Merge pull request #35 from HueByte/dev

Merge dev branch

.env.example

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# EchoHub Server Configuration
+# Copy this file to .env and customize as needed:  cp .env.example .env
+# These override appsettings.json via ASP.NET Core's configuration hierarchy.
+
+# ── Server ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+Server__Name=My EchoHub Server
+Server__Description=A self-hosted EchoHub chat server
+Server__PublicServer=false
+# Server__PublicHost=echohub.example.com
+# Server__Admins__0=adminUsername
+
+# ── JWT ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Auto-generated on first run if left empty. Only set if you need a stable secret across containers.
+# Jwt__Secret=
+# Jwt__Issuer=EchoHub.Server
+# Jwt__Audience=EchoHub.Client
+
+# ── Encryption ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Auto-generated on first run if left empty.
+# Encryption__Key=
+# Encryption__EncryptDatabase=false
+
+# ── Storage ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Defaults are set in the Dockerfile to use /app/data for persistence.
+# Storage__CleanupIntervalHours=1
+# Storage__RetentionDays=30
+
+# ── IRC Gateway ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+Irc__Enabled=false
+# Irc__Port=6667
+# Irc__TlsEnabled=false
+# Irc__TlsPort=6697
+# Irc__TlsCertPath=
+# Irc__TlsCertPassword=
+# Irc__ServerName=echohub
+# Irc__Motd=Welcome to EchoHub IRC Gateway!
+
+# ── Logging ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Serilog__MinimumLevel__Default=Information

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -22,12 +22,6 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          submodules: recursive
-
-      # TEMPORARY: Terminal.Gui submodule's nuget.config breaks restore — remove until PR #4234 is merged
-      - name: Remove submodule NuGet config
-        run: rm -f src/Terminal.Gui/nuget.config
 
       - name: Setup .NET 10
         uses: actions/setup-dotnet@v4
@@ -35,7 +29,7 @@ jobs:
           dotnet-version: '10.0.x'
 
       - name: Check formatting
-        run: dotnet format src/EchoHub.slnx --verify-no-changes --verbosity diagnostic --exclude src/Terminal.Gui/
+        run: dotnet format src/EchoHub.slnx --verify-no-changes --verbosity diagnostic
 
   build-and-test:
     name: Build & Test
@@ -44,11 +38,6 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
-          submodules: recursive
-
-      # TEMPORARY: Terminal.Gui submodule's nuget.config breaks restore — remove until PR #4234 is merged
-      - name: Remove submodule NuGet config
-        run: rm -f src/Terminal.Gui/nuget.config
 
       - name: Check for src/ changes
         id: changes

.github/workflows/docker.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+name: Docker
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [master]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+  packages: write
+
+env:
+  IMAGE: ghcr.io/huebyte/echohub-server
+
+jobs:
+  docker:
+    name: Build & Push Docker Image
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Check for src/ changes
+        id: changes
+        env:
+          BEFORE: ${{ github.event.before }}
+        run: |
+          if [ -z "$BEFORE" ] || [ "$BEFORE" = "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000" ]; then
+            echo "src_changed=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            CHANGED=$(git diff --name-only "$BEFORE" HEAD -- 'src/' | wc -l)
+            [ "$CHANGED" -gt 0 ] && echo "src_changed=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT" || echo "src_changed=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Read version
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true'
+        id: version
+        run: |
+          VERSION=$(grep -oP '(?<=<Version>)[^<]+' src/Directory.Build.props)
+          echo "version=$VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "tag=v$VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Check if image tag exists
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true'
+        id: check_image
+        run: |
+          TAG="${{ steps.version.outputs.tag }}"
+          if docker manifest inspect "${{ env.IMAGE }}:${TAG}" &>/dev/null; then
+            echo "exists=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            echo "exists=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Set up QEMU
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_image.outputs.exists == 'false'
+        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@v3
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_image.outputs.exists == 'false'
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+      - name: Log in to GHCR
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_image.outputs.exists == 'false'
+        uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: ghcr.io
+          username: ${{ github.actor }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Build and push
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_image.outputs.exists == 'false'
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
+        with:
+          context: ./src
+          file: ./src/EchoHub.Server/Dockerfile
+          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
+          push: true
+          tags: |
+            ${{ env.IMAGE }}:latest
+            ${{ env.IMAGE }}:${{ steps.version.outputs.tag }}
+          labels: |
+            org.opencontainers.image.title=EchoHub Server
+            org.opencontainers.image.description=Self-hosted IRC-style chat server
+            org.opencontainers.image.version=${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
+            org.opencontainers.image.source=https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}
+
+      - name: Skip notice
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed != 'true' || steps.check_image.outputs.exists == 'true'
+        run: echo "⏭️ Skipped — no src/ changes or image tag already exists."

.github/workflows/docs.yml

@@ -16,12 +16,6 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          submodules: recursive
-
-      # TEMPORARY: Terminal.Gui submodule's nuget.config breaks restore — remove until PR #4234 is merged
-      - name: Remove submodule NuGet config
-        run: rm -f src/Terminal.Gui/nuget.config
 
       - name: Setup .NET 10
         uses: actions/setup-dotnet@v4

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -12,15 +12,15 @@ jobs:
   release:
     name: Create Release
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      should_release: ${{ steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_release.outputs.exists == 'false' }}
+      release_exists: ${{ steps.check_release.outputs.exists }}
+      version: ${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
+      tag: ${{ steps.version.outputs.tag }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
-          submodules: recursive
-
-      # TEMPORARY: Terminal.Gui submodule's nuget.config breaks restore — remove until PR #4234 is merged
-      - name: Remove submodule NuGet config
-        run: rm -f src/Terminal.Gui/nuget.config
 
       - name: Check for src/ changes
         id: changes
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ jobs:
           fi
 
       - name: Read version
-        if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true'
         id: version
         run: |
           VERSION=$(grep -oP '(?<=<Version>)[^<]+' src/Directory.Build.props)
@@ -43,7 +42,6 @@ jobs:
           echo "tag=v$VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
       - name: Check if release exists
-        if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true'
         id: check_release
         run: |
           if gh release view "${{ steps.version.outputs.tag }}" &>/dev/null; then
@@ -58,7 +56,7 @@ jobs:
         if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_release.outputs.exists == 'false'
         uses: actions/setup-dotnet@v4
         with:
-          dotnet-version: '10.0.x'
+          dotnet-version: "10.0.x"
 
       - name: Publish Server win-x64
         if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_release.outputs.exists == 'false'
@@ -76,21 +74,29 @@ jobs:
         if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_release.outputs.exists == 'false'
         run: dotnet publish src/EchoHub.Server/EchoHub.Server.csproj -c Release -r osx-arm64 --self-contained true -o publish/server-osx-arm64
 
+      - name: Publish Server linux-arm64
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_release.outputs.exists == 'false'
+        run: dotnet publish src/EchoHub.Server/EchoHub.Server.csproj -c Release -r linux-arm64 --self-contained true -o publish/server-linux-arm64
+
       - name: Publish Client win-x64
         if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_release.outputs.exists == 'false'
-        run: dotnet publish src/EchoHub.Client/EchoHub.Client.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -o publish/client-win-x64
+        run: dotnet publish src/EchoHub.Client/EchoHub.Client.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=true -p:IncludeNativeLibrariesForSelfExtract=true -o publish/client-win-x64
 
       - name: Publish Client linux-x64
         if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_release.outputs.exists == 'false'
-        run: dotnet publish src/EchoHub.Client/EchoHub.Client.csproj -c Release -r linux-x64 --self-contained true -o publish/client-linux-x64
+        run: dotnet publish src/EchoHub.Client/EchoHub.Client.csproj -c Release -r linux-x64 --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=true -p:IncludeNativeLibrariesForSelfExtract=true -o publish/client-linux-x64
 
       - name: Publish Client osx-x64
         if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_release.outputs.exists == 'false'
-        run: dotnet publish src/EchoHub.Client/EchoHub.Client.csproj -c Release -r osx-x64 --self-contained true -o publish/client-osx-x64
+        run: dotnet publish src/EchoHub.Client/EchoHub.Client.csproj -c Release -r osx-x64 --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=true -p:IncludeNativeLibrariesForSelfExtract=true -o publish/client-osx-x64
 
       - name: Publish Client osx-arm64
         if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_release.outputs.exists == 'false'
-        run: dotnet publish src/EchoHub.Client/EchoHub.Client.csproj -c Release -r osx-arm64 --self-contained true -o publish/client-osx-arm64
+        run: dotnet publish src/EchoHub.Client/EchoHub.Client.csproj -c Release -r osx-arm64 --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=true -p:IncludeNativeLibrariesForSelfExtract=true -o publish/client-osx-arm64
+
+      - name: Publish Client linux-arm64
+        if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_release.outputs.exists == 'false'
+        run: dotnet publish src/EchoHub.Client/EchoHub.Client.csproj -c Release -r linux-arm64 --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=true -p:IncludeNativeLibrariesForSelfExtract=true -o publish/client-linux-arm64
 
       - name: Zip artifacts
         if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_release.outputs.exists == 'false'
@@ -100,10 +106,12 @@ jobs:
           zip -r ../EchoHub-Server-linux-x64.zip server-linux-x64/
           zip -r ../EchoHub-Server-osx-x64.zip server-osx-x64/
           zip -r ../EchoHub-Server-osx-arm64.zip server-osx-arm64/
+          zip -r ../EchoHub-Server-linux-arm64.zip server-linux-arm64/
           zip -r ../EchoHub-Client-win-x64.zip client-win-x64/
           zip -r ../EchoHub-Client-linux-x64.zip client-linux-x64/
           zip -r ../EchoHub-Client-osx-x64.zip client-osx-x64/
           zip -r ../EchoHub-Client-osx-arm64.zip client-osx-arm64/
+          zip -r ../EchoHub-Client-linux-arm64.zip client-linux-arm64/
 
       - name: Build release notes
         if: steps.changes.outputs.src_changed == 'true' && steps.check_release.outputs.exists == 'false'
@@ -144,9 +152,57 @@ jobs:
             EchoHub-Server-linux-x64.zip \
             EchoHub-Server-osx-x64.zip \
             EchoHub-Server-osx-arm64.zip \
+            EchoHub-Server-linux-arm64.zip \
             EchoHub-Client-win-x64.zip \
             EchoHub-Client-linux-x64.zip \
             EchoHub-Client-osx-x64.zip \
-            EchoHub-Client-osx-arm64.zip
+            EchoHub-Client-osx-arm64.zip \
+            EchoHub-Client-linux-arm64.zip
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+  choco:
+    name: Publish to Chocolatey
+    needs: release
+    if: needs.release.outputs.release_exists == 'true' || needs.release.outputs.should_release == 'true'
+    runs-on: windows-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Check if version already published
+        id: choco_check
+        shell: pwsh
+        run: |
+          $version = "${{ needs.release.outputs.version }}"
+          $result = choco search echohub --version $version --exact --source https://community.chocolatey.org/api/v2/ 2>&1
+          if ($result -match "echohub $version") {
+            echo "exists=true" >> $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            Write-Host "Chocolatey package echohub $version already published — skipping."
+          } else {
+            echo "exists=false" >> $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          }
+
+      - name: Download release asset
+        if: steps.choco_check.outputs.exists == 'false'
+        run: gh release download "v${{ needs.release.outputs.version }}" --pattern "EchoHub-Client-win-x64.zip"
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Pack and push
+        if: steps.choco_check.outputs.exists == 'false'
+        shell: pwsh
+        run: |
+          $version = "${{ needs.release.outputs.version }}"
+          $checksum = (Get-FileHash EchoHub-Client-win-x64.zip -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLower()
+
+          # Stamp version and checksum into package templates
+          (Get-Content packaging/choco/echohub.nuspec) -replace '__VERSION__', $version | Set-Content packaging/choco/echohub.nuspec
+          (Get-Content packaging/choco/tools/chocolateyInstall.ps1) -replace '__VERSION__', $version | Set-Content packaging/choco/tools/chocolateyInstall.ps1
+          (Get-Content packaging/choco/tools/chocolateyInstall.ps1) -replace '__CHECKSUM64__', $checksum | Set-Content packaging/choco/tools/chocolateyInstall.ps1
+
+          cd packaging/choco
+          choco pack echohub.nuspec --output-directory $env:TEMP
+          $pkg = Get-ChildItem "$env:TEMP\echohub.*.nupkg" | Select-Object -First 1
+          choco push $pkg.FullName --source https://push.chocolatey.org/ --api-key $env:CHOCO_API_KEY
+        env:
+          CHOCO_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CHOCOLATEY_API_KEY }}

.gitmodules

@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-[submodule "src/Terminal.Gui"]
-	path = src/Terminal.Gui
-	url = https://github.com/HueByte/Terminal.Gui.git

.markdownlint-cli2.jsonc

@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
     // Allow inline HTML (docfx uses it)
     "MD033": false,
     // Allow bare URLs
-    "MD034": false
+    "MD034": false,
+    // Allow compact table pipe style (flow docs use compact tables)
+    "MD060": false
   },
 
   "globs": ["**/*.md"],

README.md

@@ -27,12 +27,14 @@
 </p>
 
 <p align="center">
+  <a href="https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub/actions/workflows/ci.yml"><img alt="Build" src="https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/HueByte/EchoHub/ci.yml?branch=master&style=flat-square&logo=github&label=Build" /></a>
+  <a href="https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub/releases/latest"><img alt="Release" src="https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/HueByte/EchoHub?style=flat-square&logo=github&label=Release" /></a>
+  <a href="https://community.chocolatey.org/packages/echohub"><img alt="Chocolatey" src="https://img.shields.io/chocolatey/v/echohub?style=flat-square&logo=chocolatey&label=Chocolatey" /></a>
+  <a href="https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub/pkgs/container/echohub-server"><img alt="Docker" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Docker-GHCR-2496ED?style=flat-square&logo=docker&logoColor=white" /></a>
   <img alt=".NET 10" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/.NET-10-512BD4?style=flat-square&logo=dotnet&logoColor=white" />
-  <img alt="SignalR" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/SignalR-Real--time-0078D4?style=flat-square" />
-  <img alt="SQLite" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/SQLite-EF%20Core-003B57?style=flat-square&logo=sqlite&logoColor=white" />
-  <img alt="License" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-green?style=flat-square" />
   <img alt="Terminal.Gui" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/TUI-Terminal.Gui%20v2-yellow?style=flat-square" />
-  <img alt="Electron" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Electron-None-red?style=flat-square" />
+  <a href="LICENSE"><img alt="License" src="https://img.shields.io/github/license/HueByte/EchoHub?style=flat-square" /></a>
+  <img alt="Repo size" src="https://img.shields.io/github/repo-size/HueByte/EchoHub?style=flat-square&label=Size" />
 </p>
 
 ---
@@ -76,10 +78,12 @@ graph TD
 ### Server
 
 - **Self-hostable** — your server, your rules, your data
+- **Docker ready** — `docker compose up -d` and you're done
 - **Real-time messaging** via SignalR WebSockets
 - **IRC gateway** — native IRC clients connect alongside TUI users, full cross-protocol messaging
 - **JWT auth** with short-lived access tokens and 30-day refresh tokens
 - **Channels** — create, set topics, delete (no 47-step permission wizard required)
+- **Moderation** — ban, mute (timed or permanent), kick, role assignment
 - **File & image uploads** with actual validation (magic bytes, not just trusting the extension)
 - **Image-to-ASCII** — because images in a terminal is objectively cool
 - **Presence tracking** — online/away/DND/invisible with custom status messages
@@ -94,34 +98,55 @@ graph TD
 - **13 built-in themes** — including `hacker` for when you want to feel like you're in a movie
 - **Slash commands** — `/join`, `/send`, `/status`, `/theme`, etc.
 - **Colored nicknames** — pick your hex color, express yourself
+- **Clickable everything** — usernames, @mentions, #channels — just press Enter
 - **File/image sharing** — local files or URLs
 - **Multi-server** — save and switch between servers
 - **Auto-reconnect** — drops happen, it rejoins your channels automatically
+- **Auto-updater** — updates in-place with automatic rollback if something goes wrong
 - **Message history** on join — you won't miss context
 
 ## Getting Started
 
-### Download
+### Install the Client
 
-Grab a self-contained binary from [Releases](../../releases) — no runtime needed, just run it.
+**Windows (Chocolatey):**
 
-### Prerequisites (for development)
+```bash
+choco install echohub
+```
 
-- [.NET 10 SDK](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download)
+**Linux / macOS:**
 
-### Run the Server
+```bash
+curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HueByte/EchoHub/master/scripts/install.sh | sh
+```
+
+**Manual download:** grab a self-contained binary from [Releases](../../releases) — no runtime needed, just run it.
+
+### Host a Server
+
+**Docker (recommended):**
+
+```bash
+cp .env.example .env
+docker compose up -d
+```
+
+Pre-built images on [GHCR](https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub/pkgs/container/echohub-server) — `linux/amd64` and `linux/arm64`.
+
+**From source:**
 
 ```bash
 dotnet run --project src/EchoHub.Server
 ```
 
-First run does everything for you:
+Requires [.NET 10 SDK](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download). First run does everything for you:
 
 1. Creates `appsettings.json` from the example config
 2. Generates a secure JWT secret
 3. Creates the database with a `#general` channel
 
-### Run the Client
+### Run the Client (from source)
 
 ```bash
 dotnet run --project src/EchoHub.Client
@@ -165,7 +190,7 @@ irssi -c your-server.com -p 6667 -w <password> -n <username>
 /connect echohub
 ```
 
-IRC users must have an existing EchoHub account (no registration via IRC). Auth works via `PASS`/`NICK`/`USER` or SASL PLAIN.
+Auth works via `PASS`/`NICK`/`USER` or SASL PLAIN. New usernames are auto-registered on first connect — no separate signup needed.
 
 ### What Works
 

docker-compose.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+services:
+  echohub-server:
+    build:
+      context: ./src
+      dockerfile: EchoHub.Server/Dockerfile
+    # image: ghcr.io/huebyte/echohub-server:latest  # use this instead of build for pre-built images
+    container_name: echohub-server
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    ports:
+      - "5000:5000"
+      # - "6667:6667"   # IRC (plain, no encryption)
+      # - "6697:6697"   # IRC (TLS encrypted, preferred)
+    volumes:
+      - echohub-data:/app/data
+    env_file:
+      - .env
+
+volumes:
+  echohub-data:

docs/articles/configuration.md

@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+# Configuration
+
+EchoHub Server generates an `appsettings.json` with sensible defaults on first run (including a random JWT secret), so you can launch and start chatting immediately. Tweak things later when you feel like it.
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> Under the hood, EchoHub Server is built on ASP.NET Core, so it inherits the standard .NET configuration system. If you're familiar with that, everything works exactly as you'd expect. If not — no worries, this page covers everything you need.
+
+## How It Works
+
+EchoHub Server loads settings from multiple sources. Each source **overrides** the previous one, so you can layer defaults with environment-specific values:
+
+```text
+1. appsettings.json                   (base defaults)
+2. appsettings.{Environment}.json     (e.g. appsettings.Production.json)
+3. Environment variables              (great for Docker / CI)
+4. Command-line arguments             (highest priority)
+```
+
+The last one wins. If `appsettings.json` says `"Irc:Port": 6667` but you pass `--Irc:Port=7000` on the command line, port 7000 is what you get.
+
+In practice this means you can leave `appsettings.json` alone and override just the settings you care about using environment variables or CLI flags — no need to edit JSON files if that's not your thing.
+
+### Environment Variable Mapping
+
+Environment variables use **double underscores** (`__`) in place of the JSON nesting. The rule is simple — replace every `:` (or each level of JSON nesting) with `__`:
+
+| appsettings.json path | Environment variable |
+| --- | --- |
+| `Server:Name` | `Server__Name` |
+| `Irc:Enabled` | `Irc__Enabled` |
+| `Jwt:Secret` | `Jwt__Secret` |
+| `Serilog:MinimumLevel:Default` | `Serilog__MinimumLevel__Default` |
+| `ConnectionStrings:DefaultConnection` | `ConnectionStrings__DefaultConnection` |
+
+Arrays use numeric indices: `Server:Admins:0` becomes `Server__Admins__0`, `Server:Admins:1` becomes `Server__Admins__1`, and so on.
+
+This is why the Docker `.env` file uses `Server__Name=My Server` instead of JSON — Docker passes these as environment variables, and the server picks them up automatically.
+
+### Examples
+
+All three of these achieve the same thing — use whichever fits your setup.
+
+**appsettings.json** (direct editing):
+
+```json
+{
+  "Server": {
+    "Name": "My EchoHub Server",
+    "PublicServer": true
+  }
+}
+```
+
+**Environment variables** (Docker, systemd, shell export):
+
+```bash
+export Server__Name="My EchoHub Server"
+export Server__PublicServer=true
+```
+
+**Command-line arguments** (quick overrides, highest priority):
+
+```bash
+./EchoHub.Server --Server:Name="My EchoHub Server" --Irc:Enabled=true
+```
+
+## Configuration Reference
+
+The full `appsettings.json` is auto-generated on first run from the [example config](https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub/blob/master/src/EchoHub.Server/appsettings.example.json). Here's every option:
+
+### General
+
+| Key | Default | Description |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `Urls` | `http://0.0.0.0:5000` | Listen address and port |
+| `AllowedHosts` | `*` | Allowed host headers (leave `*` unless you need host filtering) |
+
+### Database
+
+| Key | Default | Description |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `ConnectionStrings:DefaultConnection` | *(empty)* | SQLite connection string. Empty = `echohub.db` in the app directory |
+
+### Authentication
+
+| Key | Default | Description |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `Jwt:Secret` | *(auto-generated)* | Signing key (min 32 chars). Auto-generated on first run |
+| `Jwt:Issuer` | `EchoHub.Server` | JWT issuer claim |
+| `Jwt:Audience` | `EchoHub.Client` | JWT audience claim |
+
+Access tokens expire after 15 minutes, refresh tokens after 30 days with rotation on each use.
+
+### Server Identity
+
+| Key | Default | Description |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `Server:Name` | `My EchoHub Server` | Display name shown to clients |
+| `Server:Description` | `A self-hosted EchoHub chat server` | Server description |
+| `Server:PublicServer` | `false` | Register on the [public directory](https://echohub.voidcube.cloud/servers) |
+| `Server:PublicHost` | *(empty)* | Public hostname for the directory listing (e.g. `chat.example.com:5000`) |
+| `Server:Admins` | `[]` | Array of admin usernames (e.g. `["alice", "bob"]`) |
+
+### Encryption
+
+| Key | Default | Description |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `Encryption:Key` | *(auto-generated)* | AES key for message encryption in transit |
+| `Encryption:EncryptDatabase` | `false` | Also encrypt message content at rest in SQLite |
+
+### Storage
+
+| Key | Default | Description |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `Storage:CleanupIntervalHours` | `1` | How often the cleanup job runs (hours) |
+| `Storage:RetentionDays` | `30` | Days to keep uploaded files before cleanup |
+
+### IRC Gateway
+
+| Key | Default | Description |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `Irc:Enabled` | `false` | Enable the IRC protocol gateway |
+| `Irc:Port` | `6667` | IRC plain-text listen port |
+| `Irc:TlsEnabled` | `false` | Enable TLS termination for IRC |
+| `Irc:TlsPort` | `6697` | IRC TLS listen port |
+| `Irc:TlsCertPath` | *(empty)* | Path to a PKCS#12 (`.pfx`) certificate |
+| `Irc:TlsCertPassword` | *(empty)* | Password for the certificate file |
+| `Irc:ServerName` | `echohub` | IRC server name in protocol messages |
+| `Irc:Motd` | `Welcome to EchoHub IRC Gateway!` | Message of the day |
+
+### Logging
+
+EchoHub uses [Serilog](https://serilog.net/) for structured logging — console output + daily rolling files with 14-day retention by default.
+
+| Key | Default | Description |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `Serilog:MinimumLevel:Default` | `Information` | Global log level (`Debug`, `Information`, `Warning`, `Error`) |
+| `Serilog:MinimumLevel:Override:Microsoft` | `Warning` | Suppress noisy framework logs |
+| `Serilog:MinimumLevel:Override:Microsoft.AspNetCore` | `Warning` | Suppress request pipeline logs |
+| `Serilog:MinimumLevel:Override:Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore` | `Warning` | Suppress database query logs |
+
+Log files are written to `logs/echohub-server-YYYY-MM-DD.log`. To change the path or retention, edit the `Serilog:WriteTo` section in `appsettings.json`.
+
+Want more verbose output for debugging? Set the minimum level to `Debug`:
+
+```bash
+# via environment variable
+export Serilog__MinimumLevel__Default=Debug
+
+# or command line
+./EchoHub.Server --Serilog:MinimumLevel:Default=Debug
+```

docs/articles/docker.md

@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+# Docker
+
+## Quick Start
+
+```bash
+cp .env.example .env        # create your config
+docker compose up -d         # start the server
+```
+
+On first run the server automatically generates JWT and encryption keys, creates the database, and seeds a `#general` channel. Connect with the EchoHub client to `http://localhost:5000`.
+
+### Using a Pre-built Image
+
+Instead of building locally, you can pull from GHCR. In `docker-compose.yml`, replace the `build` block:
+
+```yaml
+services:
+  echohub-server:
+    image: ghcr.io/huebyte/echohub-server:latest
+    # build:
+    #   context: ./src
+    #   dockerfile: EchoHub.Server/Dockerfile
+```
+
+## Configuration
+
+All settings are configured through the `.env` file. These are environment variables that override `appsettings.json` — the `__` (double underscore) maps to JSON nesting levels. For example, `Server__Name` overrides the `Server:Name` key in `appsettings.json`.
+
+See the [Configuration](configuration.md) guide for the full reference of all available settings and how the override hierarchy works.
+
+Common Docker-relevant variables:
+
+| Variable | Default | Description |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `Server__Name` | My EchoHub Server | Display name for your server |
+| `Server__Admins__0` | *(empty)* | Admin username (use `__1`, `__2` for more) |
+| `Irc__Enabled` | `false` | Enable the IRC gateway |
+| `Serilog__MinimumLevel__Default` | `Information` | Log level (`Debug`, `Warning`, etc.) |
+
+## Persistent Data
+
+All server state lives in a single Docker volume mounted at `/app/data`:
+
+```text
+/app/data/
+├── appsettings.json   # generated config with JWT/encryption keys
+├── echohub.db         # SQLite database
+├── uploads/           # uploaded files and avatars
+└── logs/              # rolling log files (14-day retention)
+```
+
+### Backup
+
+```bash
+# stop the server to ensure a consistent snapshot
+docker compose stop
+# copy the data volume to a local directory
+docker cp echohub-server:/app/data ./backup
+docker compose start
+```
+
+## IRC Gateway
+
+To enable IRC, set these in your `.env`:
+
+```env
+Irc__Enabled=true
+```
+
+Then uncomment the port in `docker-compose.yml`:
+
+```yaml
+ports:
+  - "5000:5000"
+  - "6697:6697"   # IRC (TLS encrypted, preferred)
+```
+
+For TLS, also set:
+
+```env
+Irc__TlsEnabled=true
+Irc__TlsCertPath=/app/data/cert.pfx
+Irc__TlsCertPassword=your_password
+```
+
+Mount your certificate into the data volume or bind-mount it directly.
+
+IRC users must have an existing EchoHub account. See [Getting Started](getting-started.md#connect-via-irc) for client connection examples.
+
+## Updating
+
+```bash
+# if using pre-built images
+docker compose pull
+docker compose up -d
+
+# if building locally
+docker compose build
+docker compose up -d
+```
+
+Data persists across updates since it lives in the named volume.
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+**Port already in use** -- Another process is using port 5000. Change the host port in `docker-compose.yml`:
+
+```yaml
+ports:
+  - "8080:5000"   # access via http://localhost:8080
+```
+
+**Permission denied on volume** -- The container runs as a non-root `echohub` user (UID 999). If using bind mounts instead of named volumes, ensure the directory is writable.
+
+**View logs** -- Check the container output:
+
+```bash
+docker compose logs -f echohub-server
+```
+
+File-based logs are also available inside the volume at `/app/data/logs/`.

docs/articles/getting-started.md

@@ -1,29 +1,60 @@
 # Getting Started
 
-## Prerequisites
+## Install the Client
 
-- [.NET 10 SDK](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download)
+### Windows (Chocolatey)
 
-Or grab a self-contained binary from [Releases](https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub/releases) -- no runtime needed.
+```bash
+choco install echohub
+```
 
-## Run the Server
+### Linux / macOS
+
+```bash
+curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HueByte/EchoHub/master/scripts/install.sh | sh
+```
+
+To install a specific version or to a custom directory:
+
+```bash
+curl -sSfL .../install.sh | sh -s -- --version 0.2.8
+curl -sSfL .../install.sh | sh -s -- --install-dir /opt/echohub
+```
+
+### Manual Download
+
+Grab a self-contained binary from [Releases](https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub/releases) -- no runtime needed.
+
+## Host a Server
+
+### Docker
+
+The quickest way to host a server:
+
+```bash
+cp .env.example .env
+docker compose up -d
+```
+
+See the [Docker guide](docker.md) for configuration, pre-built images, and more.
+
+### From Source
 
 ```bash
 dotnet run --project src/EchoHub.Server
 ```
 
+Requires [.NET 10 SDK](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download).
+
 On first run, the server automatically:
 
 1. Creates `appsettings.json` from the example config
 2. Generates a secure JWT secret
 3. Creates the SQLite database with a `#general` channel
 
-## Run the Client
-
-```bash
-dotnet run --project src/EchoHub.Client
-```
+## Usage
 
+After installing the client, run `echohub` (or `dotnet run --project src/EchoHub.Client` from source).
 Connect to a server, register an account, and start chatting.
 
 ## Connect via IRC
@@ -53,9 +84,9 @@ See the [Architecture](architecture.md) page for details on how the IRC gateway
 
 ## Configuration
 
-Server configuration is in `appsettings.json` (auto-generated on first run). See the [example config](https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub/blob/master/src/EchoHub.Server/appsettings.example.json) for all available options.
+Server configuration is in `appsettings.json` (auto-generated on first run). You can also use environment variables or command-line arguments to override settings.
 
-To list your server on the [public directory](https://echohub.voidcube.cloud/servers), set `Server:PublicServer` to `true` and `Server:PublicHost` to your server's public address.
+See the [Configuration](configuration.md) guide for the full reference and how it all works.
 
 ## Build from Source
 

docs/articles/toc.yml

@@ -1,8 +1,16 @@
-- name: Getting Started
-  href: getting-started.md
-- name: Architecture
-  href: architecture.md
-- name: Encryption
-  href: encryption.md
-- name: Notification Sounds
-  href: notification-sounds.md
+- name: Guides
+  items:
+    - name: Getting Started
+      href: getting-started.md
+    - name: Docker
+      href: docker.md
+    - name: Architecture
+      href: architecture.md
+    - name: Configuration
+      href: configuration.md
+    - name: Encryption
+      href: encryption.md
+    - name: Notification Sounds
+      href: notification-sounds.md
+- name: Flows
+  href: ../flows/toc.yml

docs/changelog/index.md

@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ Release history for EchoHub.
 
 ## Releases
 
+- [v0.2.8](v0.2.8.md) - Docker Support, IRC Account Creation & BOM Fix
+- [v0.2.7](v0.2.7.md) - User List Fix & Terminal.Gui NuGet Migration
+- [v0.2.6](v0.2.6.md) - Major Refactoring & Code Organization
 - [v0.2.5](v0.2.5.md) - Session Persistence, Auto-Updates, Audio & Transparent Theme
 - [v0.2.4](v0.2.4.md) - E2E Message Encryption
 - [v0.2.3](v0.2.3.md) - Moderation, Embeds & UI Overhaul

docs/changelog/toc.yml

@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 - name: Overview
   href: index.md
+- name: v0.2.8
+  href: v0.2.8.md
+- name: v0.2.7
+  href: v0.2.7.md
+- name: v0.2.6
+  href: v0.2.6.md
 - name: v0.2.5
   href: v0.2.5.md
 - name: v0.2.4

docs/changelog/v0.2.6.md

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 - Moved `AsyncRunner` from project root to `Services/` with updated namespace
 - Renamed `ColorHelper` → `HexColorHelper` to avoid namespace collision with Terminal.Gui's `ColorHelper` NuGet dependency
 - Moved `hue_icon.ico` to `Client/Assets/`, removed duplicate from Server (Server now references shared icon via relative path)
+- Add hex color parsing helper and implement custom list sources for channels and users
+- Add dialogs for connection, channel creation, profile editing, and status management
 
 ## Infrastructure
 

docs/changelog/v0.2.7.md

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# v0.2.7
+
+## Bug Fixes
+
+- Fix user list empty on initial connect — `FetchAndUpdateOnlineUsers` was called before `InvokeUI` set the current channel, causing an early return
+
+## Infrastructure
+
+- Switch Terminal.Gui from local fork submodule back to NuGet package (`2.0.0-develop.5039`) — transparent color PR merged upstream
+- Remove Terminal.Gui submodule, `.gitmodules`, and root `nuget.config` workaround
+- Remove `rm -f` submodule nuget.config steps and `submodules: recursive` from all 3 CI workflows (ci, docs, release)
+- Remove `--exclude src/Terminal.Gui/` from format check

docs/changelog/v0.2.8.md

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+# v0.2.8
+
+## Bug Fixes
+
+- Fix memory leak — `HttpResponseMessage` objects never disposed in `ApiClient`, leaking TCP connections and content buffers on every API call (especially on failed connection attempts)
+- Fix 401 retry leak — `AuthenticatedGetAsync`/`AuthenticatedRequestAsync` leaked the original response when retrying after token refresh
+- Fix connection failure cleanup — `ConnectionManager.ConnectAsync` now properly disposes `ApiClient` and `EchoHubConnection` on any failure path (previously only cleaned up on saved-token auth failures)
+- Fix IRC gateway sending UTF-8 BOM on first message, breaking CAP negotiation and SASL auth for all clients
+- Handle `AUTHENTICATE *` (SASL abort) instead of crashing on invalid base64
+- Fix userlist not refreshing when creating a new channel — now fetches online users after channel creation
+- Fix unmute timer not working — add `MuteExpirationService` background job that proactively unmutes users when their timed mute expires (previously only checked on message send)
+- Fix missing space between mod/admin role icon and username in the userlist
+- Fix invisible users still visible in the userlist — `GetOnlineUsersAsync` now filters invisible users; server skips `UserJoined` broadcast for invisible users
+- Fix invisible→online transition — user reappears in cached userlist when switching from invisible back to a visible status
+- Fix thread safety — `_channelUsers` presence cache now protected by `Lock` to prevent races between SignalR events and background fetches
+- Fix `@mention` regex matching email addresses and `#channel` regex matching hex colors / issue numbers — both now use lookbehind and letter-requirement guards
+- Fix `ParseThemeColor` accepting non-hex characters — now validates `[0-9a-fA-F]` digits
+- Fix ghost channel when trying to join a channel that doesn't exist
+
+## New Features
+
+- Add Docker support for EchoHub.Server — `docker compose up -d` for easy self-hosting with persistent volume for database, uploads, and logs
+- IRC account creation — connecting with a new username auto-registers the account (PASS and SASL PLAIN)
+- Auto-updater rollback — pre-update backup created automatically before each update; restore via File > Rollback menu or `--rollback` CLI flag
+- Update failure recovery — if an update fails mid-extraction, offers to restore from the backup immediately
+- Defensive Unix permission check — verify execute permission on startup after auto-update (defense-in-depth)
+- Clickable usernames — press Enter on a username in the userlist or message sender to view their profile
+- Clickable @mentions — press Enter on a message containing `@username` to open that user's profile
+- Clickable #channels — press Enter on a message containing `#channel` to join/switch to that channel; `#channel` references are now highlighted in chat
+- Embed theme colors — embed vertical border line now uses the source site's `theme-color` meta tag when available
+- Stateful userlist — user presence is cached per channel and updated incrementally via SignalR events instead of re-fetching the full list on every join/leave/status change
+
+## Security
+
+- Restrict file auto-open — only safe file types (video, PDF, text) are opened with the system default app; all other files are downloaded to temp without executing (prevents script execution via `.bat`, `.exe`, etc.)
+
+## Refactoring
+
+- Extract `IUserService`/`UserService` — consolidate user registration, authentication, and profile management into a dedicated service, eliminating duplicated logic between `AuthController` and `ChatService`
+- IRC gateway now checks ban status during authentication (previously skipped)
+- EchoHubSpace directory updates — server now only sends user count when it actually changes instead of every 30 seconds
+- `ChatHub.JoinChannel` now returns `JoinChannelResult` instead of `List<MessageDto>` to allow for better error handling
+
+## Distribution
+
+- Add Chocolatey package — `choco install echohub` for Windows users, auto-published from CI on each release
+- Add Linux/macOS install script — `curl -sSfL .../install.sh | sh` with automatic OS/arch detection
+
+## Documentation
+
+- Add Flows section — Mermaid sequence diagrams documenting all major request/event flows (auth, connection, messaging, channels, moderation, file upload, link embeds, server directory) with inline code references
+
+## CI
+
+- Add Docker workflow — builds and pushes multi-arch (`amd64`/`arm64`) server image to GHCR on release
+- Add `linux-arm64` builds to release pipeline — server and client binaries for ARM Linux (Raspberry Pi, cloud ARM instances)
+- Automate Chocolatey package publishing in release workflow (checksum calculation, pack, push)

docs/changelog/v0.2.9.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# v0.2.9
+
+## Bug Fixes
+
+- Fix Linux/macOS client install — enable single-file publish so the install script copies one self-contained binary instead of just the native host (which failed with "does not exist: EchoHub.Client.dll")

docs/docfx.json

@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@
       "_appTitle": "EchoHub Documentation",
       "_appLogoPath": "images/hue_icon.svg",
       "_appFaviconPath": "images/hue_icon.svg",
-      "_appFooter": "<div class='footer-custom'><div class='footer-inner'><span class='footer-brand'>EchoHub</span><span class='footer-sep'>&middot;</span><a href='https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub'>GitHub</a><span class='footer-sep'>&middot;</span><a href='https://echohub.voidcube.cloud'>Website</a><span class='footer-sep'>&middot;</span><span class='footer-credit'>Built with <a href='https://dotnet.github.io/docfx'>DocFX</a></span></div></div>",
+      "_appFooter": "<div class='footer-custom'><div class='footer-inner'><span class='footer-brand'>EchoHub</span><span class='footer-sep'>&middot;</span><a href='https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub'>GitHub</a><span class='footer-sep'>&middot;</span><a href='https://echohub.voidcube.cloud'>Website</a></div></div>",
       "_enableSearch": true,
       "_disableContribution": false,
       "_gitContribute": {

docs/flows/authentication.md

@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+# Authentication
+
+## User Registration
+
+A new user creates an account on a server. The client sends credentials via REST,
+the server hashes the password, issues JWT tokens, and the client stores the
+refresh token for "Remember Me" sessions.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant UI as ConnectDialog
+    participant AO as AppOrchestrator
+    participant CM as ConnectionManager
+    participant API as ApiClient
+    participant Auth as AuthController
+    participant US as UserService
+    participant JWT as JwtTokenService
+    participant DB as SQLite
+
+    UI->>AO: ConnectDialogResult(IsRegister: true)
+    AO->>CM: ConnectAsync(dialogResult)
+    CM->>API: RegisterAsync(username, password)
+    API->>Auth: POST /api/auth/register
+    Auth->>US: RegisterUserAsync(username, password, displayName)
+    US->>US: Validate (regex, length, uniqueness)
+    US->>DB: INSERT User (BCrypt hash)
+    US-->>Auth: UserOperationResult.Success
+    Auth->>JWT: GenerateAccessToken(user)
+    JWT-->>Auth: (token, expiresAt) [15 min]
+    Auth->>JWT: GenerateRefreshToken()
+    JWT-->>Auth: Base64 random (64 bytes)
+    Auth->>DB: INSERT RefreshToken (SHA256 hash)
+    Auth-->>API: LoginResponse
+    API->>API: SetTokens() — store in memory + set Bearer header
+    API-->>CM: LoginResponse
+    CM->>CM: Wire OnTokensRefreshed for config persistence
+    CM->>CM: Continue to connection setup (see Connection Flow)
+```
+
+---
+
+## User Login
+
+Returning user authenticates with username/password or a saved refresh token.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant UI as ConnectDialog
+    participant CM as ConnectionManager
+    participant API as ApiClient
+    participant Auth as AuthController
+    participant US as UserService
+    participant DB as SQLite
+
+    alt Saved refresh token (Remember Me)
+        UI->>CM: ConnectDialogResult(SavedRefreshToken: "...")
+        CM->>API: LoginWithRefreshTokenAsync()
+        API->>Auth: POST /api/auth/refresh
+        Auth->>DB: Lookup token by SHA256 hash
+        Auth->>DB: Revoke old token, issue new pair
+        Auth-->>API: LoginResponse (rotated tokens)
+    else Username + Password
+        UI->>CM: ConnectDialogResult(IsRegister: false)
+        CM->>API: LoginAsync(username, password)
+        API->>Auth: POST /api/auth/login
+        Auth->>US: AuthenticateUserAsync(username, password)
+        US->>DB: Fetch user, BCrypt.Verify(password, hash)
+        US->>DB: Update LastSeenAt
+        US-->>Auth: UserOperationResult.Success
+        Auth-->>API: LoginResponse
+    end
+    API->>API: SetTokens()
+```
+
+---
+
+## Token Refresh
+
+Access tokens expire after 15 minutes. The client auto-refreshes transparently
+before requests and on 401 responses. Refresh tokens are rotated on each use.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant SR as SignalR / HTTP Request
+    participant API as ApiClient
+    participant Auth as AuthController
+    participant DB as SQLite
+    participant Config as config.json
+
+    SR->>API: GetValidTokenAsync() or HTTP 401
+    API->>API: Token expires within 60s?
+    alt Proactive refresh (SignalR token provider)
+        API->>Auth: POST /api/auth/refresh (old refresh token)
+    else Reactive refresh (HTTP 401 retry)
+        API->>Auth: POST /api/auth/refresh (old refresh token)
+    end
+    Auth->>DB: Lookup by SHA256 hash
+    Auth->>DB: Revoke old refresh token
+    Auth->>DB: INSERT new RefreshToken
+    Auth-->>API: LoginResponse (new token pair)
+    API->>API: SetTokens() — update Bearer header
+    API-->>API: Fire OnTokensRefreshed event
+    API-->>Config: Persist new refresh token (if Remember Me)
+    API->>SR: Retry original request with new token
+```

docs/flows/channels.md

@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+# Channels
+
+## Channel Creation
+
+Channels are created via the REST API. Public channels are broadcast to all
+connected clients.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant Client as Client (TUI/API)
+    participant CC as ChannelsController
+    participant ChS as ChannelService
+    participant CS as ChatService
+    participant DB as SQLite
+    participant SRB as SignalRBroadcaster
+    participant IRCB as IrcBroadcaster
+
+    Client->>CC: POST /api/channels {name, topic, isPublic}
+    CC->>ChS: CreateChannelAsync(creatorId, name, topic, isPublic)
+    ChS->>ChS: Normalize name (lowercase, trim)
+    ChS->>ChS: Validate format (2-100 chars, regex)
+    ChS->>DB: Check duplicate
+    ChS->>DB: INSERT Channel + ChannelMembership (creator auto-added)
+    ChS-->>CC: ChannelDto
+
+    alt Channel is public
+        CC->>CS: BroadcastChannelUpdatedAsync(channel)
+        CS->>SRB: SendChannelUpdatedAsync(channelDto)
+        SRB->>SRB: Notify all SignalR clients
+        CS->>IRCB: SendChannelUpdatedAsync(channelDto)
+    end
+
+    CC-->>Client: 201 Created (ChannelDto)
+```
+
+---
+
+## Channel Deletion
+
+Only the channel creator (or admin) can delete a channel. The default channel
+is protected.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant Client as Client
+    participant CC as ChannelsController
+    participant ChS as ChannelService
+    participant DB as SQLite
+
+    Client->>CC: DELETE /api/channels/{channel}
+    CC->>ChS: DeleteChannelAsync(channelName, callerId)
+    ChS->>ChS: Reject if default channel
+    ChS->>DB: Lookup channel
+    ChS->>ChS: Verify caller is creator or admin
+    ChS->>DB: DELETE Channel (cascade: messages, memberships)
+    ChS-->>CC: Success
+    CC-->>Client: 204 No Content
+```
+
+---
+
+## Joining a Channel
+
+Both SignalR and IRC clients join channels through `ChatService`. The presence
+tracker determines if this is a genuinely new join (vs. a second connection) and
+broadcasts accordingly.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant Client as Client (SignalR or IRC)
+    participant Entry as ChatHub / IrcCommandHandler
+    participant CS as ChatService
+    participant ChS as ChannelService
+    participant PT as PresenceTracker
+    participant DB as SQLite
+    participant SRB as SignalRBroadcaster
+    participant IRCB as IrcBroadcaster
+
+    Client->>Entry: JoinChannel / JOIN #channel
+    Entry->>CS: JoinChannelAsync(connectionId, userId, username, channel)
+    CS->>ChS: EnsureChannelMembershipAsync(userId, channel)
+    ChS->>DB: INSERT ChannelMembership (if not exists)
+
+    CS->>PT: JoinChannel(username, channel)
+    PT-->>CS: isNewJoin?
+
+    alt First connection in this channel
+        CS->>DB: Fetch UserPresenceDto
+        CS->>CS: BroadcastToAllAsync(SendUserJoinedAsync)
+        par
+            CS->>SRB: SendUserJoinedAsync(channel, user, excludeConn)
+        and
+            CS->>IRCB: SendUserJoinedAsync(channel, user)
+        end
+    end
+
+    CS->>DB: Fetch message history
+    CS-->>Entry: (history, error)
+    Entry-->>Client: History messages
+```
+
+---
+
+## Leaving a Channel
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant Client as Client
+    participant Entry as ChatHub / IrcCommandHandler
+    participant CS as ChatService
+    participant PT as PresenceTracker
+    participant SRB as SignalRBroadcaster
+    participant IRCB as IrcBroadcaster
+
+    Client->>Entry: LeaveChannel / PART #channel
+    Entry->>CS: LeaveChannelAsync(connectionId, username, channel)
+    CS->>PT: LeaveChannel(username, channel)
+    CS->>CS: BroadcastToAllAsync(SendUserLeftAsync)
+    par
+        CS->>SRB: SendUserLeftAsync(channel, username)
+    and
+        CS->>IRCB: SendUserLeftAsync(channel, username)
+    end
+```

docs/flows/connection.md

@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+# Connection
+
+## SignalR Client Connection
+
+After authentication, the TUI client establishes a SignalR WebSocket, registers
+event handlers, joins the default channel, and loads history.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant CM as ConnectionManager
+    participant EHC as EchoHubConnection
+    participant Hub as ChatHub
+    participant CS as ChatService
+    participant PT as PresenceTracker
+    participant DB as SQLite
+
+    CM->>CM: Fetch encryption key (GET /api/server/encryption-key)
+    CM->>EHC: new EchoHubConnection(apiClient, encryption)
+    EHC->>EHC: Build HubConnection (URL + JWT token provider + auto-reconnect)
+    EHC->>EHC: RegisterHandlers() — wire ReceiveMessage, UserJoined, etc.
+    EHC->>Hub: ConnectAsync() → WebSocket handshake
+    Hub->>CS: UserConnectedAsync(connectionId, userId, username)
+    CS->>PT: UserConnected(connectionId, userId, username)
+    CS->>DB: Update user: Status=Online, LastSeenAt=now
+    CM->>CM: Fetch channel list (GET /api/channels)
+    CM->>EHC: JoinChannelAsync("general")
+    EHC->>Hub: InvokeAsync("JoinChannel", "general")
+    Hub->>CS: JoinChannelAsync(connectionId, userId, username, "general")
+    CS->>DB: EnsureChannelMembership
+    CS->>PT: JoinChannel(username, "general")
+    CS->>CS: BroadcastToAllAsync → UserJoined
+    CS->>DB: Fetch message history
+    Hub-->>EHC: List<MessageDto> (encrypted)
+    EHC-->>CM: Decrypted history
+```
+
+---
+
+## IRC Client Connection
+
+IRC clients connect via TCP, authenticate with PASS/NICK/USER or SASL PLAIN,
+and auto-join channels. New usernames are auto-registered.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant IRC as IRC Client
+    participant GW as IrcGatewayService
+    participant CH as IrcCommandHandler
+    participant US as UserService
+    participant CS as ChatService
+    participant PT as PresenceTracker
+
+    IRC->>GW: TCP connect (:6667 or :6697 TLS)
+    GW->>GW: Accept + create IrcClientConnection
+    GW->>CH: new IrcCommandHandler(connection, services)
+    GW->>CH: RunAsync() — start read loop
+
+    alt SASL PLAIN
+        IRC->>CH: CAP REQ :sasl
+        CH-->>IRC: CAP ACK :sasl
+        IRC->>CH: AUTHENTICATE PLAIN
+        CH-->>IRC: AUTHENTICATE +
+        IRC->>CH: AUTHENTICATE <base64(\0user\0pass)>
+        CH->>US: AuthenticateUserAsync(user, pass)
+        alt Auth fails → auto-register
+            CH->>US: RegisterUserAsync(user, pass)
+        end
+        CH-->>IRC: 903 :SASL authentication successful
+    else PASS/NICK/USER
+        IRC->>CH: PASS <password>
+        IRC->>CH: NICK <nickname>
+        IRC->>CH: USER <username> 0 * :<realname>
+        CH->>US: AuthenticateUserAsync(nick, pass)
+        alt Auth fails → auto-register
+            CH->>US: RegisterUserAsync(nick, pass)
+        end
+    end
+
+    CH->>CS: UserConnectedAsync(irc-{guid}, userId, username)
+    CS->>PT: UserConnected(irc-{guid}, userId, username)
+    CH-->>IRC: 001-004 RPL_WELCOME burst + MOTD
+
+    Note over IRC,CH: Client is now ready for JOIN/PART/PRIVMSG
+```
+
+---
+
+## User Disconnect & Presence
+
+When a client disconnects, the presence tracker determines if the user has any
+remaining connections. If not, status is set to Invisible and all channels are
+notified.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant Client as Client
+    participant Entry as ChatHub / IrcGatewayService
+    participant CS as ChatService
+    participant PT as PresenceTracker
+    participant DB as SQLite
+    participant SRB as SignalRBroadcaster
+
+    Client->>Entry: Disconnect / TCP close
+    Entry->>CS: UserDisconnectedAsync(connectionId)
+    CS->>PT: Get username + channels (before removal)
+    CS->>PT: UserDisconnected(connectionId)
+    PT->>PT: Remove connection from tracking
+
+    alt No remaining connections for user
+        CS->>DB: Update user: Status=Invisible, LastSeenAt=now
+        loop For each channel user was in
+            CS->>CS: BroadcastToAllAsync(SendUserStatusChangedAsync)
+            CS->>SRB: Notify channel members
+        end
+    end
+```

docs/flows/flows.md

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Flows
+
+This section documents the major request/event flows in EchoHub, showing how data moves between the TUI client, IRC client, server, and database. Each diagram includes code references so you can jump straight to the implementation.

docs/flows/media.md

@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+# Media & Services
+
+## File Upload
+
+Files are uploaded via REST, validated by magic bytes, stored with GUID filenames,
+and broadcast as a message with a download link.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant Client as Client
+    participant CC as ChannelsController
+    participant FV as FileValidationHelper
+    participant FS as FileStorageService
+    participant CS as ChatService
+    participant DB as SQLite
+
+    Client->>CC: POST /api/channels/{channel}/upload (multipart)
+    CC->>CC: Check file size limits
+    CC->>FV: IsValidImage(stream) — magic byte check
+    FV->>FV: Read header: JPEG(FFD8FF) / PNG(89504E47) / GIF / WebP(RIFF+WEBP)
+    FV-->>CC: true/false
+    CC->>FS: SaveFileAsync(stream, extension)
+    FS->>FS: Generate GUID filename, write to uploads/
+    FS-->>CC: fileId (GUID)
+    CC->>CC: Determine MessageType (Image/Audio/File)
+    CC->>CS: SendMessageAsync (with file URL + optional ASCII art)
+    CS->>DB: INSERT Message
+    CS->>CS: BroadcastToAllAsync → fan out to clients
+```
+
+---
+
+## Link Embed Resolution
+
+When a message contains URLs, the server fetches OpenGraph metadata for preview
+embeds.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant CS as ChatService
+    participant LE as LinkEmbedService
+    participant Web as External Website
+
+    CS->>LE: TryGetEmbedsAsync(messageContent)
+    LE->>LE: Extract URLs via regex
+    LE->>LE: Filter: max URLs per message, skip duplicates
+
+    loop For each URL
+        LE->>LE: Validate: http(s) only, block private IPs
+        LE->>Web: GET URL (timeout + size limit)
+        Web-->>LE: HTML response
+        LE->>LE: Parse og:title, og:description, og:site_name
+        LE->>LE: Parse theme-color meta tag
+        LE->>LE: Fallback to <title> if no og:title
+    end
+
+    LE-->>CS: List<EmbedDto> (or null)
+    Note over CS: Attached to MessageDto before broadcast
+```
+
+---
+
+## Server Directory Registration
+
+Public servers register with the EchoHubSpace directory for discoverability.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant SDS as ServerDirectoryService
+    participant Dir as EchoHubSpace Directory
+    participant PT as PresenceTracker
+
+    SDS->>SDS: Check Server:PublicServer config
+    SDS->>Dir: SignalR connect (echohub.voidcube.cloud/hubs/servers)
+    SDS->>Dir: RegisterServer(name, description, host, userCount)
+    Dir-->>SDS: Registered
+
+    loop Every 30 seconds
+        SDS->>PT: Get online user count
+        alt Count changed
+            SDS->>Dir: UpdateUserCount(count)
+        end
+    end
+
+    Dir->>SDS: Ping
+    SDS->>Dir: Heartbeat
+
+    Note over SDS,Dir: Exponential backoff on disconnect (2s → 30s max)
+```

docs/flows/messaging.md

@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+# Messaging
+
+## Sending a Message (SignalR)
+
+A message typed in the TUI travels through encryption, the SignalR hub,
+`ChatService` validation, database storage, and fan-out to both SignalR and IRC
+clients.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant UI as MainWindow (TUI)
+    participant AO as AppOrchestrator
+    participant EHC as EchoHubConnection
+    participant Hub as ChatHub
+    participant CS as ChatService
+    participant LE as LinkEmbedService
+    participant DB as SQLite
+    participant SRB as SignalRBroadcaster
+    participant IRCB as IrcBroadcaster
+    participant Clients as Other Clients
+
+    UI->>AO: OnMessageSubmitted(channel, text)
+    AO->>AO: IsCommand(text)? → No
+    AO->>EHC: SendMessageAsync(channel, text)
+    EHC->>EHC: Encrypt(text) → ciphertext
+    EHC->>Hub: InvokeAsync("SendMessage", channel, ciphertext)
+    Hub->>CS: SendMessageAsync(userId, username, channel, ciphertext)
+    CS->>CS: Decrypt(ciphertext) → plaintext
+    CS->>CS: Validate (length, newlines, channel exists)
+    CS->>DB: Check mute status
+    CS->>LE: TryGetEmbedsAsync(plaintext)
+    LE->>LE: Extract URLs, fetch OG tags
+    LE-->>CS: List<EmbedDto> (or null)
+    CS->>DB: INSERT Message (encrypted at rest)
+    CS->>CS: Re-encrypt plaintext for transport
+    CS->>CS: Build MessageDto with embeds
+
+    par Fan-out to all broadcasters
+        CS->>SRB: SendMessageToChannelAsync(channel, dto)
+        SRB->>Clients: HubContext.Group(channel).ReceiveMessage(dto)
+    and
+        CS->>IRCB: SendMessageToChannelAsync(channel, dto)
+        IRCB->>IRCB: Decrypt → format as PRIVMSG lines
+        IRCB->>Clients: Send to each IRC conn (skip sender)
+    end
+```
+
+---
+
+## Sending a Message (IRC)
+
+Messages from IRC clients follow the same `ChatService` path but enter as
+plaintext (no app-layer encryption).
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant IRC as IRC Client
+    participant CH as IrcCommandHandler
+    participant CS as ChatService
+    participant DB as SQLite
+    participant SRB as SignalRBroadcaster
+    participant IRCB as IrcBroadcaster
+
+    IRC->>CH: PRIVMSG #channel :Hello world
+    CH->>CH: Parse target + content
+    CH->>CH: IrcToEchoHubChannel("#channel") → "channel"
+    CH->>CS: SendMessageAsync(userId, username, "channel", "Hello world")
+    CS->>CS: Decrypt("Hello world") → passthrough (no $ENC$ prefix)
+    CS->>CS: Validate, check mute, fetch embeds
+    CS->>DB: INSERT Message
+    CS->>CS: Encrypt plaintext for SignalR transport
+
+    par Fan-out
+        CS->>SRB: SendMessageToChannelAsync (encrypted for SignalR)
+    and
+        CS->>IRCB: SendMessageToChannelAsync (decrypt → PRIVMSG)
+        IRCB->>IRCB: Skip sender (IRC echo suppression)
+    end
+```
+
+---
+
+## Receiving a Message (TUI Client)
+
+When a message arrives via SignalR, the client decrypts it, adds it to the chat
+view, and optionally plays a notification sound for @mentions.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant SRB as SignalRBroadcaster
+    participant EHC as EchoHubConnection
+    participant AO as AppOrchestrator
+    participant MM as ChatMessageManager
+    participant UI as MainWindow
+
+    SRB->>EHC: ReceiveMessage(MessageDto)
+    EHC->>EHC: Decrypt(message.Content)
+    EHC-->>AO: OnMessageReceived(decrypted dto)
+    AO->>AO: InvokeUI (thread-safe)
+    AO->>MM: AddMessage(message)
+    MM->>UI: Render in chat ListView
+    alt Message contains @username
+        AO->>AO: PlayAsync() notification sound
+    end
+```
+
+---
+
+## Command Execution
+
+Slash commands (`/status`, `/nick`, `/kick`, etc.) are parsed client-side and
+dispatched to appropriate handlers, which call REST APIs or SignalR methods.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant UI as MainWindow
+    participant AO as AppOrchestrator
+    participant CMD as CommandHandler
+    participant API as ApiClient
+    participant EHC as EchoHubConnection
+    participant Server as Server (API/Hub)
+
+    UI->>AO: OnMessageSubmitted(channel, "/kick baduser")
+    AO->>CMD: IsCommand("/kick baduser")? → true
+    AO->>CMD: HandleAsync("/kick baduser")
+    CMD->>CMD: Parse → command="kick", args="baduser"
+
+    alt API command (kick, ban, mute, nick, etc.)
+        CMD-->>AO: Fire OnKickRequested("baduser")
+        AO->>API: KickUserAsync("baduser")
+        API->>Server: POST /api/moderation/kick/baduser
+    else Hub command (status, join, leave, etc.)
+        CMD-->>AO: Fire OnSetStatus / OnJoinChannel / etc.
+        AO->>EHC: UpdateStatusAsync() / JoinChannelAsync() / etc.
+        EHC->>Server: SignalR Invoke
+    else Local command (theme, help, quit)
+        CMD-->>AO: Fire OnThemeChanged / etc.
+        AO->>UI: Apply locally (no server call)
+    end
+
+    AO->>UI: AddSystemMessage(result)
+```
+
+**Available commands:**
+
+| Command | Type | Handler |
+|---------|------|---------|
+| `/status <status> [message]` | Hub | `UpdateStatusAsync` |
+| `/nick <name>` | API | `UpdateProfileAsync` |
+| `/color <hex>` | API | `UpdateProfileAsync` |
+| `/join <channel>` | Hub | `JoinChannelAsync` |
+| `/leave` | Hub | `LeaveChannelAsync` |
+| `/topic <text>` | API | `UpdateChannelTopicAsync` |
+| `/kick <user>` | API | `POST /api/moderation/kick/{user}` |
+| `/ban <user>` | API | `POST /api/moderation/ban/{user}` |
+| `/unban <user>` | API | `POST /api/moderation/unban/{user}` |
+| `/mute <user> [mins]` | API | `POST /api/moderation/mute/{user}` |
+| `/unmute <user>` | API | `POST /api/moderation/unmute/{user}` |
+| `/role <user> <role>` | API | `PUT /api/moderation/role/{user}` |
+| `/nuke` | API | `DELETE /api/channels/{channel}/messages` |
+| `/send <file>` | API | `POST /api/channels/{channel}/upload` |
+| `/profile [user]` | Local | Show profile dialog |
+| `/avatar` | API | `POST /api/users/avatar` |
+| `/theme <name>` | Local | `ThemeManager.SetTheme()` |
+| `/servers` | API | `GET /api/serverdir/servers` |
+| `/users` | Local | Show userlist |
+| `/help` | Local | Show help text |
+| `/quit` | Local | Exit application |

docs/flows/moderation.md

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# Moderation
+
+## Kick / Ban / Mute
+
+Moderators and admins can kick, ban, or mute users via REST API or slash commands.
+These actions force-disconnect the target and broadcast the event.
+
+```mermaid
+sequenceDiagram
+    participant Mod as Moderator
+    participant MC as ModerationController
+    participant CS as ChatService
+    participant PT as PresenceTracker
+    participant DB as SQLite
+    participant SRB as SignalRBroadcaster
+    participant IRCB as IrcBroadcaster
+
+    Mod->>MC: POST /api/moderation/kick/{user}
+
+    alt Kick
+        MC->>CS: Get user's channels
+        MC->>CS: BroadcastToAllAsync(SendUserKickedAsync)
+        MC->>CS: ForceDisconnectAndCleanupAsync(user)
+    else Ban
+        MC->>DB: Set user.IsBanned = true
+        MC->>CS: BroadcastToAllAsync(SendUserBannedAsync)
+        MC->>CS: ForceDisconnectAndCleanupAsync(user)
+    else Mute
+        MC->>DB: Set user.IsMuted = true, MutedUntil = now + duration
+        Note over DB: MuteExpirationService auto-unmutes when timer expires
+    end
+
+    CS->>PT: ForceRemoveUser(username)
+    PT->>PT: Remove from all connections + channels
+    CS->>SRB: ForceDisconnectUserAsync(connectionIds, reason)
+    CS->>IRCB: ForceDisconnectUserAsync(connectionIds, reason)
+    CS->>DB: Set Status=Invisible, LastSeenAt=now
+```

docs/flows/toc.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+- name: Authentication
+  href: authentication.md
+- name: Connection
+  href: connection.md
+- name: Messaging
+  href: messaging.md
+- name: Channels
+  href: channels.md
+- name: Moderation
+  href: moderation.md
+- name: Media & Services
+  href: media.md

docs/templates/echohub/public/main.css

@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ header.top-navbar {
 .navbar .navbar-brand svg {
     height: 28px;
     width: auto;
+    margin-right: 0.5em;
 }
 
 .navbar .nav-link {
@@ -320,19 +321,6 @@ footer {
     color: #E6C06E;
 }
 
-.footer-credit {
-    color: #484f58;
-    font-size: 0.85em;
-}
-
-.footer-credit a {
-    color: #6e7681;
-}
-
-.footer-credit a:hover {
-    color: #E6C06E;
-}
-
 /* --- Scrollbar --- */
 ::-webkit-scrollbar {
     width: 8px;

docs/todo.md

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# TODO
+
+- [ ] fix the chat trailing; when user scrolls up, and somebody sends a message – the chat instantly "teleports" to the very bottom
+- [x] disable the autorun of files (maybe keep for mp4? gotta do some sec research on it)
+- [x] when user creates a new channel, he gets moved to that channel; but the userlist does not refresh the state on that – it refreshes when user re-enters the channel again
+- [ ] password protected rooms
+- [ ] better audio lib, current one (NetCoreAudio) does not support seek or other audio actions
+- [ ] Use options pattern for both client & server
+  - ref: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/configuration/options?view=aspnetcore-10.0
+- [x] The vertical line of embeds should be the same colour as theme-color meta tag of the source
+- [x] change text wrapping to honor the offset of the user. (Preferably wrap whole words if they fit in on line. Basically how the CSS "text-wrap-mode: wrap;" works)
+- [x] make usernames in messages, mentions and in the user list clickable to open the user profile
+- [ ] Add tags support for public servers & add filters on echohubspace for those tags in the server "browser"
+- [ ] when trying to /join a channel that doesn't exist a client side-ghost channel gets created that does not work
+- [x] unmute timer does not seem to work
+- [ ] add IRC network like support
+  - that means basically multiple servers linked, so users can chat cross-server in this network
+- [x] when users clicks public -> private -> public checkbox in the channel creation, it ends up creating the channel on 3rd check switch
+- [ ] add keyboard only controls | at least for most important parts and the rest might be accessible with: (down)
+- [ ] add search bar / search modal – that will allow users to instantly navigate to room / focus on app element & etc
+- [ ] Actually smart data management – cache messages, lazy load messages on scroll (currently hardcoded 100msgs fetched + new ones)
+- [x] Another thing would be stateful userlist – basically fetch once and listen for userlist updates
+- [x] Send to EchohubSpace only state changes, currently we send user count periodically, instead of updating it on update
+- [x] space between mod|admin "icon" and username
+- [ ] Embeds still incorrectly display colors

nuget.config

@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<configuration>
-  <packageSources>
-    <clear />
-    <add key="nuget.org" value="https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json" protocolVersion="3" />
-  </packageSources>
-  <packageSourceMapping>
-    <packageSource key="nuget.org">
-      <package pattern="*" />
-    </packageSource>
-  </packageSourceMapping>
-</configuration>

packaging/choco/echohub.nuspec

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<package xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2015/06/nuspec.xsd">
+  <metadata>
+    <id>echohub</id>
+    <version>__VERSION__</version>
+    <title>EchoHub</title>
+    <authors>HueByte</authors>
+    <owners>HueByte</owners>
+    <requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
+    <licenseUrl>https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub/blob/master/LICENSE</licenseUrl>
+    <projectUrl>https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub</projectUrl>
+    <projectSourceUrl>https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub</projectSourceUrl>
+    <docsUrl>https://huebyte.github.io/EchoHub</docsUrl>
+    <bugTrackerUrl>https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub/issues</bugTrackerUrl>
+    <packageSourceUrl>https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub/tree/master/packaging/choco</packageSourceUrl>
+    <iconUrl>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HueByte/EchoHub/refs/heads/master/assets/hue_icon.png</iconUrl>
+    <description>EchoHub is a decentralized IRC-style chat application with a terminal user interface (TUI). Connect to any EchoHub server, join channels, and chat — all from your terminal. Features include SignalR real-time messaging, file sharing, custom themes, and IRC gateway compatibility.</description>
+    <summary>Decentralized terminal chat client with IRC gateway support</summary>
+    <tags>chat irc decentralized tui terminal signalr echohub</tags>
+    <releaseNotes>https://huebyte.github.io/EchoHub/changelog/v__VERSION__.html</releaseNotes>
+    <copyright>Copyright (c) 2026 HueByte</copyright>
+  </metadata>
+  <files>
+    <file src="tools\**" target="tools" />
+  </files>
+</package>

packaging/choco/tools/LICENSE.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2026 Hue
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.

packaging/choco/tools/VERIFICATION.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+VERIFICATION
+
+To verify the package contents:
+
+1. Download the official release from:
+   https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub/releases
+
+2. Download: EchoHub-Client-win-x64.zip
+
+3. Calculate the SHA256 checksum:
+   - PowerShell: Get-FileHash EchoHub-Client-win-x64.zip -Algorithm SHA256
+   - Linux/macOS: sha256sum EchoHub-Client-win-x64.zip
+
+4. Compare with the checksum in chocolateyInstall.ps1 (checksum64 value).
+
+LICENSE: MIT License - see LICENSE.txt in this directory or
+https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub/blob/master/LICENSE

packaging/choco/tools/chocolateyInstall.ps1

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
+
+$toolsDir = Split-Path -Parent $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Definition
+$version  = $env:chocolateyPackageVersion
+
+$packageArgs = @{
+    packageName    = $env:chocolateyPackageName
+    unzipLocation  = $toolsDir
+    url64bit       = "https://github.com/HueByte/EchoHub/releases/download/v$version/EchoHub-Client-win-x64.zip"
+    checksum64     = '__CHECKSUM64__'
+    checksumType64 = 'sha256'
+}
+
+Install-ChocolateyZipPackage @packageArgs
+
+# Create a shim so 'echohub' is available on PATH
+$exeDir = Join-Path $toolsDir 'client-win-x64'
+$exePath = Join-Path $exeDir 'EchoHub.Client.exe'
+Install-BinFile -Name 'echohub' -Path $exePath

packaging/choco/tools/chocolateyUninstall.ps1

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
+
+Uninstall-BinFile -Name 'echohub'

scripts/install.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,230 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# EchoHub Client Installer
+# Usage: curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HueByte/EchoHub/master/scripts/install.sh | sh
+#
+# Options (pass as arguments or environment variables):
+#   --version X.Y.Z    Install a specific version (default: latest)
+#   --install-dir DIR  Install to a custom directory
+#   --help             Show this help message
+
+set -eu
+
+REPO="HueByte/EchoHub"
+BINARY_NAME="echohub"
+INSTALL_DIR=""
+VERSION=""
+
+# ── Argument parsing ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+    case "$1" in
+        --version)
+            VERSION="$2"
+            shift 2
+            ;;
+        --install-dir)
+            INSTALL_DIR="$2"
+            shift 2
+            ;;
+        --help)
+            sed -n '2,8p' "$0" 2>/dev/null || true
+            echo ""
+            echo "  curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/$REPO/master/scripts/install.sh | sh"
+            echo "  curl ... | sh -s -- --version 0.2.8"
+            echo "  curl ... | sh -s -- --install-dir /opt/echohub"
+            exit 0
+            ;;
+        *)
+            echo "Unknown option: $1" >&2
+            exit 1
+            ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+# ── Platform detection ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+detect_os() {
+    case "$(uname -s)" in
+        Linux*)  echo "linux" ;;
+        Darwin*) echo "osx" ;;
+        *)
+            echo "Error: Unsupported operating system: $(uname -s)" >&2
+            echo "EchoHub supports Linux and macOS. For Windows, use: choco install echohub" >&2
+            exit 1
+            ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+detect_arch() {
+    case "$(uname -m)" in
+        x86_64|amd64)   echo "x64" ;;
+        aarch64|arm64)  echo "arm64" ;;
+        *)
+            echo "Error: Unsupported architecture: $(uname -m)" >&2
+            echo "EchoHub supports x64 and arm64." >&2
+            exit 1
+            ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+# ── Version resolution ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+resolve_version() {
+    if [ -n "$VERSION" ]; then
+        echo "$VERSION"
+        return
+    fi
+
+    # Fetch latest release tag from GitHub API
+    if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        tag=$(curl -sSf "https://api.github.com/repos/$REPO/releases/latest" \
+            | grep '"tag_name"' | head -1 | sed 's/.*"tag_name"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"v\?\([^"]*\)".*/\1/')
+    elif command -v wget >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        tag=$(wget -qO- "https://api.github.com/repos/$REPO/releases/latest" \
+            | grep '"tag_name"' | head -1 | sed 's/.*"tag_name"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"v\?\([^"]*\)".*/\1/')
+    else
+        echo "Error: curl or wget is required to detect the latest version." >&2
+        echo "Install curl/wget or specify a version with --version X.Y.Z" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    if [ -z "$tag" ]; then
+        echo "Error: Could not determine latest version from GitHub." >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    echo "$tag"
+}
+
+# ── Install directory resolution ──────────────────────────────────────────
+
+resolve_install_dir() {
+    if [ -n "$INSTALL_DIR" ]; then
+        echo "$INSTALL_DIR"
+        return
+    fi
+
+    # Prefer /usr/local/bin if writable, otherwise ~/.local/bin
+    if [ -w "/usr/local/bin" ]; then
+        echo "/usr/local/bin"
+    else
+        local_bin="$HOME/.local/bin"
+        mkdir -p "$local_bin"
+        echo "$local_bin"
+    fi
+}
+
+# ── Download helper ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+download() {
+    url="$1"
+    output="$2"
+
+    if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        curl -sSfL "$url" -o "$output"
+    elif command -v wget >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        wget -qO "$output" "$url"
+    else
+        echo "Error: curl or wget is required." >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+# ── PATH setup ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+add_to_path() {
+    dir="$1"
+    export_line="export PATH=\"${dir}:\$PATH\" # Added by EchoHub"
+
+    added=0
+    for profile in "$HOME/.profile" "$HOME/.bashrc" "$HOME/.zshrc"; do
+        if [ -f "$profile" ]; then
+            if grep -q "$dir" "$profile" 2>/dev/null; then
+                continue  # Already present
+            fi
+            printf '\n%s\n' "$export_line" >> "$profile"
+            echo "  Added to PATH in $(basename "$profile")"
+            added=1
+        fi
+    done
+
+    # If no profile existed, create .profile
+    if [ "$added" -eq 0 ]; then
+        printf '\n%s\n' "$export_line" >> "$HOME/.profile"
+        echo "  Added to PATH in .profile"
+    fi
+}
+
+# ── Main ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+main() {
+    os=$(detect_os)
+    arch=$(detect_arch)
+    version=$(resolve_version)
+    install_dir=$(resolve_install_dir)
+
+    artifact="EchoHub-Client-${os}-${arch}.zip"
+    url="https://github.com/$REPO/releases/download/v${version}/${artifact}"
+
+    echo "EchoHub Installer"
+    echo "  Version:      v${version}"
+    echo "  Platform:     ${os}-${arch}"
+    echo "  Install to:   ${install_dir}"
+    echo ""
+
+    # Create temp directory with cleanup trap
+    tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
+    trap 'rm -rf "$tmpdir"' EXIT
+
+    echo "Downloading ${artifact}..."
+    download "$url" "$tmpdir/echohub.zip"
+
+    echo "Extracting..."
+    if command -v unzip >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        unzip -qo "$tmpdir/echohub.zip" -d "$tmpdir/extract"
+    else
+        echo "Error: unzip is required to extract the archive." >&2
+        echo "Install it with: apt install unzip / brew install unzip" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    # The ZIP contains a client-{os}-{arch}/ subdirectory
+    src_dir="$tmpdir/extract/client-${os}-${arch}"
+    if [ ! -d "$src_dir" ]; then
+        # Fallback: look for any directory containing the binary
+        src_dir=$(find "$tmpdir/extract" -name "EchoHub.Client" -type f -printf '%h' -quit 2>/dev/null || true)
+        if [ -z "$src_dir" ]; then
+            echo "Error: Could not find EchoHub.Client binary in the archive." >&2
+            exit 1
+        fi
+    fi
+
+    # Install full directory to ~/.local/share/echohub and symlink the binary.
+    # Even single-file publishes may have content files (appsettings, assets)
+    # that the app expects next to the binary via AppContext.BaseDirectory.
+    app_dir="$HOME/.local/share/echohub"
+    rm -rf "$app_dir"
+    mkdir -p "$app_dir"
+    cp -r "$src_dir"/. "$app_dir/"
+    chmod +x "$app_dir/EchoHub.Client"
+
+    mkdir -p "$install_dir"
+    ln -sf "$app_dir/EchoHub.Client" "$install_dir/$BINARY_NAME"
+
+    echo ""
+
+    # Ensure install directory is on PATH
+    if ! command -v "$BINARY_NAME" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        add_to_path "$install_dir"
+    fi
+
+    echo "Installed successfully! Run 'echohub' to start."
+    echo ""
+    if ! echo "$PATH" | tr ':' '\n' | grep -qx "$install_dir"; then
+        echo "NOTE: Restart your shell or run the following to use echohub now:"
+        echo ""
+        echo "  export PATH=\"${install_dir}:\$PATH\""
+    fi
+}
+
+main

src/Directory.Build.props

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <Project>
   <PropertyGroup>
-    <Version>0.2.6</Version>
+    <Version>0.2.9</Version>
     <GenerateDocumentationFile>true</GenerateDocumentationFile>
     <NoWarn>$(NoWarn);CS1591</NoWarn>
   </PropertyGroup>

src/EchoHub.Client/AppOrchestrator.cs

@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
     private readonly AudioPlaybackService _audioPlayback = new();
     private readonly UpdateChecker _updateService;
     private readonly ConnectionManager _conn = new();
+    private readonly Dictionary<string, List<UserPresenceDto>> _channelUsers = new(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+    private readonly Lock _channelUsersLock = new();
 
     private ClientConfig _config;
     private readonly UserSession _session = new();
@@ -85,6 +87,10 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
         _mainWindow.OnDeleteChannelRequested += HandleDeleteChannelRequested;
         _mainWindow.OnAudioPlayRequested += HandleAudioPlayRequested;
         _mainWindow.OnFileDownloadRequested += HandleFileDownloadRequested;
+        _mainWindow.OnCheckForUpdatesRequested += HandleCheckForUpdatesRequested;
+        _mainWindow.OnRollbackRequested += HandleRollbackRequested;
+        _mainWindow.OnUserProfileRequested += HandleViewProfile;
+        _mainWindow.OnChannelJoinRequested += HandleChannelJoinFromMessage;
     }
 
     // ── Command Handler Wiring ─────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -379,17 +385,48 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
             }
         };
 
-        _conn.UserJoined += (channelName, username) =>
+        _conn.UserJoined += (channelName, username, presence) =>
         {
             InvokeUI(() => _messageManager.AddSystemMessage(channelName, $"{username} joined the channel"));
-            if (channelName == _mainWindow.CurrentChannel)
+
+            List<UserPresenceDto>? snapshot = null;
+            lock (_channelUsersLock)
+            {
+                if (presence is not null && _channelUsers.TryGetValue(channelName, out var users))
+                {
+                    if (!users.Any(u => u.Username.Equals(presence.Username, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)))
+                        users.Add(presence);
+
+                    if (channelName.Equals(_mainWindow.CurrentChannel, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+                        snapshot = [.. users];
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (snapshot is not null)
+                InvokeUI(() => _mainWindow.UpdateOnlineUsers(snapshot));
+            else if (channelName.Equals(_mainWindow.CurrentChannel, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
                 FetchAndUpdateOnlineUsers();
         };
 
         _conn.UserLeft += (channelName, username) =>
         {
             InvokeUI(() => _messageManager.AddSystemMessage(channelName, $"{username} left the channel"));
-            if (channelName == _mainWindow.CurrentChannel)
+
+            List<UserPresenceDto>? snapshot = null;
+            lock (_channelUsersLock)
+            {
+                if (_channelUsers.TryGetValue(channelName, out var users))
+                {
+                    users.RemoveAll(u => u.Username.Equals(username, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
+
+                    if (channelName.Equals(_mainWindow.CurrentChannel, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+                        snapshot = [.. users];
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (snapshot is not null)
+                InvokeUI(() => _mainWindow.UpdateOnlineUsers(snapshot));
+            else if (channelName.Equals(_mainWindow.CurrentChannel, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
                 FetchAndUpdateOnlineUsers();
         };
 
@@ -405,18 +442,75 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
                 foreach (var channelName in _mainWindow.GetChannelNames())
                     _messageManager.AddStatusMessage(channelName, displayName, statusText);
             });
-            FetchAndUpdateOnlineUsers();
+
+            // Update presence in all cached channel lists
+            List<UserPresenceDto>? snapshot = null;
+            lock (_channelUsersLock)
+            {
+                foreach (var (channel, users) in _channelUsers)
+                {
+                    var idx = users.FindIndex(u => u.Username.Equals(presence.Username, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
+                    if (idx >= 0)
+                    {
+                        if (presence.Status == UserStatus.Invisible)
+                            users.RemoveAt(idx);
+                        else
+                            users[idx] = presence;
+                    }
+                    else if (presence.Status != UserStatus.Invisible)
+                    {
+                        // User came back from invisible — re-add them
+                        users.Add(presence);
+                    }
+                }
+
+                var currentChannel = _mainWindow.CurrentChannel;
+                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(currentChannel) && _channelUsers.TryGetValue(currentChannel, out var currentUsers))
+                    snapshot = [.. currentUsers];
+            }
+
+            if (snapshot is not null)
+                InvokeUI(() => _mainWindow.UpdateOnlineUsers(snapshot));
         };
 
         _conn.UserKicked += (channelName, username, reason) =>
         {
             var reasonText = reason is not null ? $" ({reason})" : "";
             InvokeUI(() => _messageManager.AddSystemMessage(channelName, $"{username} was kicked{reasonText}"));
+
+            List<UserPresenceDto>? snapshot = null;
+            lock (_channelUsersLock)
+            {
+                if (_channelUsers.TryGetValue(channelName, out var users))
+                {
+                    users.RemoveAll(u => u.Username.Equals(username, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
+                    if (channelName.Equals(_mainWindow.CurrentChannel, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+                        snapshot = [.. users];
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (snapshot is not null)
+                InvokeUI(() => _mainWindow.UpdateOnlineUsers(snapshot));
         };
 
         _conn.UserBanned += (username, reason) =>
         {
             var reasonText = reason is not null ? $" ({reason})" : "";
+
+            List<UserPresenceDto>? snapshot = null;
+            lock (_channelUsersLock)
+            {
+                // Remove banned user from all cached channel lists
+                foreach (var (channel, users) in _channelUsers)
+                {
+                    users.RemoveAll(u => u.Username.Equals(username, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
+                }
+
+                var currentChannel = _mainWindow.CurrentChannel;
+                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(currentChannel) && _channelUsers.TryGetValue(currentChannel, out var currentUsers))
+                    snapshot = [.. currentUsers];
+            }
+
             InvokeUI(() =>
             {
                 if (!username.Equals(_session.Username, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
@@ -424,6 +518,9 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
                     var channel = _mainWindow.CurrentChannel;
                     if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(channel))
                         _messageManager.AddSystemMessage(channel, $"{username} was banned{reasonText}");
+
+                    if (snapshot is not null)
+                        _mainWindow.UpdateOnlineUsers(snapshot);
                 }
             });
         };
@@ -467,6 +564,7 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
 
         _conn.Reconnected += () =>
         {
+            lock (_channelUsersLock) _channelUsers.Clear();
             RunAsync(
                 async () => await _conn.RejoinChannelsAsync(),
                 "Failed to rejoin channels after reconnect");
@@ -524,9 +622,8 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
                 if (result.DefaultHistory.Count > 0)
                     _messageManager.LoadHistory(HubConstants.DefaultChannel, result.DefaultHistory);
                 _mainWindow.FocusInput();
+                FetchAndUpdateOnlineUsers();
             });
-
-            FetchAndUpdateOnlineUsers();
             SaveServerToConfig(dialogResult);
         }, "Connection failed", "Connect");
     }
@@ -534,6 +631,7 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
     private void HandleDisconnect()
     {
         Log.Information("Disconnecting from server");
+        lock (_channelUsersLock) _channelUsers.Clear();
 
         RunAsync(async () =>
         {
@@ -622,6 +720,19 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
         }, "Failed to join channel");
     }
 
+    private void HandleChannelJoinFromMessage(string channelName)
+    {
+        if (!_conn.IsConnected) return;
+
+        InvokeUI(() =>
+        {
+            _mainWindow.EnsureChannelInList(channelName);
+            _mainWindow.SwitchToChannel(channelName);
+        });
+
+        HandleChannelSelected(channelName);
+    }
+
     private void HandleProfileRequested()
     {
         HandleViewProfile(null);
@@ -825,6 +936,8 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
                 if (history.Count > 0)
                     _messageManager.LoadHistory(channel.Name, history);
             });
+
+            FetchAndUpdateOnlineUsers();
         }, "Failed to create channel");
     }
 
@@ -880,6 +993,16 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
         }, "Failed to play audio");
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// File extensions considered safe to open with the system default application.
+    /// Everything else is downloaded only — never auto-opened via UseShellExecute.
+    /// </summary>
+    private static readonly HashSet<string> SafeOpenExtensions = new(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
+    {
+        ".mp4", ".webm", ".mkv", ".avi", ".mov",  // video
+        ".pdf", ".txt", ".csv", ".json", ".xml",   // documents
+    };
+
     private void HandleFileDownloadRequested(string attachmentUrl, string fileName)
     {
         if (!_conn.IsAuthenticated) return;
@@ -889,19 +1012,58 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
             InvokeUI(() => _messageManager.AddSystemMessage(_mainWindow.CurrentChannel, $"Downloading {fileName}..."));
             var tempPath = await _conn.Api!.DownloadFileToTempAsync(attachmentUrl, fileName);
 
-            try
+            var ext = Path.GetExtension(fileName);
+            if (SafeOpenExtensions.Contains(ext))
             {
-                var psi = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo(tempPath) { UseShellExecute = true };
-                System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(psi);
+                try
+                {
+                    var psi = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo(tempPath) { UseShellExecute = true };
+                    System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(psi);
+                }
+                catch (Exception ex)
+                {
+                    Log.Warning(ex, "Failed to open file with default app: {Path}", tempPath);
+                    InvokeUI(() => _messageManager.AddSystemMessage(_mainWindow.CurrentChannel, $"Downloaded to: {tempPath}"));
+                }
             }
-            catch (Exception ex)
+            else
             {
-                Log.Warning(ex, "Failed to open file with default app: {Path}", tempPath);
                 InvokeUI(() => _messageManager.AddSystemMessage(_mainWindow.CurrentChannel, $"Downloaded to: {tempPath}"));
             }
         }, "Failed to download file");
     }
 
+    private void HandleCheckForUpdatesRequested()
+    {
+        RunAsync(_updateService.CheckNowAsync, "Failed to check for updates");
+    }
+
+    private void HandleRollbackRequested()
+    {
+        if (!UpdateBackupService.BackupExists())
+        {
+            MessageBox.ErrorQuery(_app, "No Backup", "No backup is available to restore.", "OK");
+            return;
+        }
+
+        var info = UpdateBackupService.GetBackupInfo();
+        var confirm = MessageBox.Query(_app, "Rollback Update",
+            $"Restore to version {info?.Version ?? "unknown"}?\n\nThe app will restart.", "Restore", "Cancel");
+
+        if (confirm != 0) return;
+
+        try
+        {
+            UpdateBackupService.RestoreBackup();
+            // RestoreBackup calls Environment.Exit(0)
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            Log.Error(ex, "Rollback failed");
+            MessageBox.ErrorQuery(_app, "Rollback Failed", $"Could not restore: {ex.Message}", "OK");
+        }
+    }
+
     // ── Private Helpers ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
     private void FetchAndUpdateOnlineUsers()
@@ -914,6 +1076,7 @@ public sealed class AppOrchestrator : IDisposable
             try
             {
                 var users = await _conn.GetOnlineUsersAsync(channel);
+                lock (_channelUsersLock) _channelUsers[channel] = users;
                 InvokeUI(() => _mainWindow.UpdateOnlineUsers(users));
             }
             catch (Exception ex)

src/EchoHub.Client/EchoHub.Client.csproj

@@ -5,15 +5,14 @@
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
-    <PackageReference Include="AlwaysUpToDate" Version="2.0.1" />
+    <PackageReference Include="AlwaysUpToDate" Version="2.0.2.20250223" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.SignalR.Client" Version="10.0.3" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Json" Version="10.0.3" />
     <PackageReference Include="NetCoreAudio" Version="2.0.1" />
     <PackageReference Include="Serilog" Version="4.3.1" />
     <PackageReference Include="Serilog.Settings.Configuration" Version="10.0.0" />
     <PackageReference Include="Serilog.Sinks.File" Version="7.0.0" />
-    <!-- Using local fork until transparent color support is merged upstream (gui-cs/Terminal.Gui#4234) -->
-    <ProjectReference Include="..\Terminal.Gui\Terminal.Gui\Terminal.Gui.csproj" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Terminal.Gui" Version="2.0.0-develop.5043" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>

src/EchoHub.Client/Program.cs

@@ -1,12 +1,58 @@
 using EchoHub.Client;
 using EchoHub.Client.Config;
+using EchoHub.Client.Services;
 using EchoHub.Client.Themes;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;
 using Serilog;
 using Terminal.Gui.App;
-using Terminal.Gui.Drawing;
 
+// == CLI rollback: works without TUI, before anything else ================
+if (args.Contains("--rollback"))
+{
+    if (UpdateBackupService.BackupExists())
+    {
+        var info = UpdateBackupService.GetBackupInfo();
+        Console.WriteLine($"Rolling back to version {info?.Version ?? "unknown"}...");
+        try
+        {
+            UpdateBackupService.RestoreBackup();
+            // RestoreBackup calls Environment.Exit(0)
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            Console.Error.WriteLine($"Rollback failed: {ex.Message}");
+            Environment.Exit(1);
+        }
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        Console.Error.WriteLine("No backup available to restore.");
+        Environment.Exit(1);
+    }
+}
 
+// == Unix permission self-check (defense-in-depth after auto-update) ==
+if (!OperatingSystem.IsWindows())
+{
+    var exePath = Environment.ProcessPath;
+    if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(exePath))
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            var mode = File.GetUnixFileMode(exePath);
+            if ((mode & UnixFileMode.UserExecute) == 0)
+            {
+                File.SetUnixFileMode(exePath, mode | UnixFileMode.UserExecute);
+            }
+        }
+        catch
+        {
+            // Best-effort; if we're running, we already have execute permission
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// == Normal startup ==
 var appSettingsPath = Path.Combine(AppContext.BaseDirectory, "appsettings.json");
 if (!File.Exists(appSettingsPath))
 {
@@ -31,6 +77,41 @@ Log.Logger = new LoggerConfiguration()
 
 Log.Information("EchoHub client starting");
 
+// == Ensure echohub is on PATH for convenient terminal access ============
+PathSetup.EnsureOnPath();
+
+// == Post-update detection: stale backup cleanup or flag for rollback menu ================
+if (UpdateBackupService.BackupExists())
+{
+    var backupInfo = UpdateBackupService.GetBackupInfo();
+    if (backupInfo is not null && DateTimeOffset.UtcNow - backupInfo.CreatedAt > TimeSpan.FromDays(7))
+    {
+        Log.Information("Deleting stale update backup from {Date}", backupInfo.CreatedAt);
+        UpdateBackupService.DeleteBackup();
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        Log.Information("Post-update: backup of v{OldVersion} available for rollback",
+            backupInfo?.Version ?? "unknown");
+        UpdateBackupService.IsPostUpdate = true;
+    }
+}
+
+// == Windows: clean up .old executable left by rollback restore ===========
+if (OperatingSystem.IsWindows())
+{
+    var currentExe = Environment.ProcessPath;
+    if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(currentExe))
+    {
+        var oldExe = currentExe + ".old";
+        if (File.Exists(oldExe))
+        {
+            try { File.Delete(oldExe); }
+            catch { /* locked or permission issue — will be cleaned next launch */ }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 try
 {
     var config = ConfigManager.Load();

src/EchoHub.Client/Services/ApiClient.cs

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task<LoginResponse> RegisterAsync(string username, string password, string? displayName = null)
     {
         var request = new RegisterRequest(username, password, displayName);
-        var response = await _http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/auth/register", request);
+        using var response = await _http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/auth/register", request);
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
 
         var result = await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<LoginResponse>()
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task<LoginResponse> LoginAsync(string username, string password)
     {
         var request = new LoginRequest(username, password);
-        var response = await _http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/auth/login", request);
+        using var response = await _http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/auth/login", request);
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
 
         var result = await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<LoginResponse>()
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
             throw new InvalidOperationException("No refresh token available.");
 
         var request = new RefreshRequest(_refreshToken);
-        var response = await _http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/auth/refresh", request);
+        using var response = await _http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/auth/refresh", request);
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
 
         var result = await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<LoginResponse>()
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task<LoginResponse> LoginWithRefreshTokenAsync(string refreshToken)
     {
         var request = new RefreshRequest(refreshToken);
-        var response = await _http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/auth/refresh", request);
+        using var response = await _http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/auth/refresh", request);
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
 
         var result = await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<LoginResponse>()
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
             try
             {
                 var request = new RefreshRequest(_refreshToken);
-                await _http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/auth/logout", request);
+                using var response = await _http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/auth/logout", request);
             }
             catch
             {
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task<List<ChannelDto>> GetChannelsAsync()
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
-        var response = await AuthenticatedGetAsync("/api/channels");
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedGetAsync("/api/channels");
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
         var paginated = await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<PaginatedResponse<ChannelDto>>();
         return paginated?.Items ?? [];
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task<string> GetEncryptionKeyAsync()
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
-        var response = await AuthenticatedGetAsync("/api/server/encryption-key");
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedGetAsync("/api/server/encryption-key");
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
         var result = await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<EncryptionKeyResponse>()
             ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("Server returned empty encryption key response.");
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task<UserProfileDto?> GetUserProfileAsync(string username)
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
-        var response = await AuthenticatedGetAsync($"/api/users/{Uri.EscapeDataString(username)}/profile");
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedGetAsync($"/api/users/{Uri.EscapeDataString(username)}/profile");
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
         return await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<UserProfileDto>();
     }
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task<UserProfileDto?> UpdateProfileAsync(UpdateProfileRequest request)
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.PutAsJsonAsync("/api/users/profile", request));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
         return await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<UserProfileDto>();
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
         streamContent.Headers.ContentType = new MediaTypeHeaderValue(GetContentType(fileName));
         content.Add(streamContent, "file", fileName);
 
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.PostAsync("/api/users/avatar", content));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
         var result = await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<AvatarUploadResponse>();
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
         content.Add(streamContent, "file", fileName);
 
         var sizeQuery = size is not null ? $"?size={size}" : "";
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.PostAsync($"/api/channels/{Uri.EscapeDataString(channelName)}/upload{sizeQuery}", content));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
         return await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<MessageDto>();
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
         EnsureAuthenticated();
         var request = new SendUrlRequest(url);
         var sizeQuery = size is not null ? $"?size={size}" : "";
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.PostAsJsonAsync($"/api/channels/{Uri.EscapeDataString(channelName)}/send-url{sizeQuery}", request));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
         return await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<MessageDto>();
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task<string> DownloadFileToTempAsync(string relativeUrl, string fileName)
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
-        var response = await AuthenticatedGetAsync(relativeUrl);
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedGetAsync(relativeUrl);
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
 
         var tempDir = Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), "EchoHub");
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
         var request = new CreateChannelRequest(name, topic, isPublic);
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/channels", request));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
         return await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<ChannelDto>();
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
         var request = new UpdateTopicRequest(topic);
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.PutAsJsonAsync($"/api/channels/{Uri.EscapeDataString(channelName)}/topic", request));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
         return await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<ChannelDto>();
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task DeleteChannelAsync(string channelName)
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.DeleteAsync($"/api/channels/{Uri.EscapeDataString(channelName)}"));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
     }
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task AssignRoleAsync(string username, ServerRole role)
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/moderation/role", new AssignRoleRequest(username, role)));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
     }
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task KickUserAsync(string username, string? reason = null)
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.PostAsJsonAsync($"/api/moderation/kick/{Uri.EscapeDataString(username)}", new KickRequest(reason)));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
     }
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task BanUserAsync(string username, string? reason = null)
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.PostAsJsonAsync($"/api/moderation/ban/{Uri.EscapeDataString(username)}", new BanRequest(reason)));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
     }
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task UnbanUserAsync(string username)
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.PostAsJsonAsync($"/api/moderation/unban/{Uri.EscapeDataString(username)}", new { }));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
     }
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task MuteUserAsync(string username, int? durationMinutes = null, string? reason = null)
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.PostAsJsonAsync($"/api/moderation/mute/{Uri.EscapeDataString(username)}", new MuteRequest(reason, durationMinutes)));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
     }
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task UnmuteUserAsync(string username)
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.PostAsJsonAsync($"/api/moderation/unmute/{Uri.EscapeDataString(username)}", new { }));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
     }
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task DeleteMessageAsync(Guid messageId)
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.DeleteAsync($"/api/moderation/messages/{messageId}"));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
     }
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
     public async Task NukeChannelAsync(string channelName)
     {
         EnsureAuthenticated();
-        var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
+        using var response = await AuthenticatedRequestAsync(() =>
             _http.DeleteAsync($"/api/moderation/channels/{Uri.EscapeDataString(channelName)}/nuke"));
         await EnsureSuccessAsync(response);
     }
@@ -333,6 +333,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Performs a GET request with automatic token refresh on 401.
+    /// Caller is responsible for disposing the returned response.
     /// </summary>
     private async Task<HttpResponseMessage> AuthenticatedGetAsync(string url)
     {
@@ -343,7 +344,9 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
             try
             {
                 await RefreshTokenAsync();
-                response = await _http.GetAsync(url);
+                var retryResponse = await _http.GetAsync(url);
+                response.Dispose();
+                response = retryResponse;
             }
             catch
             {
@@ -356,6 +359,7 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Performs a request with automatic token refresh on 401.
+    /// Caller is responsible for disposing the returned response.
     /// </summary>
     private async Task<HttpResponseMessage> AuthenticatedRequestAsync(Func<Task<HttpResponseMessage>> requestFactory)
     {
@@ -366,7 +370,9 @@ public sealed class ApiClient : IDisposable
             try
             {
                 await RefreshTokenAsync();
-                response = await requestFactory();
+                var retryResponse = await requestFactory();
+                response.Dispose();
+                response = retryResponse;
             }
             catch
             {

src/EchoHub.Client/Services/AudioPlaybackService.cs

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ namespace EchoHub.Client.Services;
 public class AudioPlaybackService
 {
     private readonly Player _player = new();
+    private readonly SemaphoreSlim _lock = new(1, 1);
 
     public bool IsPlaying => _player.Playing;
     public bool IsPaused => _player.Paused;
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@ public class AudioPlaybackService
 
     public async Task PlayAsync(string filePath)
     {
+        await _lock.WaitAsync();
         try
         {
             if (_player.Playing)
@@ -30,10 +32,15 @@ public class AudioPlaybackService
         {
             Log.Warning(ex, "Failed to play audio file: {Path}", filePath);
         }
+        finally
+        {
+            _lock.Release();
+        }
     }
 
     public async Task PauseAsync()
     {
+        await _lock.WaitAsync();
         try
         {
             if (_player.Playing && !_player.Paused)
@@ -43,10 +50,15 @@ public class AudioPlaybackService
         {
             Log.Warning(ex, "Failed to pause audio playback");
         }
+        finally
+        {
+            _lock.Release();
+        }
     }
 
     public async Task ResumeAsync()
     {
+        await _lock.WaitAsync();
         try
         {
             if (_player.Paused)
@@ -56,23 +68,33 @@ public class AudioPlaybackService
         {
             Log.Warning(ex, "Failed to resume audio playback");
         }
+        finally
+        {
+            _lock.Release();
+        }
     }
 
     public async Task StopAsync()
     {
+        await _lock.WaitAsync();
         try
         {
-            if (_player.Playing)
+            if (_player.Playing || _player.Paused)
                 await _player.Stop();
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
             Log.Warning(ex, "Failed to stop audio playback");
         }
+        finally
+        {
+            _lock.Release();
+        }
     }
 
     public async Task SetVolumeAsync(byte volume)
     {
+        await _lock.WaitAsync();
         try
         {
             await _player.SetVolume(Math.Min(volume, (byte)100));
@@ -81,5 +103,9 @@ public class AudioPlaybackService
         {
             Log.Warning(ex, "Failed to set audio volume");
         }
+        finally
+        {
+            _lock.Release();
+        }
     }
 }

src/EchoHub.Client/Services/ConnectionManager.cs

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ internal sealed class ConnectionManager : IAsyncDisposable
     // ── Events (forwarded from SignalR) ───────────────────────────────────
 
     public event Action<MessageDto>? MessageReceived;
-    public event Action<string, string>? UserJoined;
+    public event Action<string, string, UserPresenceDto?>? UserJoined;
     public event Action<string, string>? UserLeft;
     public event Action<UserPresenceDto>? UserStatusChanged;
     public event Action<string, string, string?>? UserKicked;
@@ -60,77 +60,83 @@ internal sealed class ConnectionManager : IAsyncDisposable
         _apiClient?.Dispose();
         _apiClient = new ApiClient(info.ServerUrl);
 
-        onStatus("Authenticating...");
-
-        LoginResponse loginResponse;
-
-        if (info.SavedRefreshToken is not null)
+        try
         {
-            try
+            onStatus("Authenticating...");
+
+            LoginResponse loginResponse;
+
+            if (info.SavedRefreshToken is not null)
             {
                 loginResponse = await _apiClient.LoginWithRefreshTokenAsync(info.SavedRefreshToken);
                 Log.Information("Authenticated via saved session for {User}", loginResponse.Username);
             }
+            else if (info.IsRegister)
+            {
+                loginResponse = await _apiClient.RegisterAsync(info.Username, info.Password);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                loginResponse = await _apiClient.LoginAsync(info.Username, info.Password);
+            }
+
+            // Auto-persist rotated refresh tokens for Remember Me
+            _apiClient.OnTokensRefreshed += HandleTokensRefreshed;
+
+            // E2E encryption key
+            onStatus("Fetching encryption key...");
+            try
+            {
+                var encryptionKey = await _apiClient.GetEncryptionKeyAsync();
+                _encryption.SetKey(encryptionKey);
+                Log.Information("E2E encryption key established");
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                Log.Warning(ex, "Failed to fetch encryption key — messages will not be encrypted");
+            }
+
+            onStatus("Authenticated, connecting...");
+
+            if (_connection is not null)
+                await _connection.DisposeAsync();
+
+            _connection = new EchoHubConnection(info.ServerUrl, _apiClient, _encryption);
+            WireConnectionEvents(_connection);
+            await _connection.ConnectAsync();
+
+            var channels = await _apiClient.GetChannelsAsync();
+            onStatus("Connected");
+
+            // Join default channel + fetch history
+            _joinedChannels.Clear();
+            _joinedChannels.Add(HubConstants.DefaultChannel);
+            await _connection.JoinChannelAsync(HubConstants.DefaultChannel);
+
+            List<MessageDto> history = [];
+            try
+            {
+                history = await _connection.GetHistoryAsync(HubConstants.DefaultChannel);
+            }
             catch
             {
-                _apiClient.Dispose();
-                _apiClient = null;
-                throw; // Caller handles saved-session expiry
+                // History might not be available
             }
-        }
-        else if (info.IsRegister)
-        {
-            loginResponse = await _apiClient.RegisterAsync(info.Username, info.Password);
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            loginResponse = await _apiClient.LoginAsync(info.Username, info.Password);
-        }
 
-        // Auto-persist rotated refresh tokens for Remember Me
-        _apiClient.OnTokensRefreshed += HandleTokensRefreshed;
-
-        // E2E encryption key
-        onStatus("Fetching encryption key...");
-        try
-        {
-            var encryptionKey = await _apiClient.GetEncryptionKeyAsync();
-            _encryption.SetKey(encryptionKey);
-            Log.Information("E2E encryption key established");
-        }
-        catch (Exception ex)
-        {
-            Log.Warning(ex, "Failed to fetch encryption key — messages will not be encrypted");
-        }
-
-        onStatus("Authenticated, connecting...");
-
-        if (_connection is not null)
-            await _connection.DisposeAsync();
-
-        _connection = new EchoHubConnection(info.ServerUrl, _apiClient, _encryption);
-        WireConnectionEvents(_connection);
-        await _connection.ConnectAsync();
-
-        var channels = await _apiClient.GetChannelsAsync();
-        onStatus("Connected");
-
-        // Join default channel + fetch history
-        _joinedChannels.Clear();
-        _joinedChannels.Add(HubConstants.DefaultChannel);
-        await _connection.JoinChannelAsync(HubConstants.DefaultChannel);
-
-        List<MessageDto> history = [];
-        try
-        {
-            history = await _connection.GetHistoryAsync(HubConstants.DefaultChannel);
+            return new ConnectResult(loginResponse, channels, history);
         }
         catch
         {
-            // History might not be available
-        }
+            if (_connection is not null)
+            {
+                await _connection.DisposeAsync();
+                _connection = null;
+            }
 
-        return new ConnectResult(loginResponse, channels, history);
+            _apiClient.Dispose();
+            _apiClient = null;
+            throw;
+        }
     }
 
     // ── Cleanup ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -228,7 +234,7 @@ internal sealed class ConnectionManager : IAsyncDisposable
     private void WireConnectionEvents(EchoHubConnection connection)
     {
         connection.OnMessageReceived += msg => MessageReceived?.Invoke(msg);
-        connection.OnUserJoined += (ch, user) => UserJoined?.Invoke(ch, user);
+        connection.OnUserJoined += (ch, user, presence) => UserJoined?.Invoke(ch, user, presence);
         connection.OnUserLeft += (ch, user) => UserLeft?.Invoke(ch, user);
         connection.OnUserStatusChanged += p => UserStatusChanged?.Invoke(p);
         connection.OnUserKicked += (ch, user, reason) => UserKicked?.Invoke(ch, user, reason);

src/EchoHub.Client/Services/EchoHubConnection.cs

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ public sealed class EchoHubConnection : IAsyncDisposable
     private readonly ClientEncryptionService _encryption;
 
     public event Action<MessageDto>? OnMessageReceived;
-    public event Action<string, string>? OnUserJoined;
+    public event Action<string, string, UserPresenceDto?>? OnUserJoined;
     public event Action<string, string>? OnUserLeft;
     public event Action<ChannelDto>? OnChannelUpdated;
     public event Action<UserPresenceDto>? OnUserStatusChanged;
@@ -70,9 +70,9 @@ public sealed class EchoHubConnection : IAsyncDisposable
             OnMessageReceived?.Invoke(decrypted);
         });
 
-        _connection.On<string, string>(nameof(Core.Contracts.IEchoHubClient.UserJoined), (channelName, username) =>
+        _connection.On<string, string, UserPresenceDto?>(nameof(Core.Contracts.IEchoHubClient.UserJoined), (channelName, username, presence) =>
         {
-            OnUserJoined?.Invoke(channelName, username);
+            OnUserJoined?.Invoke(channelName, username, presence);
         });
 
         _connection.On<string, string>(nameof(Core.Contracts.IEchoHubClient.UserLeft), (channelName, username) =>
@@ -136,8 +136,10 @@ public sealed class EchoHubConnection : IAsyncDisposable
 
     public async Task<List<MessageDto>> JoinChannelAsync(string channelName)
     {
-        var messages = await _connection.InvokeAsync<List<MessageDto>>("JoinChannel", channelName);
-        return DecryptMessages(messages);
+        var result = await _connection.InvokeAsync<JoinChannelResult>("JoinChannel", channelName);
+        if (!result.Success)
+            throw new InvalidOperationException(result.Error ?? "Failed to join channel.");
+        return DecryptMessages(result.History);
     }
 
     public async Task LeaveChannelAsync(string channelName)

src/EchoHub.Client/Services/PathSetup.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+using Serilog;
+
+namespace EchoHub.Client.Services;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Ensures the application's directory is on the system PATH so users
+/// can run 'echohub' from any terminal session.
+/// </summary>
+public static class PathSetup
+{
+    private const string PathMarker = "# Added by EchoHub";
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Checks if the app directory is on PATH; if not, adds it persistently.
+    /// On Windows: modifies user-level PATH environment variable.
+    /// On Linux/macOS: appends an export line to shell profile files.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static void EnsureOnPath()
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            var appDir = AppContext.BaseDirectory.TrimEnd(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar, Path.AltDirectorySeparatorChar);
+
+            if (IsOnPath(appDir))
+                return;
+
+            if (OperatingSystem.IsWindows())
+                AddToWindowsPath(appDir);
+            else
+                AddToUnixPath(appDir);
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            Log.Debug(ex, "Could not add app directory to PATH");
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static bool IsOnPath(string directory)
+    {
+        var pathVar = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PATH") ?? "";
+        var separator = OperatingSystem.IsWindows() ? ';' : ':';
+
+        return pathVar
+            .Split(separator, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)
+            .Any(p => string.Equals(
+                p.TrimEnd(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar, Path.AltDirectorySeparatorChar),
+                directory,
+                OperatingSystem.IsWindows()
+                    ? StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase
+                    : StringComparison.Ordinal));
+    }
+
+    private static void AddToWindowsPath(string directory)
+    {
+        var userPath = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PATH", EnvironmentVariableTarget.User) ?? "";
+
+        // Double-check against user PATH specifically (process PATH includes system + user)
+        if (userPath.Split(';', StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)
+            .Any(p => string.Equals(p.TrimEnd('\\', '/'), directory, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)))
+            return;
+
+        var newPath = string.IsNullOrEmpty(userPath) ? directory : userPath + ";" + directory;
+        Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable("PATH", newPath, EnvironmentVariableTarget.User);
+        Log.Information("Added {Directory} to user PATH", directory);
+    }
+
+    private static void AddToUnixPath(string directory)
+    {
+        var exportLine = $"export PATH=\"{directory}:$PATH\" {PathMarker}";
+        var home = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.UserProfile);
+
+        // Target the most common shell profiles
+        string[] profiles = [
+            Path.Combine(home, ".profile"),
+            Path.Combine(home, ".bashrc"),
+            Path.Combine(home, ".zshrc")
+        ];
+
+        var added = false;
+        foreach (var profile in profiles)
+        {
+            if (!File.Exists(profile))
+                continue;
+
+            var content = File.ReadAllText(profile);
+            if (content.Contains(directory))
+                continue; // Already present (manual or previous run)
+
+            File.AppendAllText(profile, $"\n{exportLine}\n");
+            added = true;
+            Log.Information("Added PATH export to {Profile}", profile);
+        }
+
+        // If no profile existed, create .profile
+        if (!added)
+        {
+            var fallback = Path.Combine(home, ".profile");
+            File.AppendAllText(fallback, $"\n{exportLine}\n");
+            Log.Information("Created PATH export in {Profile}", fallback);
+        }
+    }
+}

src/EchoHub.Client/Services/UpdateBackupService.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.IO.Compression;
+using System.Text.Json;
+
+using Serilog;
+
+namespace EchoHub.Client.Services;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Manages pre-update backups and rollback restoration for the auto-updater.
+/// Backup location: ~/.echohub/update-backup/
+/// </summary>
+public static class UpdateBackupService
+{
+    private static readonly string BackupDir = Path.Combine(
+        Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.UserProfile),
+        ".echohub", "update-backup");
+
+    private static readonly string BackupZipPath = Path.Combine(BackupDir, "backup.zip");
+    private static readonly string BackupInfoPath = Path.Combine(BackupDir, "backup-info.json");
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// True if a backup exists from a recent update (set at startup).
+    /// </summary>
+    public static bool IsPostUpdate { get; set; }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Creates a ZIP backup of the current app directory before an update.
+    /// Deletes any previous backup first. Uses fastest compression for speed.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static void CreateBackup()
+    {
+        var appDir = AppContext.BaseDirectory.TrimEnd(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar, Path.AltDirectorySeparatorChar);
+        var version = UpdateChecker.CurrentVersion;
+
+        if (Directory.Exists(BackupDir))
+            Directory.Delete(BackupDir, true);
+
+        Directory.CreateDirectory(BackupDir);
+
+        Log.Information("Creating pre-update backup of {AppDir} (v{Version})", appDir, version);
+
+        ZipFile.CreateFromDirectory(appDir, BackupZipPath, CompressionLevel.Fastest, includeBaseDirectory: false);
+
+        var info = new BackupInfo(version, appDir, DateTimeOffset.UtcNow);
+        var json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(info, BackupJsonContext.Default.BackupInfo);
+        File.WriteAllText(BackupInfoPath, json);
+
+        Log.Information("Backup created at {BackupPath}", BackupZipPath);
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Returns true if a valid backup exists (both ZIP and metadata file present).
+    /// </summary>
+    public static bool BackupExists()
+        => File.Exists(BackupZipPath) && File.Exists(BackupInfoPath);
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Reads backup metadata. Returns null if no backup exists or metadata is unreadable.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static BackupInfo? GetBackupInfo()
+    {
+        if (!File.Exists(BackupInfoPath))
+            return null;
+
+        try
+        {
+            var json = File.ReadAllText(BackupInfoPath);
+            return JsonSerializer.Deserialize(json, BackupJsonContext.Default.BackupInfo);
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            Log.Warning(ex, "Failed to read backup metadata");
+            return null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Restores the backup ZIP to the app directory, then restarts the process.
+    /// This method does not return — it calls Environment.Exit(0).
+    /// </summary>
+    public static void RestoreBackup()
+    {
+        var info = GetBackupInfo()
+            ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("No backup metadata found");
+
+        var appDir = info.AppDirectory;
+        Log.Information("Restoring backup v{Version} to {AppDir}", info.Version, appDir);
+
+        // On Windows, rename the running executable so extraction can overwrite it
+        if (OperatingSystem.IsWindows())
+        {
+            var currentExe = Environment.ProcessPath;
+            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(currentExe) && File.Exists(currentExe))
+            {
+                var oldExe = currentExe + ".old";
+                if (File.Exists(oldExe))
+                    File.Delete(oldExe);
+                File.Move(currentExe, oldExe);
+            }
+        }
+
+        ZipFile.ExtractToDirectory(BackupZipPath, appDir, overwriteFiles: true);
+
+        // Restore execute permission on Unix
+        if (!OperatingSystem.IsWindows())
+        {
+            var exePath = Environment.ProcessPath
+                ?? Path.Combine(appDir, "EchoHub.Client");
+
+            if (File.Exists(exePath))
+            {
+                var mode = File.GetUnixFileMode(exePath);
+                File.SetUnixFileMode(exePath, mode | UnixFileMode.UserExecute);
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Start the restored version and exit
+        var processPath = Environment.ProcessPath
+            ?? Path.Combine(appDir, "EchoHub.Client");
+
+        Log.Information("Launching restored version v{Version}: {Path}", info.Version, processPath);
+        Process.Start(new ProcessStartInfo(processPath) { UseShellExecute = false });
+        Environment.Exit(0);
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Deletes the backup directory and all contents.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static void DeleteBackup()
+    {
+        if (!Directory.Exists(BackupDir))
+            return;
+
+        try
+        {
+            Directory.Delete(BackupDir, true);
+            Log.Information("Update backup deleted");
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            Log.Warning(ex, "Failed to delete update backup");
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+public record BackupInfo(
+    string Version,
+    string AppDirectory,
+    DateTimeOffset CreatedAt);
+
+[System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonSerializable(typeof(BackupInfo))]
+internal partial class BackupJsonContext : System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonSerializerContext;

src/EchoHub.Client/Services/UpdateChecker.cs

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ using EchoHub.Client.UI.Dialogs;
 using Serilog;
 
 using Terminal.Gui.App;
+using Terminal.Gui.Views;
 
 namespace EchoHub.Client.Services;
 
@@ -15,6 +16,8 @@ public sealed class UpdateChecker : IDisposable
     private readonly Updater _updater;
     private readonly IApplication _app;
     private UpdateProgressDialog? _progressDialog;
+    private bool _manualCheck;
+
 
     public static string CurrentVersion => typeof(UpdateChecker).Assembly.GetName().Version?.ToString(3) ?? "0.0.0";
 
@@ -37,27 +40,70 @@ public sealed class UpdateChecker : IDisposable
 #endif
     }
 
+
+    public async Task CheckNowAsync()
+    {
+        _manualCheck = true;
+        try
+        {
+            await _updater.CheckForUpdateAsync();
+        }
+        finally
+        {
+            _manualCheck = false;
+        }
+    }
+
     private async void OnUpdateAvailable(string version, string changelogUrl)
     {
         Log.Information("Update available: v{Version}", version);
 
-        var confirmed = false;
         _app.Invoke(() =>
         {
-            confirmed = UpdateConfirmDialog.Show(_app, CurrentVersion, version);
-
+            var confirmed = UpdateConfirmDialog.Show(_app, CurrentVersion, version);
 
             if (confirmed)
             {
                 _progressDialog = new UpdateProgressDialog(_app, version);
 
-                // Start the update; progress is reported via OnProgressChanged
                 _ = Task.Run(async () =>
                 {
+                    // Create backup before the update starts
+                    try
+                    {
+                        _app.Invoke(() => _progressDialog?.UpdateProgress(0f, "Creating backup..."));
+                        UpdateBackupService.CreateBackup();
+                    }
+                    catch (Exception ex)
+                    {
+                        Log.Error(ex, "Failed to create pre-update backup");
+
+                        var proceed = false;
+                        _app.Invoke(() =>
+                        {
+                            proceed = MessageBox.Query(
+                                _app,
+                                "Backup Warning",
+                                $"Could not create backup: {ex.Message}\n\nContinue update without backup?",
+                                "Continue", "Cancel") == 0;
+                        });
+
+                        if (!proceed)
+                        {
+                            _app.Invoke(() =>
+                            {
+                                _progressDialog?.Close();
+                                _progressDialog = null;
+                            });
+                            return;
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    _app.Invoke(() => _progressDialog?.UpdateProgress(0f, "Downloading update..."));
                     await _updater.UpdateAsync();
                 });
 
-                _progressDialog?.Show();
+                _progressDialog.Show();
             }
         });
     }
@@ -83,15 +129,52 @@ public sealed class UpdateChecker : IDisposable
     private void OnNoUpdateAvailable()
     {
         Log.Debug("No update available");
+        if (_manualCheck)
+        {
+            _app.Invoke(() =>
+            {
+                MessageBox.Query(_app, "Check for Updates", $"You are already on the latest version (v{CurrentVersion}).", "OK");
+            });
+        }
     }
 
     private void OnException(Exception exception)
     {
-        Log.Error(exception, "Update check failed");
+        Log.Error(exception, "Update failed");
         _app.Invoke(() =>
         {
             _progressDialog?.Close();
             _progressDialog = null;
+
+            if (UpdateBackupService.BackupExists())
+            {
+                var restore = MessageBox.Query(
+                    _app,
+                    "Update Failed",
+                    $"The update failed: {exception.Message}\n\n"
+                    + "A backup of the previous version is available.\nRestore now? (The app will restart.)",
+                    "Restore", "Cancel");
+
+                if (restore == 0)
+                {
+                    try
+                    {
+                        UpdateBackupService.RestoreBackup();
+                        // RestoreBackup calls Environment.Exit(0)
+                    }
+                    catch (Exception restoreEx)
+                    {
+                        Log.Error(restoreEx, "Backup restoration failed");
+                        MessageBox.ErrorQuery(_app, "Restore Failed",
+                            $"Could not restore backup: {restoreEx.Message}\n\nYou may need to re-download the application.", "OK");
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                MessageBox.ErrorQuery(_app, "Update Failed",
+                    $"The update failed: {exception.Message}\n\nYou may need to re-download the application.", "OK");
+            }
         });
     }
 

src/EchoHub.Client/UI/Chat/ChatColors.cs

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ public static partial class ChatColors
     public static readonly Attribute SystemAttr = new(new Color(0, 180, 180), Color.None);
     public static readonly Attribute MentionHighlightAttr = new(Color.White, new Color(80, 40, 0));
     public static readonly Attribute MentionTextAttr = new(new Color(255, 180, 50), Color.None);
+    public static readonly Attribute ChannelRefAttr = new(new Color(100, 200, 255), Color.None);
     public static readonly Attribute EmbedBorderAttr = new(new Color(91, 155, 213), Color.None);
     public static readonly Attribute EmbedTitleAttr = new(Color.White, Color.None);
     public static readonly Attribute EmbedDescAttr = new(new Color(160, 160, 160), Color.None);
@@ -21,8 +22,8 @@ public static partial class ChatColors
     public static readonly Attribute FileAttr = new(new Color(100, 180, 255), Color.None);
 
     /// <summary>
-    /// Split text around @mentions, giving each @word the MentionTextAttr accent color.
-    /// Non-mention text uses the provided default color.
+    /// Split text around @mentions and #channels, giving each the appropriate accent color.
+    /// Non-special text uses the provided default color.
     /// </summary>
     public static List<ChatSegment> SplitMentions(string text, Attribute? defaultColor = null)
     {
@@ -38,12 +39,44 @@ public static partial class ChatColors
             lastIndex = match.Index + match.Length;
         }
 
+        // Add remaining text after the last mention (or all text if no mentions found)
         if (lastIndex < text.Length)
             segments.Add(new ChatSegment(text[lastIndex..], defaultColor));
 
+        // Second pass: highlight #channels in non-mention segments
+        var mentionSegments = segments;
+        segments = [];
+        foreach (var seg in mentionSegments)
+        {
+            if (seg.Color != null && seg.Color != defaultColor)
+            {
+                // Already colored (mention) — keep as-is
+                segments.Add(seg);
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            int segLast = 0;
+            foreach (Match match in ChannelRefRegex().Matches(seg.Text))
+            {
+                if (match.Index > segLast)
+                    segments.Add(new ChatSegment(seg.Text[segLast..match.Index], defaultColor));
+
+                segments.Add(new ChatSegment(match.Value, ChannelRefAttr));
+                segLast = match.Index + match.Length;
+            }
+
+            if (segLast < seg.Text.Length)
+                segments.Add(new ChatSegment(seg.Text[segLast..], defaultColor));
+        }
+
         return segments;
     }
 
-    [GeneratedRegex(@"@[\w-]+")]
+    // @mention — not preceded by a word char (avoids emails)
+    [GeneratedRegex(@"(?<!\w)@[\w-]+")]
     private static partial Regex MentionRegex();
+
+    // #channel — not preceded by a word char, must contain at least one letter (avoids hex colors / issue numbers)
+    [GeneratedRegex(@"(?<!\w)#(?=.*[a-zA-Z])[\w-]+")]
+    private static partial Regex ChannelRefRegex();
 }

src/EchoHub.Client/UI/Chat/ChatLine.cs

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+using System.Text;
 using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
 using EchoHub.Core.Models;
 using Terminal.Gui.Drawing;
@@ -18,6 +19,9 @@ public partial class ChatLine
     public string? AttachmentUrl { get; set; }
     public string? AttachmentFileName { get; set; }
     public MessageType? Type { get; set; }
+    public string? SenderUsername { get; set; }
+    /// <summary>Number of spaces to prepend on continuation lines when this line is word-wrapped.</summary>
+    public int ContinuationIndent { get; set; }
 
     public ChatLine(string plainText)
     {
@@ -42,59 +46,87 @@ public partial class ChatLine
         if (width <= 0 || TextLength <= width)
             return [this];
 
-        var results = new List<ChatLine>();
-        var currentSegments = new List<ChatSegment>();
-        int col = 0;
-
+        var tokens = new List<(string grapheme, Attribute? color)>();
         foreach (var segment in Segments)
+            foreach (var g in GraphemeHelper.GetGraphemes(segment.Text))
+                tokens.Add((g, segment.Color));
+
+        var results = new List<ChatLine>();
+        int pos = 0;
+        bool firstLine = true;
+
+        while (pos < tokens.Count)
         {
-            var text = segment.Text;
-            int chunkStart = 0;
-            int charPos = 0;
+            // First line uses the full width
+            int col = firstLine ? 0 : continuationIndent;
+            int lastSpaceIdx = -1;
 
-            foreach (var grapheme in GraphemeHelper.GetGraphemes(text))
+            int i = pos;
+            for (; i < tokens.Count; i++)
             {
-                var graphemeCols = Math.Max(grapheme.GetColumns(), 1);
-
-                if (col + graphemeCols > width)
-                {
-                    if (charPos > chunkStart)
-                        currentSegments.Add(new ChatSegment(text[chunkStart..charPos], segment.Color));
-
-                    results.Add(new ChatLine(currentSegments));
-                    currentSegments = [];
-
-                    if (continuationIndent > 0)
-                    {
-                        currentSegments.Add(new ChatSegment(new string(' ', continuationIndent), null));
-                        col = continuationIndent;
-                    }
-                    else
-                    {
-                        col = 0;
-                    }
-
-                    chunkStart = charPos;
-                }
-
+                var graphemeCols = Math.Max(tokens[i].grapheme.GetColumns(), 1);
+                if (col + graphemeCols > width) break;
+                if (tokens[i].grapheme == " ") lastSpaceIdx = i;
                 col += graphemeCols;
-                charPos += grapheme.Length;
             }
 
-            if (chunkStart < text.Length)
-                currentSegments.Add(new ChatSegment(text[chunkStart..], segment.Color));
+            int lineEnd, nextPos;
+            if (i == tokens.Count)
+            {
+                // All remaining tokens fit on this line.
+                lineEnd = tokens.Count;
+                nextPos = tokens.Count;
+            }
+            else if (lastSpaceIdx >= pos)
+            {
+                // Break at the last space that fit, skip the space itself.
+                lineEnd = lastSpaceIdx;
+                nextPos = lastSpaceIdx + 1;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                // No space found, break word.
+                lineEnd = Math.Max(i, pos + 1);
+                nextPos = lineEnd;
+            }
+
+            var segments = new List<ChatSegment>();
+            if (!firstLine && continuationIndent > 0)
+                segments.Add(new ChatSegment(new string(' ', continuationIndent), null));
+
+            // Rebuild segments by grouping consecutive same-color tokens.
+            var sb = new StringBuilder();
+            int groupStart = pos;
+            while (groupStart < lineEnd)
+            {
+                var color = tokens[groupStart].color;
+                sb.Clear();
+                int groupEnd = groupStart;
+                while (groupEnd < lineEnd && tokens[groupEnd].color == color)
+                {
+                    sb.Append(tokens[groupEnd].grapheme);
+                    groupEnd++;
+                }
+                segments.Add(new ChatSegment(sb.ToString(), color));
+                groupStart = groupEnd;
+            }
+
+            results.Add(new ChatLine(segments));
+            pos = nextPos;
+            firstLine = false;
         }
 
-        if (currentSegments.Count > 0)
-            results.Add(new ChatLine(currentSegments));
+        if (results.Count == 0)
+            return [this];
 
-        // Propagate attachment/type metadata to all wrapped lines so they remain clickable
+        // Propagate metadata to all wrapped lines so they remain clickable
         foreach (var wrapped in results)
         {
             wrapped.AttachmentUrl = AttachmentUrl;
             wrapped.AttachmentFileName = AttachmentFileName;
             wrapped.Type = Type;
             wrapped.MessageId = MessageId;
+            wrapped.SenderUsername = SenderUsername;
         }
 
         return results;

src/EchoHub.Client/UI/Chat/ChatMessageManager.cs

@@ -259,6 +259,9 @@ public sealed class ChatMessageManager
                     lines.Add(new ChatLine(ChatColors.SplitMentions(contText)));
                 }
 
+                foreach (var l in lines)
+                    l.ContinuationIndent = indent.Length;
+
                 if (message.Embeds is { Count: > 0 })
                 {
                     var chatWidth = _chatWidth > 0 ? _chatWidth : 80;
@@ -269,7 +272,10 @@ public sealed class ChatMessageManager
         }
 
         foreach (var line in lines)
+        {
             line.MessageId = message.Id;
+            line.SenderUsername = message.SenderUsername;
+        }
 
         if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(_currentUser) && message.Type == MessageType.Text)
         {
@@ -326,18 +332,20 @@ public sealed class ChatMessageManager
         int textWidth = chatWidth - indentCols - borderCols;
         if (textWidth < 20) textWidth = 20;
 
+        var borderAttr = HexColorHelper.ParseHexColor(embed.ThemeColor) ?? ChatColors.EmbedBorderAttr;
+
         void AddTextLine(string text, Attribute? color)
         {
             lines.Add(new ChatLine(
             [
                 new ChatSegment(indent, null),
-                new ChatSegment(border, ChatColors.EmbedBorderAttr),
+                new ChatSegment(border, borderAttr),
                 new ChatSegment(text, color)
             ]));
         }
 
         if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(embed.SiteName))
-            AddTextLine(embed.SiteName, ChatColors.EmbedBorderAttr);
+            AddTextLine(embed.SiteName, borderAttr);
 
         if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(embed.Title))
         {

src/EchoHub.Client/UI/Dialogs/AudioPlayerDialog.cs

@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ public sealed class AudioPlayerDialog
 
     public static void Show(IApplication app, AudioPlaybackService audioService, string filePath, string fileName)
     {
-        var dialog = new Dialog { Title = "Audio Player", Width = 52, Height = 14 };
+        var dialog = new Dialog { Title = "Audio Player", Width = 52, Height = 12 };
 
         // ── File name ──
         var fileLabel = new Label
@@ -61,38 +61,47 @@ public sealed class AudioPlayerDialog
         };
 
         byte currentVolume = 50;
-        var volumeBar = new ProgressBar
-        {
-            X = 14,
-            Y = 7,
-            Width = 20,
-            Height = 1,
-            Fraction = currentVolume / 100f,
-            ProgressBarStyle = ProgressBarStyle.Continuous
-        };
-
-        var volumePercentLabel = new Label
-        {
-            Text = $"{currentVolume}%",
-            X = 35,
-            Y = 7,
-            Width = 5
-        };
 
         var volDownButton = new Button
         {
             Text = "-",
             X = 10,
             Y = 7,
-            Width = 3
+            Width = 1,
+            Height = 1,
+            NoDecorations = true,
+            NoPadding = true,
+            ShadowStyle = ShadowStyle.None
+        };
+
+        var volumeBar = new ProgressBar
+        {
+            X = 12,
+            Y = 7,
+            Width = 22,
+            Height = 1,
+            Fraction = currentVolume / 100f,
+            ProgressBarStyle = ProgressBarStyle.Continuous
         };
 
         var volUpButton = new Button
         {
             Text = "+",
-            X = 41,
+            X = 35,
             Y = 7,
-            Width = 3
+            Width = 1,
+            Height = 1,
+            NoDecorations = true,
+            NoPadding = true,
+            ShadowStyle = ShadowStyle.None
+        };
+
+        var volumePercentLabel = new Label
+        {
+            Text = $"{currentVolume}%",
+            X = 37,
+            Y = 7,
+            Width = 5
         };
 
         // ── Playback controls ──
@@ -100,22 +109,25 @@ public sealed class AudioPlayerDialog
         {
             Text = "\u25b6 Play",
             X = 2,
-            Y = 10,
-            IsDefault = true
+            Y = 9,
+            IsDefault = true,
+            ShadowStyle = ShadowStyle.None
         };
 
         var stopButton = new Button
         {
             Text = "\u25a0 Stop",
-            X = Pos.Right(playButton) + 2,
-            Y = 10
+            X = Pos.Right(playButton) + 1,
+            Y = 9,
+            ShadowStyle = ShadowStyle.None
         };
 
         var closeButton = new Button
         {
             Text = "Close",
-            X = Pos.Right(stopButton) + 2,
-            Y = 10
+            X = Pos.Right(stopButton) + 1,
+            Y = 9,
+            ShadowStyle = ShadowStyle.None
         };
 
         // ── Animation state ──
@@ -128,6 +140,7 @@ public sealed class AudioPlayerDialog
 
         Timer? animationTimer = null;
         var isDisposed = false;
+        var isBusy = false;
 
         // ── Helper functions ──
         void UpdateWave(bool isActive)
@@ -278,6 +291,8 @@ public sealed class AudioPlayerDialog
         playButton.Accepting += (s, e) =>
         {
             e.Handled = true;
+            if (isBusy) return;
+            isBusy = true;
             Task.Run(async () =>
             {
                 if (audioService.IsPaused)
@@ -287,6 +302,7 @@ public sealed class AudioPlayerDialog
                     {
                         UpdateStatus();
                         StartAnimation();
+                        isBusy = false;
                     });
                 }
                 else if (audioService.IsPlaying)
@@ -296,6 +312,7 @@ public sealed class AudioPlayerDialog
                     {
                         UpdateStatus();
                         StopAnimation();
+                        isBusy = false;
                     });
                 }
                 else
@@ -306,6 +323,7 @@ public sealed class AudioPlayerDialog
                     {
                         UpdateStatus();
                         StartAnimation();
+                        isBusy = false;
                     });
                 }
             });
@@ -314,6 +332,8 @@ public sealed class AudioPlayerDialog
         stopButton.Accepting += (s, e) =>
         {
             e.Handled = true;
+            if (isBusy) return;
+            isBusy = true;
             Task.Run(async () =>
             {
                 await audioService.StopAsync();
@@ -321,6 +341,7 @@ public sealed class AudioPlayerDialog
                 {
                     UpdateStatus();
                     StopAnimation();
+                    isBusy = false;
                 });
             });
         };
@@ -337,6 +358,8 @@ public sealed class AudioPlayerDialog
         volDownButton.Accepting += (s, e) =>
         {
             e.Handled = true;
+            if (isBusy) return;
+            isBusy = true;
             var newVol = (byte)Math.Max(0, currentVolume - 10);
             Task.Run(async () =>
             {
@@ -345,6 +368,7 @@ public sealed class AudioPlayerDialog
                 {
                     volumeBar.SetNeedsDraw();
                     volumePercentLabel.SetNeedsDraw();
+                    isBusy = false;
                 });
             });
         };
@@ -352,6 +376,8 @@ public sealed class AudioPlayerDialog
         volUpButton.Accepting += (s, e) =>
         {
             e.Handled = true;
+            if (isBusy) return;
+            isBusy = true;
             var newVol = (byte)Math.Min(100, currentVolume + 10);
             Task.Run(async () =>
             {
@@ -360,6 +386,7 @@ public sealed class AudioPlayerDialog
                 {
                     volumeBar.SetNeedsDraw();
                     volumePercentLabel.SetNeedsDraw();
+                    isBusy = false;
                 });
             });
         };

src/EchoHub.Client/UI/Dialogs/CreateChannelDialog.cs

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ public sealed class CreateChannelDialog
     {
         CreateChannelResult? result = null;
 
-        var dialog = new Dialog { Title = "Create Channel", Width = 50, Height = 14 };
+        var dialog = new Dialog { Title = "Create Channel", Width = 50, Height = 14, CommandsToBubbleUp = [] };
 
         var nameLabel = new Label { Text = "Name:", X = 1, Y = 1 };
         var nameField = new TextField { X = 10, Y = 1, Width = Dim.Fill(2) };

src/EchoHub.Client/UI/ListSources/UserListSource.cs

@@ -12,14 +12,14 @@ namespace EchoHub.Client.UI.ListSources;
 /// </summary>
 public class UserListSource : IListDataSource
 {
-    private readonly List<(string Text, Attribute? NameColor)> _users = [];
+    private readonly List<(string Text, Attribute? NameColor, string Username)> _users = [];
 
     public event NotifyCollectionChangedEventHandler? CollectionChanged;
     public int Count => _users.Count;
     public int MaxItemLength { get; private set; }
     public bool SuspendCollectionChangedEvent { get; set; }
 
-    public void Update(List<(string Text, Attribute? NameColor)> users)
+    public void Update(List<(string Text, Attribute? NameColor, string Username)> users)
     {
         _users.Clear();
         _users.AddRange(users);
@@ -28,15 +28,18 @@ public class UserListSource : IListDataSource
             CollectionChanged?.Invoke(this, new NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs(NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Reset));
     }
 
+    public string? GetUsername(int index) =>
+        index >= 0 && index < _users.Count ? _users[index].Username : null;
+
     public bool IsMarked(int item) => false;
     public void SetMark(int item, bool value) { }
-    public IList ToList() => _users.Select(u => u.Text).ToList();
+    public IList ToList() => _users.Select(u => (object)u.Text).ToList();
 
     public void Render(ListView listView, bool selected, int item, int col, int row, int width, int viewportX = 0)
     {
         listView.Move(Math.Max(col - viewportX, 0), row);
 
-        var (text, nameColor) = _users[item];
+        var (text, nameColor, _) = _users[item];
         var normalAttr = listView.GetAttributeForRole(selected ? VisualRole.Focus : VisualRole.Normal);
 
         // Find where the name starts (after status icon + space + optional role badge)

src/EchoHub.Client/UI/MainWindow.cs

@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
+using EchoHub.Client.Services;
 using EchoHub.Client.Themes;
 using EchoHub.Client.UI.Chat;
 using EchoHub.Client.UI.Helpers;
@@ -18,7 +20,7 @@ namespace EchoHub.Client.UI;
 /// <summary>
 /// Main Terminal.Gui window for the EchoHub chat client.
 /// </summary>
-public sealed class MainWindow : Runnable
+public sealed partial class MainWindow : Runnable
 {
     private readonly IApplication _app;
     private readonly ListView _channelList;
@@ -104,6 +106,11 @@ public sealed class MainWindow : Runnable
     /// </summary>
     public event Action<string>? OnThemeSelected;
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Fired when the user requests to check for updates.
+    /// </summary>
+    public event Action? OnCheckForUpdatesRequested;
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Fired when the user requests to view saved servers.
     /// </summary>
@@ -119,6 +126,11 @@ public sealed class MainWindow : Runnable
     /// </summary>
     public event Action? OnDeleteChannelRequested;
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Fired when the user requests to rollback to the previous version.
+    /// </summary>
+    public event Action? OnRollbackRequested;
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Fired when the user activates (Enter/click) an audio message. Parameters: attachmentUrl, fileName.
     /// </summary>
@@ -129,6 +141,16 @@ public sealed class MainWindow : Runnable
     /// </summary>
     public event Action<string, string>? OnFileDownloadRequested;
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Fired when the user activates a username (in userlist or message). Parameter is the username.
+    /// </summary>
+    public event Action<string>? OnUserProfileRequested;
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Fired when the user activates a #channel reference in a message. Parameter is the channel name.
+    /// </summary>
+    public event Action<string>? OnChannelJoinRequested;
+
     public MainWindow(IApplication app, ChatMessageManager messageManager)
     {
         _app = app;
@@ -239,6 +261,7 @@ public sealed class MainWindow : Runnable
         };
         _usersListSource = new UserListSource();
         _usersList.Source = _usersListSource;
+        _usersList.Accepting += OnUsersListAccepting;
         _usersFrame.Add(_usersList);
         Add(_usersFrame);
 
@@ -318,12 +341,20 @@ public sealed class MainWindow : Runnable
         };
         allUserItems.AddRange(themeItems);
 
+        var fileItems = new List<View>();
+        if (UpdateBackupService.BackupExists())
+        {
+            var info = UpdateBackupService.GetBackupInfo();
+            var label = info is not null ? $"_Rollback to v{info.Version}..." : "_Rollback Update...";
+            fileItems.Add(new MenuItem(label, "Restore previous version", () => OnRollbackRequested?.Invoke(), Key.Empty));
+            fileItems.Add(new Line());
+        }
+        fileItems.Add(new MenuItem($"_Check for Updates", "Check for new version", () => OnCheckForUpdatesRequested?.Invoke(), Key.Empty));
+        fileItems.Add(new MenuItem("_Quit", "Quit EchoHub", () => _app.RequestStop(), Key.Empty));
+
         var menuBar = new MenuBar(
         [
-            new MenuBarItem("_File",
-            [
-                new MenuItem("_Quit", "Quit EchoHub", () => _app.RequestStop(), Key.Empty)
-            ]),
+            new MenuBarItem("_File", fileItems),
             new MenuBarItem("_Server", new View[]
             {
                 new MenuItem("_Connect...", "Connect to a server", () => OnConnectRequested?.Invoke(), Key.Empty),
@@ -391,17 +422,66 @@ public sealed class MainWindow : Runnable
             return;
 
         var line = source.GetLine(index.Value);
-        if (line?.AttachmentUrl is null || line.AttachmentFileName is null)
-            return;
+        if (line is null) return;
 
-        if (line.Type == MessageType.Audio)
+        // Audio/file attachments take priority
+        if (line.AttachmentUrl is not null && line.AttachmentFileName is not null)
         {
-            OnAudioPlayRequested?.Invoke(line.AttachmentUrl, line.AttachmentFileName);
+            if (line.Type == MessageType.Audio)
+            {
+                OnAudioPlayRequested?.Invoke(line.AttachmentUrl, line.AttachmentFileName);
+                e.Handled = true;
+                return;
+            }
+
+            if (line.Type == MessageType.File)
+            {
+                OnFileDownloadRequested?.Invoke(line.AttachmentUrl, line.AttachmentFileName);
+                e.Handled = true;
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+
+        var lineText = line.ToString();
+
+        // Check for @mention — open mentioned user's profile
+        // Negative lookbehind prevents matching emails (user@domain)
+        var mentionMatch = ClickMentionRegex().Match(lineText);
+        if (mentionMatch.Success)
+        {
+            OnUserProfileRequested?.Invoke(mentionMatch.Groups[1].Value);
+            e.Handled = true;
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // Check for #channel — join/switch to that channel
+        // Require at least one letter to avoid matching hex colors (#ff0000) or issue numbers (#123)
+        var channelMatch = ClickChannelRegex().Match(lineText);
+        if (channelMatch.Success)
+        {
+            OnChannelJoinRequested?.Invoke(channelMatch.Groups[1].Value);
+            e.Handled = true;
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // Default: open sender's profile
+        if (line.SenderUsername is not null)
+        {
+            OnUserProfileRequested?.Invoke(line.SenderUsername);
             e.Handled = true;
         }
-        else if (line.Type == MessageType.File)
+    }
+
+    private void OnUsersListAccepting(object? sender, CommandEventArgs e)
+    {
+        var index = _usersList.SelectedItem;
+        if (!index.HasValue || index.Value < 0 || index.Value >= _usersListSource.Count)
+            return;
+
+        var username = _usersListSource.GetUsername(index.Value);
+        if (username is not null)
         {
-            OnFileDownloadRequested?.Invoke(line.AttachmentUrl, line.AttachmentFileName);
+            OnUserProfileRequested?.Invoke(username);
             e.Handled = true;
         }
     }
@@ -753,7 +833,7 @@ public sealed class MainWindow : Runnable
             if (width > 0)
             {
                 foreach (var line in messages)
-                    source.AddRange(line.Wrap(width));
+                    source.AddRange(line.Wrap(width, line.ContinuationIndent));
             }
             else
             {
@@ -848,9 +928,11 @@ public sealed class MainWindow : Runnable
                 ServerRole.Mod => "\u2740",   // ❀
                 _ => ""
             };
-            var text = $"{statusIcon} {roleTag}{name}";
+            var text = roleTag.Length > 0
+                ? $"{statusIcon} {roleTag} {name}"
+                : $"{statusIcon} {name}";
             var nameColor = HexColorHelper.ParseHexColor(u.NicknameColor);
-            return (text, nameColor);
+            return (text, nameColor, u.Username);
         }).ToList();
 
         _usersListSource.Update(displayItems);
@@ -858,4 +940,11 @@ public sealed class MainWindow : Runnable
         _usersFrame.Title = $"Users ({users.Count})";
     }
 
+    // @mention — not preceded by a word char (avoids emails)
+    [GeneratedRegex(@"(?<!\w)@([\w-]+)")]
+    private static partial Regex ClickMentionRegex();
+
+    // #channel — not preceded by a word char, must contain at least one letter (avoids hex colors / issue numbers)
+    [GeneratedRegex(@"(?<!\w)#((?=.*[a-zA-Z])[\w-]+)")]
+    private static partial Regex ClickChannelRegex();
 }

src/EchoHub.Core/Contracts/IChatBroadcaster.cs

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ namespace EchoHub.Core.Contracts;
 public interface IChatBroadcaster
 {
     Task SendMessageToChannelAsync(string channelName, MessageDto message);
-    Task SendUserJoinedAsync(string channelName, string username, string? excludeConnectionId = null);
+    Task SendUserJoinedAsync(string channelName, string username, UserPresenceDto? presence, string? excludeConnectionId = null);
     Task SendUserLeftAsync(string channelName, string username);
     Task SendChannelUpdatedAsync(ChannelDto channel, string? channelName = null);
     Task SendUserStatusChangedAsync(List<string> channelNames, UserPresenceDto presence);

src/EchoHub.Core/Contracts/IChatService.cs

@@ -25,8 +25,6 @@ public interface IChatService
     Task BroadcastMessageAsync(string channelName, MessageDto message);
     Task BroadcastChannelUpdatedAsync(ChannelDto channel, string? channelName = null);
 
-    // Query operations (used by IRC gateway for WHOIS, AUTH)
-    Task<UserProfileDto?> GetUserProfileAsync(string username);
+    // Query operations (used by IRC gateway for WHOIS)
     Task<List<string>> GetChannelsForUserAsync(string username);
-    Task<(Guid UserId, string Username)?> AuthenticateUserAsync(string username, string password);
 }

src/EchoHub.Core/Contracts/IEchoHubClient.cs

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ namespace EchoHub.Core.Contracts;
 public interface IEchoHubClient
 {
     Task ReceiveMessage(MessageDto message);
-    Task UserJoined(string channelName, string username);
+    Task UserJoined(string channelName, string username, UserPresenceDto? presence);
     Task UserLeft(string channelName, string username);
     Task ChannelUpdated(ChannelDto channel);
     Task UserStatusChanged(UserPresenceDto presence);

src/EchoHub.Core/Contracts/IUserService.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+using EchoHub.Core.DTOs;
+
+namespace EchoHub.Core.Contracts;
+
+public interface IUserService
+{
+    Task<UserOperationResult> RegisterUserAsync(string username, string password, string? displayName = null);
+    Task<UserOperationResult> AuthenticateUserAsync(string username, string password);
+    Task<UserProfileDto?> GetUserProfileAsync(string username);
+    Task<UserProfileDto?> GetUserByIdAsync(Guid userId);
+    Task<UserOperationResult> UpdateProfileAsync(Guid userId, string? displayName, string? bio, string? nicknameColor);
+    Task<UserOperationResult> SetAvatarAsync(Guid userId, string asciiArt);
+}

src/EchoHub.Core/DTOs/ChatDtos.cs

@@ -39,9 +39,12 @@ public record UpdateTopicRequest(string? Topic);
 
 public record SendUrlRequest(string Url);
 
+public record JoinChannelResult(bool Success, List<MessageDto> History, string? Error = null);
+
 public record EmbedDto(
     string? SiteName,
     string? Title,
     string? Description,
     string? ImageAscii,
-    string Url);
+    string Url,
+    string? ThemeColor = null);

src/EchoHub.Core/DTOs/CommonDtos.cs

@@ -24,3 +24,20 @@ public record ChannelOperationResult(ChannelDto? Channel, ChannelError? Error, s
     public static ChannelOperationResult Success(ChannelDto channel) => new(channel, null, null);
     public static ChannelOperationResult Fail(ChannelError error, string message) => new(null, error, message);
 }
+
+public enum UserError
+{
+    ValidationFailed,
+    AlreadyExists,
+    NotFound,
+    InvalidCredentials,
+    Banned
+}
+
+public record UserOperationResult(UserProfileDto? User, UserError? Error, string? ErrorMessage)
+{
+    public bool IsSuccess => Error is null;
+
+    public static UserOperationResult Success(UserProfileDto user) => new(user, null, null);
+    public static UserOperationResult Fail(UserError error, string message) => new(null, error, message);
+}

src/EchoHub.Server.Irc/IrcBroadcaster.cs

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ public class IrcBroadcaster : IChatBroadcaster
         }
     }
 
-    public async Task SendUserJoinedAsync(string channelName, string username, string? excludeConnectionId = null)
+    public async Task SendUserJoinedAsync(string channelName, string username, UserPresenceDto? presence, string? excludeConnectionId = null)
     {
         foreach (var conn in _gateway.GetConnectionsInChannel(channelName))
         {

src/EchoHub.Server.Irc/IrcClientConnection.cs

@@ -44,8 +44,9 @@ public sealed class IrcClientConnection : IAsyncDisposable
     public IrcClientConnection(TcpClient tcpClient, Stream stream)
     {
         _tcpClient = tcpClient;
-        _reader = new StreamReader(stream, Encoding.UTF8);
-        _writer = new StreamWriter(stream, Encoding.UTF8) { AutoFlush = true, NewLine = "\r\n" };
+        var utf8NoBom = new UTF8Encoding(encoderShouldEmitUTF8Identifier: false);
+        _reader = new StreamReader(stream, utf8NoBom);
+        _writer = new StreamWriter(stream, utf8NoBom) { AutoFlush = true, NewLine = "\r\n" };
     }
 
     public async Task<string?> ReadLineAsync(CancellationToken ct)

src/EchoHub.Server.Irc/IrcCommandHandler.cs

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ public sealed class IrcCommandHandler
     private readonly IrcClientConnection _conn;
     private readonly IrcOptions _options;
     private readonly IChatService _chatService;
+    private readonly IUserService _userService;
     private readonly IChannelService _channelService;
     private readonly IMessageEncryptionService _encryption;
     private readonly ILogger _logger;
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ public sealed class IrcCommandHandler
         IrcClientConnection conn,
         IrcOptions options,
         IChatService chatService,
+        IUserService userService,
         IChannelService channelService,
         IMessageEncryptionService encryption,
         ILogger logger)
@@ -29,6 +31,7 @@ public sealed class IrcCommandHandler
         _conn = conn;
         _options = options;
         _chatService = chatService;
+        _userService = userService;
         _channelService = channelService;
         _encryption = encryption;
         _logger = logger;
@@ -44,6 +47,8 @@ public sealed class IrcCommandHandler
             line = line.TrimEnd('\r', '\n');
             if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(line)) continue;
 
+            _logger.LogDebug("IRC < {Id}: {Line}", _conn.ConnectionId, line);
+
             var msg = IrcMessage.Parse(line);
 
             try
@@ -138,6 +143,15 @@ public sealed class IrcCommandHandler
             return;
         }
 
+        // AUTHENTICATE * = client aborts SASL
+        if (msg.Parameters[0] == "*")
+        {
+            _conn.IsSasl = false;
+            await _conn.SendNumericAsync(ServerName, IrcNumericReply.ERR_SASLFAIL,
+                ":SASL authentication aborted");
+            return;
+        }
+
         try
         {
             var decoded = Convert.FromBase64String(msg.Parameters[0]);
@@ -154,26 +168,39 @@ public sealed class IrcCommandHandler
             var username = (parts[1].Length > 0 ? parts[1] : parts[0]).ToLowerInvariant();
             var password = parts[2];
 
-            var result = await _chatService.AuthenticateUserAsync(username, password);
+            _logger.LogDebug("SASL PLAIN auth attempt for user '{Username}' (connection {Id})",
+                username, _conn.ConnectionId);
 
-            if (result is null)
+            var result = await _userService.AuthenticateUserAsync(username, password);
+
+            // Auth failed — try registering a new account
+            if (!result.IsSuccess)
+                result = await _userService.RegisterUserAsync(username, password);
+
+            if (!result.IsSuccess)
             {
+                _logger.LogWarning("SASL auth/register failed for user '{Username}': {Error} (connection {Id})",
+                    username, result.ErrorMessage, _conn.ConnectionId);
                 await _conn.SendNumericAsync(ServerName, IrcNumericReply.ERR_SASLFAIL,
-                    ":SASL authentication failed");
+                    $":SASL authentication failed — {result.ErrorMessage}");
                 return;
             }
 
-            _conn.Nickname = result.Value.Username;
-            _conn.UserId = result.Value.UserId;
+            _conn.Nickname = result.User!.Username;
+            _conn.UserId = result.User!.Id;
             _conn.IsAuthenticated = true;
 
+            _logger.LogInformation("SASL auth succeeded for user '{Username}' (connection {Id})",
+                username, _conn.ConnectionId);
+
             await _conn.SendNumericAsync(ServerName, IrcNumericReply.RPL_LOGGEDIN,
                 $"{_conn.Hostmask} {username} :You are now logged in as {username}");
             await _conn.SendNumericAsync(ServerName, IrcNumericReply.RPL_SASLSUCCESS,
                 ":SASL authentication successful");
         }
-        catch
+        catch (Exception ex)
         {
+            _logger.LogError(ex, "SASL auth exception for connection {Id}", _conn.ConnectionId);
             await _conn.SendNumericAsync(ServerName, IrcNumericReply.ERR_SASLFAIL,
                 ":SASL authentication failed");
         }
@@ -240,6 +267,10 @@ public sealed class IrcCommandHandler
 
     private async Task TryCompleteRegistrationAsync()
     {
+        _logger.LogDebug("TryCompleteRegistration: CapNeg={Cap}, Registered={Reg}, Authenticated={Auth}, Nick={Nick}, User={User}, Id={Id}",
+            _conn.CapNegotiating, _conn.IsRegistered, _conn.IsAuthenticated,
+            _conn.Nickname, _conn.Username, _conn.ConnectionId);
+
         if (_conn.CapNegotiating || _conn.IsRegistered) return;
 
         // SASL already authenticated
@@ -260,22 +291,26 @@ public sealed class IrcCommandHandler
             return;
         }
 
-        var result = await _chatService.AuthenticateUserAsync(_conn.Nickname!, _conn.Password);
+        var result = await _userService.AuthenticateUserAsync(_conn.Nickname!, _conn.Password);
 
-        if (result is null)
+        // Auth failed — try registering a new account
+        if (!result.IsSuccess)
+            result = await _userService.RegisterUserAsync(_conn.Nickname!, _conn.Password);
+
+        if (!result.IsSuccess)
         {
             await _conn.SendNumericAsync(ServerName, IrcNumericReply.ERR_PASSWDMISMATCH,
-                ":Password incorrect or account not found. Register via the EchoHub client first.");
+                $":{result.ErrorMessage}");
             await _conn.SendAsync("ERROR :Authentication failed");
             return;
         }
 
-        _conn.UserId = result.Value.UserId;
-        _conn.Nickname = result.Value.Username;
+        _conn.UserId = result.User!.Id;
+        _conn.Nickname = result.User!.Username;
         _conn.IsAuthenticated = true;
         _conn.IsRegistered = true;
 
-        await _chatService.UserConnectedAsync(_conn.ConnectionId, result.Value.UserId, result.Value.Username);
+        await _chatService.UserConnectedAsync(_conn.ConnectionId, result.User!.Id, result.User!.Username);
         await SendWelcomeBurstAsync();
     }
 
@@ -527,7 +562,7 @@ public sealed class IrcCommandHandler
         if (msg.Parameters.Count < 1) return;
 
         var nick = msg.Parameters[^1].ToLowerInvariant();
-        var profile = await _chatService.GetUserProfileAsync(nick);
+        var profile = await _userService.GetUserProfileAsync(nick);
 
         if (profile is null)
         {

src/EchoHub.Server.Irc/IrcGatewayService.cs

@@ -120,10 +120,11 @@ public sealed class IrcGatewayService : BackgroundService
         try
         {
             chatService = _services.GetRequiredService<IChatService>();
+            var userService = _services.GetRequiredService<IUserService>();
             var channelService = _services.GetRequiredService<IChannelService>();
             var encryption = _services.GetRequiredService<IMessageEncryptionService>();
             var handler = new IrcCommandHandler(
-                connection, _options, chatService, channelService, encryption, _logger);
+                connection, _options, chatService, userService, channelService, encryption, _logger);
 
             await handler.RunAsync(ct);
         }

src/EchoHub.Server/.dockerignore

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+bin/
+obj/
+.vs/
+*.user
+*.suo
+*.DotSettings.user

src/EchoHub.Server/Auth/JwtTokenService.cs

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ using System.IdentityModel.Tokens.Jwt;
 using System.Security.Claims;
 using System.Security.Cryptography;
 using System.Text;
+using EchoHub.Core.DTOs;
 using EchoHub.Core.Models;
 using Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens;
 
@@ -51,6 +52,31 @@ public class JwtTokenService
         return (new JwtSecurityTokenHandler().WriteToken(token), expiresAt);
     }
 
+    public (string Token, DateTimeOffset ExpiresAt) GenerateAccessToken(UserProfileDto profile)
+    {
+        var key = new SymmetricSecurityKey(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(_secret));
+        var credentials = new SigningCredentials(key, SecurityAlgorithms.HmacSha256);
+        var expiresAt = DateTimeOffset.UtcNow.Add(AccessTokenLifetime);
+
+        Claim[] claims =
+        [
+            new(JwtRegisteredClaimNames.Sub, profile.Id.ToString()),
+            new("username", profile.Username),
+            new("display_name", profile.DisplayName ?? profile.Username),
+            new("role", profile.Role.ToString()),
+            new(JwtRegisteredClaimNames.Jti, Guid.NewGuid().ToString()),
+        ];
+
+        var token = new JwtSecurityToken(
+            issuer: _issuer,
+            audience: _audience,
+            claims: claims,
+            expires: expiresAt.UtcDateTime,
+            signingCredentials: credentials);
+
+        return (new JwtSecurityTokenHandler().WriteToken(token), expiresAt);
+    }
+
     public static string GenerateRefreshToken()
     {
         var randomBytes = new byte[64];

src/EchoHub.Server/Controllers/AuthController.cs

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-using EchoHub.Core.Constants;
+using EchoHub.Core.Contracts;
 using EchoHub.Core.DTOs;
 using EchoHub.Core.Models;
 using EchoHub.Server.Auth;
@@ -16,94 +16,59 @@ public class AuthController : ControllerBase
 {
     private readonly EchoHubDbContext _db;
     private readonly JwtTokenService _jwt;
+    private readonly IUserService _userService;
 
-    public AuthController(EchoHubDbContext db, JwtTokenService jwt)
+    public AuthController(EchoHubDbContext db, JwtTokenService jwt, IUserService userService)
     {
         _db = db;
         _jwt = jwt;
+        _userService = userService;
     }
 
     [HttpPost("register")]
     public async Task<IActionResult> Register([FromBody] RegisterRequest request)
     {
-        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(request.Username) || string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(request.Password))
-            return BadRequest(new ErrorResponse("Username and password are required."));
+        var result = await _userService.RegisterUserAsync(request.Username, request.Password, request.DisplayName);
+        if (!result.IsSuccess)
+            return MapUserError(result);
 
-        if (!ValidationConstants.UsernameRegex().IsMatch(request.Username))
-            return BadRequest(new ErrorResponse("Username must be 3-50 characters and contain only letters, digits, underscores, or hyphens."));
-
-        if (request.Password.Length < 6)
-            return BadRequest(new ErrorResponse("Password must be at least 6 characters."));
-
-        if (request.Password.Length > ValidationConstants.MaxPasswordLength)
-            return BadRequest(new ErrorResponse($"Password must not exceed {ValidationConstants.MaxPasswordLength} characters."));
-
-        var normalizedUsername = request.Username.ToLowerInvariant().Trim();
-
-        if (await _db.Users.AnyAsync(u => u.Username == normalizedUsername))
-            return Conflict(new ErrorResponse("Username is already taken."));
-
-        // First registered user on the server becomes the Owner
-        var isFirstUser = !await _db.Users.AnyAsync();
-
-        var user = new User
-        {
-            Id = Guid.NewGuid(),
-            Username = normalizedUsername,
-            PasswordHash = BCrypt.Net.BCrypt.HashPassword(request.Password),
-            DisplayName = request.DisplayName?.Trim(),
-            Role = isFirstUser ? ServerRole.Owner : ServerRole.Member,
-        };
-
-        _db.Users.Add(user);
-        await _db.SaveChangesAsync();
-
-        var (accessToken, expiresAt) = _jwt.GenerateAccessToken(user);
+        var profile = result.User!;
+        var (accessToken, expiresAt) = _jwt.GenerateAccessToken(profile);
         var refreshToken = JwtTokenService.GenerateRefreshToken();
 
         _db.RefreshTokens.Add(new RefreshToken
         {
             Id = Guid.NewGuid(),
             TokenHash = JwtTokenService.HashToken(refreshToken),
-            UserId = user.Id,
+            UserId = profile.Id,
             ExpiresAt = DateTimeOffset.UtcNow.Add(JwtTokenService.RefreshTokenLifetime),
         });
         await _db.SaveChangesAsync();
 
-        return Ok(new LoginResponse(accessToken, refreshToken, expiresAt, user.Username, user.DisplayName, user.NicknameColor));
+        return Ok(new LoginResponse(accessToken, refreshToken, expiresAt, profile.Username, profile.DisplayName, profile.NicknameColor));
     }
 
     [HttpPost("login")]
     public async Task<IActionResult> Login([FromBody] LoginRequest request)
     {
-        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(request.Username) || string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(request.Password))
-            return BadRequest(new ErrorResponse("Username and password are required."));
+        var result = await _userService.AuthenticateUserAsync(request.Username, request.Password);
+        if (!result.IsSuccess)
+            return MapUserError(result);
 
-        var normalizedUsername = request.Username.ToLowerInvariant().Trim();
-        var user = await _db.Users.FirstOrDefaultAsync(u => u.Username == normalizedUsername);
-
-        if (user is null || !BCrypt.Net.BCrypt.Verify(request.Password, user.PasswordHash))
-            return Unauthorized(new ErrorResponse("Invalid username or password."));
-
-        if (user.IsBanned)
-            return Unauthorized(new ErrorResponse("Your account has been banned."));
-
-        user.LastSeenAt = DateTimeOffset.UtcNow;
-        await _db.SaveChangesAsync();
-
-        var (accessToken, expiresAt) = _jwt.GenerateAccessToken(user);
+        var profile = result.User!;
+        var (accessToken, expiresAt) = _jwt.GenerateAccessToken(profile);
         var refreshToken = JwtTokenService.GenerateRefreshToken();
 
         _db.RefreshTokens.Add(new RefreshToken
         {
             Id = Guid.NewGuid(),
             TokenHash = JwtTokenService.HashToken(refreshToken),
-            UserId = user.Id,
+            UserId = profile.Id,
             ExpiresAt = DateTimeOffset.UtcNow.Add(JwtTokenService.RefreshTokenLifetime),
         });
         await _db.SaveChangesAsync();
 
-        return Ok(new LoginResponse(accessToken, refreshToken, expiresAt, user.Username, user.DisplayName, user.NicknameColor));
+        return Ok(new LoginResponse(accessToken, refreshToken, expiresAt, profile.Username, profile.DisplayName, profile.NicknameColor));
     }
 
     [HttpPost("refresh")]
@@ -159,4 +124,14 @@ public class AuthController : ControllerBase
 
         return Ok();
     }
+
+    private IActionResult MapUserError(UserOperationResult result) => result.Error switch
+    {
+        UserError.ValidationFailed => BadRequest(new ErrorResponse(result.ErrorMessage!)),
+        UserError.AlreadyExists => Conflict(new ErrorResponse(result.ErrorMessage!)),
+        UserError.NotFound => NotFound(new ErrorResponse(result.ErrorMessage!)),
+        UserError.InvalidCredentials => Unauthorized(new ErrorResponse(result.ErrorMessage!)),
+        UserError.Banned => Unauthorized(new ErrorResponse(result.ErrorMessage!)),
+        _ => BadRequest(new ErrorResponse(result.ErrorMessage ?? "Unknown error.")),
+    };
 }

src/EchoHub.Server/Controllers/UsersController.cs

@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 using System.Security.Claims;
 using EchoHub.Core.Constants;
+using EchoHub.Core.Contracts;
 using EchoHub.Core.DTOs;
-using EchoHub.Server.Data;
 using EchoHub.Server.Services;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.RateLimiting;
-using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
 
 namespace EchoHub.Server.Controllers;
 
@@ -16,25 +15,24 @@ namespace EchoHub.Server.Controllers;
 [EnableRateLimiting("general")]
 public class UsersController : ControllerBase
 {
-    private readonly EchoHubDbContext _db;
+    private readonly IUserService _userService;
     private readonly ImageToAsciiService _asciiService;
 
-    public UsersController(EchoHubDbContext db, ImageToAsciiService asciiService)
+    public UsersController(IUserService userService, ImageToAsciiService asciiService)
     {
-        _db = db;
+        _userService = userService;
         _asciiService = asciiService;
     }
 
     [HttpGet("{username}/profile")]
     public async Task<IActionResult> GetProfile(string username)
     {
-        var normalizedUsername = username.ToLowerInvariant().Trim();
-        var user = await _db.Users.FirstOrDefaultAsync(u => u.Username == normalizedUsername);
+        var profile = await _userService.GetUserProfileAsync(username);
 
-        if (user is null)
+        if (profile is null)
             return NotFound(new ErrorResponse("User not found."));
 
-        return Ok(ToProfileDto(user));
+        return Ok(profile);
     }
 
     [HttpPut("profile")]
@@ -44,37 +42,13 @@ public class UsersController : ControllerBase
         if (userIdClaim is null)
             return Unauthorized(new ErrorResponse("Authentication required."));
 
-        var userId = Guid.Parse(userIdClaim);
-        var user = await _db.Users.FindAsync(userId);
+        var result = await _userService.UpdateProfileAsync(
+            Guid.Parse(userIdClaim), request.DisplayName, request.Bio, request.NicknameColor);
 
-        if (user is null)
-            return NotFound(new ErrorResponse("User not found."));
+        if (!result.IsSuccess)
+            return MapUserError(result);
 
-        if (request.DisplayName is not null)
-        {
-            if (request.DisplayName.Length > ValidationConstants.MaxDisplayNameLength)
-                return BadRequest(new ErrorResponse($"Display name must not exceed {ValidationConstants.MaxDisplayNameLength} characters."));
-            user.DisplayName = request.DisplayName.Trim();
-        }
-
-        if (request.Bio is not null)
-        {
-            if (request.Bio.Length > ValidationConstants.MaxBioLength)
-                return BadRequest(new ErrorResponse($"Bio must not exceed {ValidationConstants.MaxBioLength} characters."));
-            user.Bio = request.Bio.Trim();
-        }
-
-        if (request.NicknameColor is not null)
-        {
-            var color = request.NicknameColor.Trim();
-            if (color.Length > 0 && !ValidationConstants.HexColorRegex().IsMatch(color))
-                return BadRequest(new ErrorResponse("Nickname color must be a valid hex color (e.g. #FF5500)."));
-            user.NicknameColor = color.Length > 0 ? color : null;
-        }
-
-        await _db.SaveChangesAsync();
-
-        return Ok(ToProfileDto(user));
+        return Ok(result.User!);
     }
 
     [HttpPost("avatar")]
@@ -85,12 +59,6 @@ public class UsersController : ControllerBase
         if (userIdClaim is null)
             return Unauthorized(new ErrorResponse("Authentication required."));
 
-        var userId = Guid.Parse(userIdClaim);
-        var user = await _db.Users.FindAsync(userId);
-
-        if (user is null)
-            return NotFound(new ErrorResponse("User not found."));
-
         if (!Request.HasFormContentType || Request.Form.Files.Count == 0)
             return BadRequest(new ErrorResponse("No file uploaded."));
 
@@ -106,22 +74,20 @@ public class UsersController : ControllerBase
 
         var asciiArt = _asciiService.ConvertToAscii(stream);
 
-        user.AvatarAscii = asciiArt;
-        await _db.SaveChangesAsync();
+        var result = await _userService.SetAvatarAsync(Guid.Parse(userIdClaim), asciiArt);
+        if (!result.IsSuccess)
+            return MapUserError(result);
 
         return Ok(new AvatarUploadResponse(asciiArt));
     }
 
-    private static UserProfileDto ToProfileDto(Core.Models.User user) => new(
-        user.Id,
-        user.Username,
-        user.DisplayName,
-        user.Bio,
-        user.NicknameColor,
-        user.AvatarAscii,
-        user.Status,
-        user.StatusMessage,
-        user.Role,
-        user.CreatedAt,
-        user.LastSeenAt);
+    private IActionResult MapUserError(UserOperationResult result) => result.Error switch
+    {
+        UserError.ValidationFailed => BadRequest(new ErrorResponse(result.ErrorMessage!)),
+        UserError.AlreadyExists => Conflict(new ErrorResponse(result.ErrorMessage!)),
+        UserError.NotFound => NotFound(new ErrorResponse(result.ErrorMessage!)),
+        UserError.InvalidCredentials => Unauthorized(new ErrorResponse(result.ErrorMessage!)),
+        UserError.Banned => Unauthorized(new ErrorResponse(result.ErrorMessage!)),
+        _ => BadRequest(new ErrorResponse(result.ErrorMessage ?? "Unknown error.")),
+    };
 }

src/EchoHub.Server/Dockerfile

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:10.0 AS build
+WORKDIR /src
+
+# Copy project files first for layer caching
+COPY EchoHub.Core/EchoHub.Core.csproj EchoHub.Core/
+COPY EchoHub.Server.Irc/EchoHub.Server.Irc.csproj EchoHub.Server.Irc/
+COPY EchoHub.Server/EchoHub.Server.csproj EchoHub.Server/
+COPY Directory.Build.props .
+RUN dotnet restore EchoHub.Server/EchoHub.Server.csproj
+
+# Copy everything and publish
+COPY EchoHub.Core/ EchoHub.Core/
+COPY EchoHub.Server.Irc/ EchoHub.Server.Irc/
+COPY EchoHub.Server/ EchoHub.Server/
+# Icon referenced by Server.csproj ApplicationIcon
+COPY EchoHub.Client/Assets/hue_icon.ico EchoHub.Client/Assets/hue_icon.ico
+RUN dotnet publish EchoHub.Server/EchoHub.Server.csproj -c Release -o /app/publish --no-restore
+
+# Runtime
+FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:10.0 AS runtime
+WORKDIR /app
+
+RUN groupadd -r echohub && useradd -r -g echohub -d /app echohub \
+    && mkdir -p /app/data \
+    && chown -R echohub:echohub /app
+
+COPY --from=build --chown=echohub:echohub /app/publish .
+COPY --chown=echohub:echohub EchoHub.Server/docker-entrypoint.sh /app/docker-entrypoint.sh
+RUN chmod +x /app/docker-entrypoint.sh
+
+USER echohub
+
+ENV ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Production \
+    Urls=http://0.0.0.0:5000 \
+    ConnectionStrings__DefaultConnection="Data Source=/app/data/echohub.db" \
+    Storage__Path=/app/data/uploads \
+    Serilog__WriteTo__1__Args__path=/app/data/logs/echohub-server-.log
+
+EXPOSE 5000 6667 6697
+
+ENTRYPOINT ["/app/docker-entrypoint.sh"]

src/EchoHub.Server/Hubs/ChatHub.cs

@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ public class ChatHub : Hub<IEchoHubClient>
         }
     }
 
-    public async Task<List<MessageDto>> JoinChannel(string channelName)
+    public async Task<JoinChannelResult> JoinChannel(string channelName)
     {
         try
         {
@@ -64,19 +64,15 @@ public class ChatHub : Hub<IEchoHubClient>
                 Context.ConnectionId, CurrentUserId, CurrentUsername, channelName);
 
             if (error is not null)
-            {
-                await Clients.Caller.Error(error);
-                return [];
-            }
+                return new JoinChannelResult(false, [], error);
 
             await Groups.AddToGroupAsync(Context.ConnectionId, channelName.ToLowerInvariant().Trim());
-            return history;
+            return new JoinChannelResult(true, history);
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
             _logger.LogError(ex, "Error joining channel '{Channel}' for {User}", channelName, CurrentUsername);
-            await Clients.Caller.Error($"Failed to join channel: {ex.Message}");
-            return [];
+            return new JoinChannelResult(false, [], $"Failed to join channel: {ex.Message}");
         }
     }
 

src/EchoHub.Server/Program.cs

@@ -109,12 +109,14 @@ while (true)
         builder.Services.AddSingleton<LinkEmbedService>();
         builder.Services.AddHostedService<ServerDirectoryService>();
         builder.Services.AddHostedService<FileCleanupService>();
+        builder.Services.AddHostedService<MuteExpirationService>();
 
         // ── Encryption ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
         builder.Services.AddSingleton<IMessageEncryptionService, MessageEncryptionService>();
 
         // ── Chat Service + Broadcasters ─────────────────────────────────────
         builder.Services.AddSingleton<IChatBroadcaster, SignalRBroadcaster>();
+        builder.Services.AddSingleton<IUserService, UserService>();
         builder.Services.AddSingleton<IChannelService, ChannelService>();
         builder.Services.AddSingleton<IChatService, ChatService>();
 

src/EchoHub.Server/Services/ChatService.cs

@@ -107,7 +107,31 @@ public class ChatService : IChatService
 
         if (isNewJoin)
         {
-            await BroadcastToAllAsync(b => b.SendUserJoinedAsync(channelName, username, connectionId));
+            // Fetch presence data so clients can update their lists incrementally
+            UserPresenceDto? presence = null;
+            try
+            {
+                using var presenceScope = _scopeFactory.CreateScope();
+                var presenceDb = presenceScope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<EchoHubDbContext>();
+                var user = await presenceDb.Users.FindAsync(userId);
+                if (user is not null)
+                {
+                    presence = new UserPresenceDto(
+                        user.Username, user.DisplayName, user.NicknameColor,
+                        user.Status, user.StatusMessage, user.Role);
+                }
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                _logger.LogDebug(ex, "Failed to fetch presence for {User} on join", username);
+            }
+
+            // Don't broadcast join for invisible users — they still get history but stay hidden
+            if (presence is null || presence.Status != UserStatus.Invisible)
+            {
+                await BroadcastToAllAsync(b => b.SendUserJoinedAsync(channelName, username, presence, connectionId));
+            }
+
             _logger.LogInformation("{User} joined channel '{Channel}'", username, channelName);
         }
 
@@ -272,7 +296,7 @@ public class ChatService : IChatService
         var db = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<EchoHubDbContext>();
 
         return await db.Users
-            .Where(u => onlineUsernames.Contains(u.Username))
+            .Where(u => onlineUsernames.Contains(u.Username) && u.Status != UserStatus.Invisible)
             .Select(u => new UserPresenceDto(
                 u.Username,
                 u.DisplayName,
@@ -304,41 +328,9 @@ public class ChatService : IChatService
         }
     }
 
-    public async Task<UserProfileDto?> GetUserProfileAsync(string username)
-    {
-        username = username.ToLowerInvariant();
-
-        using var scope = _scopeFactory.CreateScope();
-        var db = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<EchoHubDbContext>();
-
-        var user = await db.Users.FirstOrDefaultAsync(u => u.Username == username);
-        if (user is null) return null;
-
-        return new UserProfileDto(
-            user.Id, user.Username, user.DisplayName, user.Bio,
-            user.NicknameColor, user.AvatarAscii, user.Status,
-            user.StatusMessage, user.Role, user.CreatedAt, user.LastSeenAt);
-    }
-
     public Task<List<string>> GetChannelsForUserAsync(string username)
         => Task.FromResult(_presenceTracker.GetChannelsForUser(username));
 
-    public async Task<(Guid UserId, string Username)?> AuthenticateUserAsync(string username, string password)
-    {
-        username = username.ToLowerInvariant();
-
-        using var scope = _scopeFactory.CreateScope();
-        var db = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<EchoHubDbContext>();
-
-        var user = await db.Users.FirstOrDefaultAsync(u => u.Username == username);
-        if (user is null) return null;
-
-        if (!BCrypt.Net.BCrypt.Verify(password, user.PasswordHash))
-            return null;
-
-        return (user.Id, user.Username);
-    }
-
     /// <summary>
     /// Collapse consecutive newlines and cap total line count to prevent newline spam.
     /// </summary>

src/EchoHub.Server/Services/LinkEmbedService.cs

@@ -108,9 +108,47 @@ public partial class LinkEmbedService
         siteName = siteName is not null ? WebUtility.HtmlDecode(siteName) : null;
         description = description is not null ? WebUtility.HtmlDecode(description) : null;
 
-        return new EmbedDto(siteName, title, description, null, url);
+        // Extract theme-color meta tag for embed border color
+        var themeColor = ParseThemeColor(html);
+
+        return new EmbedDto(siteName, title, description, null, url, themeColor);
     }
 
+    private static string? ParseThemeColor(string html)
+    {
+        // ThemeColorRegex: group 3 = color value
+        var match = ThemeColorRegex().Match(html);
+        var color = match.Success ? match.Groups[3].Value.Trim() : null;
+
+        if (color is null)
+        {
+            // ThemeColorReversedRegex: group 2 = color value
+            match = ThemeColorReversedRegex().Match(html);
+            color = match.Success ? match.Groups[2].Value.Trim() : null;
+        }
+
+        if (color is null)
+            return null;
+
+        if (color.Length == 4 && color[0] == '#'
+            && IsHexDigit(color[1]) && IsHexDigit(color[2]) && IsHexDigit(color[3]))
+        {
+            // Expand #RGB to #RRGGBB
+            return $"#{color[1]}{color[1]}{color[2]}{color[2]}{color[3]}{color[3]}";
+        }
+
+        if (color.Length == 7 && color[0] == '#'
+            && color[1..].All(IsHexDigit))
+        {
+            return color;
+        }
+
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    private static bool IsHexDigit(char c) =>
+        c is (>= '0' and <= '9') or (>= 'a' and <= 'f') or (>= 'A' and <= 'F');
+
     private static List<string> ExtractUrls(string content)
     {
         var urls = new List<string>();
@@ -213,4 +251,14 @@ public partial class LinkEmbedService
 
     [GeneratedRegex(@"<title[^>]*>([^<]+)</title>", RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.Compiled)]
     private static partial Regex TitleTagRegex();
+
+    // <meta name="theme-color" content="#hex">
+    [GeneratedRegex(@"<meta\s+[^>]*?name\s*=\s*([""'])theme-color\1[^>]*?content\s*=\s*([""'])(.*?)\2[^>]*/?>",
+        RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.Singleline | RegexOptions.Compiled)]
+    private static partial Regex ThemeColorRegex();
+
+    // <meta content="#hex" name="theme-color">
+    [GeneratedRegex(@"<meta\s+[^>]*?content\s*=\s*([""'])(.*?)\1[^>]*?name\s*=\s*([""'])theme-color\3[^>]*/?>",
+        RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.Singleline | RegexOptions.Compiled)]
+    private static partial Regex ThemeColorReversedRegex();
 }

src/EchoHub.Server/Services/MuteExpirationService.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+using EchoHub.Server.Data;
+using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
+
+namespace EchoHub.Server.Services;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Background service that periodically unmutes users whose timed mute has expired.
+/// </summary>
+public sealed class MuteExpirationService : BackgroundService
+{
+    private static readonly TimeSpan CheckInterval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15);
+
+    private readonly IServiceScopeFactory _scopeFactory;
+    private readonly ILogger<MuteExpirationService> _logger;
+
+    public MuteExpirationService(IServiceScopeFactory scopeFactory, ILogger<MuteExpirationService> logger)
+    {
+        _scopeFactory = scopeFactory;
+        _logger = logger;
+    }
+
+    protected override async Task ExecuteAsync(CancellationToken stoppingToken)
+    {
+        await Task.Yield();
+
+        while (!stoppingToken.IsCancellationRequested)
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                await UnmuteExpiredUsersAsync(stoppingToken);
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex) when (ex is not OperationCanceledException)
+            {
+                _logger.LogWarning(ex, "Error checking mute expirations");
+            }
+
+            await Task.Delay(CheckInterval, stoppingToken);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private async Task UnmuteExpiredUsersAsync(CancellationToken ct)
+    {
+        using var scope = _scopeFactory.CreateScope();
+        var db = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<EchoHubDbContext>();
+
+        var now = DateTimeOffset.UtcNow;
+        var expired = await db.Users
+            .Where(u => u.IsMuted && u.MutedUntil.HasValue && u.MutedUntil.Value <= now)
+            .ToListAsync(ct);
+
+        if (expired.Count == 0)
+            return;
+
+        foreach (var user in expired)
+        {
+            user.IsMuted = false;
+            user.MutedUntil = null;
+            _logger.LogInformation("Auto-unmuted user {Username} (timed mute expired)", user.Username);
+        }
+
+        await db.SaveChangesAsync(ct);
+    }
+}

src/EchoHub.Server/Services/PresenceTracker.cs

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ public class PresenceTracker
     {
         _connections[connectionId] = (userId, username);
 
+        // Lock is required: ConcurrentDictionary only protects its own slots, not the HashSet values inside.
+        // It also makes the TryGetValue → add sequence atomic to prevent race conditions.
         lock (_lock)
         {
             if (!_userConnections.TryGetValue(username, out var connections))

src/EchoHub.Server/Services/ServerDirectoryService.cs

@@ -170,6 +170,9 @@ public sealed class ServerDirectoryService : BackgroundService
 
             var currentCount = _presenceTracker.GetOnlineUserCount();
 
+            if (currentCount == _lastReportedUserCount)
+                continue;
+
             try
             {
                 await connection.InvokeAsync("UpdateUserCount", currentCount, ct);

src/EchoHub.Server/Services/SignalRBroadcaster.cs

@@ -23,12 +23,12 @@ public class SignalRBroadcaster : IChatBroadcaster
     public Task SendMessageToChannelAsync(string channelName, MessageDto message)
         => HubContext.Clients.Group(channelName).ReceiveMessage(message);
 
-    public Task SendUserJoinedAsync(string channelName, string username, string? excludeConnectionId = null)
+    public Task SendUserJoinedAsync(string channelName, string username, UserPresenceDto? presence, string? excludeConnectionId = null)
     {
         if (excludeConnectionId is not null && !excludeConnectionId.StartsWith("irc-"))
-            return HubContext.Clients.GroupExcept(channelName, [excludeConnectionId]).UserJoined(channelName, username);
+            return HubContext.Clients.GroupExcept(channelName, [excludeConnectionId]).UserJoined(channelName, username, presence);
 
-        return HubContext.Clients.Group(channelName).UserJoined(channelName, username);
+        return HubContext.Clients.Group(channelName).UserJoined(channelName, username, presence);
     }
 
     public Task SendUserLeftAsync(string channelName, string username)

src/EchoHub.Server/Services/UserService.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+using EchoHub.Core.Constants;
+using EchoHub.Core.Contracts;
+using EchoHub.Core.DTOs;
+using EchoHub.Core.Models;
+using EchoHub.Server.Data;
+using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
+
+namespace EchoHub.Server.Services;
+
+public class UserService : IUserService
+{
+    private readonly IServiceScopeFactory _scopeFactory;
+
+    public UserService(IServiceScopeFactory scopeFactory)
+    {
+        _scopeFactory = scopeFactory;
+    }
+
+    public async Task<UserOperationResult> RegisterUserAsync(string username, string password, string? displayName = null)
+    {
+        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(username) || string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(password))
+            return UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.ValidationFailed, "Username and password are required.");
+
+        if (!ValidationConstants.UsernameRegex().IsMatch(username))
+            return UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.ValidationFailed,
+                "Username must be 3-50 characters and contain only letters, digits, underscores, or hyphens.");
+
+        if (password.Length < 6)
+            return UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.ValidationFailed, "Password must be at least 6 characters.");
+
+        if (password.Length > ValidationConstants.MaxPasswordLength)
+            return UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.ValidationFailed,
+                $"Password must not exceed {ValidationConstants.MaxPasswordLength} characters.");
+
+        var normalizedUsername = username.ToLowerInvariant().Trim();
+
+        using var scope = _scopeFactory.CreateScope();
+        var db = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<EchoHubDbContext>();
+
+        if (await db.Users.AnyAsync(u => u.Username == normalizedUsername))
+            return UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.AlreadyExists, "Username is already taken.");
+
+        var isFirstUser = !await db.Users.AnyAsync();
+
+        var user = new User
+        {
+            Id = Guid.NewGuid(),
+            Username = normalizedUsername,
+            PasswordHash = BCrypt.Net.BCrypt.HashPassword(password),
+            DisplayName = displayName?.Trim(),
+            Role = isFirstUser ? ServerRole.Owner : ServerRole.Member,
+        };
+
+        db.Users.Add(user);
+        await db.SaveChangesAsync();
+
+        return UserOperationResult.Success(ToProfileDto(user));
+    }
+
+    public async Task<UserOperationResult> AuthenticateUserAsync(string username, string password)
+    {
+        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(username) || string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(password))
+            return UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.ValidationFailed, "Username and password are required.");
+
+        var normalizedUsername = username.ToLowerInvariant().Trim();
+
+        using var scope = _scopeFactory.CreateScope();
+        var db = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<EchoHubDbContext>();
+
+        var user = await db.Users.FirstOrDefaultAsync(u => u.Username == normalizedUsername);
+
+        if (user is null || !BCrypt.Net.BCrypt.Verify(password, user.PasswordHash))
+            return UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.InvalidCredentials, "Invalid username or password.");
+
+        if (user.IsBanned)
+            return UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.Banned, "Your account has been banned.");
+
+        user.LastSeenAt = DateTimeOffset.UtcNow;
+        await db.SaveChangesAsync();
+
+        return UserOperationResult.Success(ToProfileDto(user));
+    }
+
+    public async Task<UserProfileDto?> GetUserProfileAsync(string username)
+    {
+        var normalizedUsername = username.ToLowerInvariant().Trim();
+
+        using var scope = _scopeFactory.CreateScope();
+        var db = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<EchoHubDbContext>();
+
+        var user = await db.Users.FirstOrDefaultAsync(u => u.Username == normalizedUsername);
+        return user is null ? null : ToProfileDto(user);
+    }
+
+    public async Task<UserProfileDto?> GetUserByIdAsync(Guid userId)
+    {
+        using var scope = _scopeFactory.CreateScope();
+        var db = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<EchoHubDbContext>();
+
+        var user = await db.Users.FindAsync(userId);
+        return user is null ? null : ToProfileDto(user);
+    }
+
+    public async Task<UserOperationResult> UpdateProfileAsync(
+        Guid userId, string? displayName, string? bio, string? nicknameColor)
+    {
+        using var scope = _scopeFactory.CreateScope();
+        var db = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<EchoHubDbContext>();
+
+        var user = await db.Users.FindAsync(userId);
+        if (user is null)
+            return UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.NotFound, "User not found.");
+
+        if (displayName is not null)
+        {
+            if (displayName.Length > ValidationConstants.MaxDisplayNameLength)
+                return UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.ValidationFailed,
+                    $"Display name must not exceed {ValidationConstants.MaxDisplayNameLength} characters.");
+            user.DisplayName = displayName.Trim();
+        }
+
+        if (bio is not null)
+        {
+            if (bio.Length > ValidationConstants.MaxBioLength)
+                return UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.ValidationFailed,
+                    $"Bio must not exceed {ValidationConstants.MaxBioLength} characters.");
+            user.Bio = bio.Trim();
+        }
+
+        if (nicknameColor is not null)
+        {
+            var color = nicknameColor.Trim();
+            if (color.Length > 0 && !ValidationConstants.HexColorRegex().IsMatch(color))
+                return UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.ValidationFailed,
+                    "Nickname color must be a valid hex color (e.g. #FF5500).");
+            user.NicknameColor = color.Length > 0 ? color : null;
+        }
+
+        await db.SaveChangesAsync();
+
+        return UserOperationResult.Success(ToProfileDto(user));
+    }
+
+    public async Task<UserOperationResult> SetAvatarAsync(Guid userId, string asciiArt)
+    {
+        using var scope = _scopeFactory.CreateScope();
+        var db = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<EchoHubDbContext>();
+
+        var user = await db.Users.FindAsync(userId);
+        if (user is null)
+            return UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.NotFound, "User not found.");
+
+        user.AvatarAscii = asciiArt;
+        await db.SaveChangesAsync();
+
+        return UserOperationResult.Success(ToProfileDto(user));
+    }
+
+    private static UserProfileDto ToProfileDto(User user) => new(
+        user.Id,
+        user.Username,
+        user.DisplayName,
+        user.Bio,
+        user.NicknameColor,
+        user.AvatarAscii,
+        user.Status,
+        user.StatusMessage,
+        user.Role,
+        user.CreatedAt,
+        user.LastSeenAt);
+}

src/EchoHub.Server/docker-entrypoint.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# Persist appsettings.json in the data volume so auto-generated keys
+# (JWT secret, encryption key) survive container recreation.
+if [ ! -f /app/data/appsettings.json ]; then
+    cp /app/appsettings.example.json /app/data/appsettings.json
+fi
+ln -sf /app/data/appsettings.json /app/appsettings.json
+
+exec dotnet EchoHub.Server.dll

src/EchoHub.Tests/Irc/IrcBroadcasterTests.cs

@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ public class IrcBroadcasterTests
     {
         var (_, bobStream) = AddConnectionWithCapture("bob", "general");
 
-        await _broadcaster.SendUserJoinedAsync("general", "alice");
+        await _broadcaster.SendUserJoinedAsync("general", "alice", null);
 
         var output = bobStream.GetOutputLines();
         Assert.Contains(output, l => l.Contains("JOIN #general") && l.Contains("alice"));
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ public class IrcBroadcasterTests
         var (conn, excludedStream) = AddConnectionWithCapture("alice", "general");
         var (_, bobStream) = AddConnectionWithCapture("bob", "general");
 
-        await _broadcaster.SendUserJoinedAsync("general", "alice", conn.ConnectionId);
+        await _broadcaster.SendUserJoinedAsync("general", "alice", null, conn.ConnectionId);
 
         // Excluded connection should not get the message
         Assert.Empty(excludedStream.GetOutputLines());

src/EchoHub.Tests/Irc/IrcCommandHandlerTests.cs

@@ -12,11 +12,12 @@ public class IrcCommandHandlerTests
 {
     private readonly IrcOptions _options = new() { ServerName = "testserver", Motd = null };
     private readonly FakeChatService _chatService = new();
+    private readonly FakeUserService _userService = new();
     private readonly FakeChannelService _channelService = new();
     private readonly FakeEncryptionService _encryption = new();
 
     private IrcCommandHandler CreateHandler(IrcClientConnection conn) =>
-        new(conn, _options, _chatService, _channelService, _encryption, NullLogger.Instance);
+        new(conn, _options, _chatService, _userService, _channelService, _encryption, NullLogger.Instance);
 
     private async Task<List<string>> RunAndCapture(string[] inputLines,
         Action<IrcClientConnection>? setup = null)
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ public class IrcCommandHandlerTests
     public async Task PassNickUser_ValidCredentials_Registers()
     {
         var userId = Guid.NewGuid();
-        _chatService.AuthResult = (userId, "alice");
+        _userService.AuthResult = FakeUserService.SuccessResult(userId, "alice");
 
         var lines = await RunAndCapture([
             "PASS secret123",
@@ -112,7 +113,7 @@ public class IrcCommandHandlerTests
     [Fact]
     public async Task PassNickUser_WrongPassword_GetsAuthError()
     {
-        _chatService.AuthResult = null;
+        _userService.AuthResult = null;
 
         var lines = await RunAndCapture([
             "PASS wrongpassword",
@@ -120,7 +121,8 @@ public class IrcCommandHandlerTests
             "USER alice 0 * :Alice Smith"
         ]);
 
-        Assert.Contains(lines, l => l.Contains("464") && l.Contains("incorrect"));
+        Assert.Contains(lines, l => l.Contains("464"));
+        Assert.Contains(lines, l => l.Contains("ERROR") && l.Contains("Authentication failed"));
     }
 
     [Fact]
@@ -189,7 +191,7 @@ public class IrcCommandHandlerTests
     public async Task SaslPlain_ValidCredentials_Authenticates()
     {
         var userId = Guid.NewGuid();
-        _chatService.AuthResult = (userId, "alice");
+        _userService.AuthResult = FakeUserService.SuccessResult(userId, "alice");
 
         var saslPayload = Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes("\0alice\0password123"));
 
@@ -210,7 +212,7 @@ public class IrcCommandHandlerTests
     [Fact]
     public async Task SaslPlain_InvalidCredentials_GetsError()
     {
-        _chatService.AuthResult = null;
+        _userService.AuthResult = null;
 
         var saslPayload = Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes("\0alice\0wrongpwd"));
 
@@ -478,7 +480,7 @@ public class IrcCommandHandlerTests
     [Fact]
     public async Task Whois_ExistingUser_ReturnsInfo()
     {
-        _chatService.ProfileToReturn = new UserProfileDto(
+        _userService.ProfileToReturn = new UserProfileDto(
             Guid.NewGuid(), "bob", "Bob S.", "Hello!", null, null,
             UserStatus.Online, null, ServerRole.Member,
             DateTimeOffset.UtcNow.AddDays(-30), DateTimeOffset.UtcNow);
@@ -496,7 +498,7 @@ public class IrcCommandHandlerTests
     [Fact]
     public async Task Whois_NonexistentUser_GetsNoSuchNickError()
     {
-        _chatService.ProfileToReturn = null;
+        _userService.ProfileToReturn = null;
 
         var lines = await RunAuthenticated(["WHOIS ghost"]);
 
@@ -506,7 +508,7 @@ public class IrcCommandHandlerTests
     [Fact]
     public async Task Whois_AwayUser_ShowsAwayMessage()
     {
-        _chatService.ProfileToReturn = new UserProfileDto(
+        _userService.ProfileToReturn = new UserProfileDto(
             Guid.NewGuid(), "bob", null, null, null, null,
             UserStatus.Away, "Gone fishing", ServerRole.Member,
             DateTimeOffset.UtcNow.AddDays(-1), DateTimeOffset.UtcNow);

src/EchoHub.Tests/Irc/TestHelpers.cs

@@ -156,8 +156,6 @@ internal sealed class FakeChatService : IChatService
     public List<MessageDto> HistoryToReturn { get; set; } = [];
     public string? JoinError { get; set; }
     public string? SendMessageError { get; set; }
-    public (Guid UserId, string Username)? AuthResult { get; set; }
-    public UserProfileDto? ProfileToReturn { get; set; }
     public List<string> ChannelsForUserToReturn { get; set; } = [];
     public List<UserPresenceDto> OnlineUsersToReturn { get; set; } = [];
 
@@ -210,14 +208,8 @@ internal sealed class FakeChatService : IChatService
     public Task BroadcastChannelUpdatedAsync(ChannelDto channel, string? channelName = null) =>
         Task.CompletedTask;
 
-    public Task<UserProfileDto?> GetUserProfileAsync(string username) =>
-        Task.FromResult(ProfileToReturn);
-
     public Task<List<string>> GetChannelsForUserAsync(string username) =>
         Task.FromResult(ChannelsForUserToReturn);
-
-    public Task<(Guid UserId, string Username)?> AuthenticateUserAsync(string username, string password) =>
-        Task.FromResult(AuthResult);
 }
 
 /// <summary>
@@ -258,3 +250,43 @@ internal sealed class FakeChannelService : IChannelService
     public Task<(bool Success, string? Error)> EnsureChannelMembershipAsync(Guid userId, string channelName) =>
         Task.FromResult(MembershipResult);
 }
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Fake user service that records method calls and returns pre-configured results.
+/// </summary>
+internal sealed class FakeUserService : IUserService
+{
+    // Configurable results
+    public UserOperationResult? AuthResult { get; set; }
+    public UserOperationResult? RegisterResult { get; set; }
+    public UserProfileDto? ProfileToReturn { get; set; }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Helper to create a success result from a simple userId + username pair.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static UserOperationResult SuccessResult(Guid userId, string username) =>
+        UserOperationResult.Success(new UserProfileDto(
+            userId, username, null, null, null, null,
+            UserStatus.Online, null, ServerRole.Member,
+            DateTimeOffset.UtcNow, DateTimeOffset.UtcNow));
+
+    public Task<UserOperationResult> AuthenticateUserAsync(string username, string password) =>
+        Task.FromResult(AuthResult
+            ?? UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.InvalidCredentials, "Invalid username or password."));
+
+    public Task<UserOperationResult> RegisterUserAsync(string username, string password, string? displayName = null) =>
+        Task.FromResult(RegisterResult
+            ?? UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.AlreadyExists, "Username is already taken."));
+
+    public Task<UserProfileDto?> GetUserProfileAsync(string username) =>
+        Task.FromResult(ProfileToReturn);
+
+    public Task<UserProfileDto?> GetUserByIdAsync(Guid userId) =>
+        Task.FromResult(ProfileToReturn);
+
+    public Task<UserOperationResult> UpdateProfileAsync(Guid userId, string? displayName, string? bio, string? nicknameColor) =>
+        Task.FromResult(UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.NotFound, "Not configured"));
+
+    public Task<UserOperationResult> SetAvatarAsync(Guid userId, string asciiArt) =>
+        Task.FromResult(UserOperationResult.Fail(UserError.NotFound, "Not configured"));
+}