# Aether

A beautiful, fast, native desktop client for [Stoat](https://github.com/stoat-chat/stoat) — the best open-source, self-hosted alternative to Discord.

> **Status:** Under active development. Not yet feature-complete.

---

## About

Aether is built with **Qt 6** and **QML**, targeting a fully native experience on Windows, macOS, and Linux from day one. It communicates with a self-hosted Stoat backend over its HTTP/WebSocket API.

**Key properties:**

- Native, GPU-accelerated UI via Qt Quick
- Clean separation between QML frontend and C++ backend layer
- AGPL-3.0 licensed — free as in freedom

---

## Requirements

| Dependency | Minimum version |
|---|---|
| Qt | 6.8 |
| CMake | 3.28 |
| Ninja | 1.11 |
| C++ compiler | C++20 support (GCC 13, Clang 16, MSVC 2022) |

---

## Building (Linux)

```bash
# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/aether-client/aether.git
cd aether

# 2. Configure
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja \
      -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

# 3. Build
cmake --build build --parallel

# 4. Run
./build/aether
```

### Debug build

```bash
cmake -S . -B build-debug -G Ninja \
      -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug

cmake --build build-debug --parallel
./build-debug/aether
```

### With a custom Qt installation

```bash
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja \
      -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/opt/Qt/6.8.0/gcc_64
```

---

## Project structure

```
aether/
├── CMakeLists.txt        # Root build configuration
├── cmake/                # Future CMake helpers
├── resources/
│   └── icons/            # Application icons
└── src/
    ├── CMakeLists.txt    # Executable target
    ├── main.cpp          # Application entry point
    ├── qml/              # QML UI layer (module URI: Aether)
    │   ├── main.qml
    │   └── components/   # Reusable QML components
    └── cpp/              # C++ backend modules (coming soon)
```

---

## License

Copyright (C) 2026 Aether Contributors

Aether is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
terms of the **GNU Affero General Public License** as published by the Free
Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any
later version. See [LICENSE](LICENSE) for the full text.