HuLa: Open source instant messaging app

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It can be understood as an open source version of QQ, and most of the interface logic is imitating QQ. Built on Tauri, Vite 7, Vue 3, and TypeScript, the actual experience is quite smooth. Compatible with Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, IOS

Of course, the following is a written version of the blog post, with a natural tone and easy to read, suitable for publishing on platforms such as 👇 personal blogs, Zhihu or Nuggets

1. Project introduction

HuLa is an open-source, cross-platform instant messaging app maintained by community developers.
It supports Windows, macOS, Linux, and is also planned to be compatible with iOS and Android, making it an IM (Instant Messaging) solution that covers all platforms.

The official positioning is “lightweight, secure, and modern communication tools”, and the overall interface is simple and clean, a bit like a combination of Telegram and Discord.
Compared to the usual Electron chat software on the market, HuLa’s installation package is smaller and faster to launch, thanks to its underlying Tauri framework , a cross-platform desktop application engine powered by Rust.

2. Technical architecture highlights

HuLa’s architecture is its biggest attraction.

  • Front-end: With Vue3 + TypeScript + Vite, the development experience is light and the build speed is extremely fast;
  • Desktop: Based on Tauri package, Rust is responsible for interacting with system resources, and its performance is far better than that of Electron.
  • Backend services: Implement message and account logic in Rust, providing higher security and concurrency performance.

Compared to Electron’s Node + Chromium “big package”, Tauri uses the system’s built-in WebView rendering front-end, which only requires a few tens of MB of running volume, making it ideal for cross-platform chat projects.

If you’re interested in Rust desktop development, HuLa’s code structure is a good way to get started.

3. Main function display

HuLa is not just a “chat-friendly” prototype, but already has most of the features of common chat software:

  • Private / Group chat
  • Message recalled, read status, @提醒
  • Emoji and link card previews
  • Message likes, friend search, blocking, and blocking
  • Theme switching (light / dark mode)

The interface style is modern, and the button interaction is smooth. Personally, I think its color scheme and animations are more “light social” style, which looks quite comfortable.
In addition, the development plan of the project also mentions that the “AI chat assistant” module is being promoted, which means that it may have intelligent conversation functions in the future.

4. Installation and operation experience

If you want to experience it for yourself, you can get the source code directly on GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/HuLaSpark/HuLa.git
cd HuLa
pnpm install
pnpm tauri dev

Windows users are advised to open the command prompt as  administrator, otherwise permission errors may occur when installing dependencies.
macOS users who encounter the “App Corrupted” prompt can use the command line to disable the “Quarantine Properties” and run it again (as described in the README).

Overall, HuLa starts up quickly and occupies less resources than expected.
If it’s just daily chats or intra-team communication, this self-built tool is actually more flexible and controllable than relying on large business services.

5. Project value and application prospects

HuLa is about more than just “being a chat app”.
It’s more like an open-source cross-platform architecture example, showing how Rust + Vue3 + Tauri can work together completely.

For different people, its value varies:

  • For developers: an excellent template for learning cross-platform application architecture;
  • For enterprises or communities: It can be used as a starting point for building your own IM system;
  • For regular users: An open-source chat tool with a user-friendly, secure, and controllable interface.

As the project iterates, HuLa is likely to become one of the benchmark cases of “Rust desktop development” in the open source community.

6. Conclusion

HuLa is still being updated, but it has shown great potential:
The lightweight, high-performance, modern interface design, combined with the free nature of the open source community, makes it suitable for both learning and production environment experiments.

If you’re interested in cross-platform desktop development, you might as well run this project yourself.
Perhaps starting with a simple chat box will allow you to see more possibilities for Rust to combine with front-end technologies.

Github：https://github.com/HuLaSpark/HuLa
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