819200 | `f3b0f192…f42fd` match |

Types seen in listing: `.dsk` = `dimg/ddsk`, `.hqx` = `TEXT/SITx`

## UX / quirks
- Friendly agreement banner; chat active (Swedish banter + “mobilhotline ftw”)
- Guest can download Pantheon/Liteline paths without HOPE/TLS
- Classic Hotline only (no TLS required for this test)
- Protocol quirks: login reply Type=0; passwords XOR 0xFF; FILP transfer size = data + wrapper (~143 bytes overhead here)
- One clean session each for fetch + session; no hammering



VesperNet Hotline session notes (fogWraith / TinkerDifferent)
ok=True
server=hotline.vespernet.net:5500
handshake=OK
guest_login=OK (login=guest, password empty, XOR 0xFF encoded)
login_reply_type0_fields=version=None server_name=''
agreement_len=292 no_agreement_flag=False
agreed_sent=True
access_hex=
users_online=1
- id=10 icon=128 flags=0 name='fogwraith-tester'
chat_echoes=6
chat: 'fogWraith: jomen'
chat: 'Knezzen: Sverige ?t svenskarna!'
chat: 'fogwraith-tes: hi from fogwraith-tester (TD smoke) ? thanks fogWraith / VesperNet'
chat: 'fogWraith: jeu'
chat: 'fogWraith: mobilhotline ftw'
chat: 'Knezzen: J????lar'
server_msgs=[]

--- log ---
Handshake OK
Login sent nick='fogwraith-tester' login='guest' pass_len=0 xor_ok tid=1
LOGIN OK type=0 (0=reply-ok) version=None server_name='' fields=[]
ShowAgreement (292 bytes):
Welcome to the VesperNet Hotline Server
---------------------------------------

There are some things money can't buy.
For everything else, there's Mastercard.

---------------------------------------
Visit our website for more information:

VesperNet - Welcome!

VesperNet provides an alternative DNS and proxy network focused on privacy and retro computing.

vespernet.org

OR

Welcome - VesperNet

Agreed(121) sent nick='fogwraith-tester' icon=128 options=0 tid=2
Agreed reply err=0
ChatMsg: fogWraith: jomen
GetUserNameList(300) tid=3
user id=10 icon=128 flags=0(-) name='fogwraith-tester'
ChatSend(105) tid=4 msg='hi from fogwraith-tester (TD smoke) — thanks fogWraith / VesperNet'
ChatMsg: Knezzen: Sverige ?t svenskarna!
ChatMsg: fogwraith-tes: hi from fogwraith-tester (TD smoke) ? thanks fogWraith / VesperNet
ChatMsg: fogWraith: jeu
No other users online; skipping IM (would only hit self)
ChatMsg: fogWraith: mobilhotline ftw
ChatMsg: Knezzen: J????lar

 

[fogWraith]

good work as always!

The chatter without users online is chat replay, a catch-up feature for users and of the server that can be configured in a variety of ways, a <1.5 clients won't get them, >=1.5 clients will get line by line output, a conforming client with the chat history extension gets everything at once

Output looks good!

 

[fogWraith]

Liteline DR4 is out and available for testing, get it from the usual places (including MG!)

There are some pretty big improvements in this update, like supporting larger user lists, viewing the full message board (up to what the Hotline protocol can actually deliver), listing and navigating larger folders, bug fixes and sound capabilities.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Joshua Stein for his open source projects, as they have been an inspiration to get DNR working properly under System 6 (was really starting to piss me off at one point), and Roy Wood for TE32K, which allowed creating a modified text engine supporting content larger than 32K.

What's not done yet? Well, I'm fairly sure there are bugs left that will need squashing once found, and of course support for Hotline protocol <1.5 (maybe, it's not highly prioritized).

 

[fogWraith]

Version 0.1d6 has been released, which brings us a step closer to 1.0.

What's new this time around? Well, I've fiddled a bit more with file transfers and transfer queues in attempts to make improvements, which hopefully also fixed a few more minor issues than I've managed to introduce.

I can easily say "it works for me", but here's what's been fiddled with:
- Legacy server support (sign on to those 1.2.3 servers, or compatibles)
- File transfer resume support, both down and up.
- Downloading files will, in transit, apply the same Type and Creator codes as an official Hotline client would use, which should in theory allow resuming said file from another client.
- Manual cancellation of active transfers.
- Improved queueing tasks, and thereby improving Tasks in the process.
- Experimental in-app drag and drop for users privileged with moving files.
- Creation of aliases for privileged users.
- Deletion of News catalog / bundle / article (requires elevated privileges).

Apart from that, there has been some minor optimizations and misc. fixes, leaving the biggest slice of the cake for last - folder transfers.

With 1.0 on the horizon, it looks like Liteline may see at least one fork, where the fork will receive some tender "early System 7" love and care.

 

[nilobject]

wow, fog. just wow. amazing work!

 

[Mu0n]

I tried it @fogWraith , on my Mac Plus. Looks and works great!
Hopefully peeps start running servers full of interesting mac files, games, shareware, art and .mod!

 

[nilobject]

if it had version control(somehow) it'd be a nice development tool!