- Escape XML and HTML special characters to prevent injection attacks. - Implement rate limiting for various endpoints to mitigate abuse. - Add validation for email formats, password lengths, and field limits. - Ensure proper access control for recordings and room management.
🔴 Redlight
A modern, self-hosted BigBlueButton frontend with beautiful themes and powerful features.
✨ Features
Core Features
- 🎥 Video Conferencing – Integrated BigBlueButton support for professional video meetings
- 🎨 15+ Themes – Dracula, Nord, Catppuccin, Rosé Pine, Gruvbox, and more
- 📝 Room Management – Create unlimited rooms with custom settings and access codes
- 🔐 User Management – Registration, login, role-based access control (Admin/User)
- 📹 Recording Management – View, publish, and delete meeting recordings per room
- 🌍 Multi-Language Support – German (Deutsch) and English built-in, easily extensible
- ✉️ Email Verification – Optional SMTP-based email verification for user registration
- 👤 User Profiles – Customizable avatars, themes, and language preferences
- 📱 Responsive Design – Works seamlessly on mobile, tablet, and desktop
Admin Features
- 👥 User Administration – Manage users and roles
- 🏢 Branding Customization – Custom app name and logos
- 📊 Dashboard – Overview of system statistics
- 🔧 Settings Management – System-wide configuration
Room Features
- 🔑 Access Codes – Restrict room access with optional passwords
- 🚪 Guest Access – Allow unauthenticated users to join meetings
- ⏱️ Max Participants – Set limits on concurrent participants
- 🎤 Mute on Join – Automatically mute new participants
- ✅ Approval Mode – Require moderator approval for participants
- 🎙️ Anyone Can Start – Allow participants to start the meeting
- 📹 Recording Settings – Control whether meetings are recorded
Developer Features
- 🐳 Docker Support – Easy deployment with Docker Compose
- 🗄️ Database Flexibility – SQLite (default) or PostgreSQL support
- 🔌 REST API – Comprehensive API for custom integrations
- 📦 Open Source – Full source code transparency
- 🛠️ Self-Hosted – Complete data privacy and control
📊 Comparison: Redlight vs Greenlight
| Feature | Redlight | Greenlight |
|---|---|---|
| Theme System | 15+ customizable themes | Limited theming |
| Language Support | Multi-language ready | Multi-language ready |
| UI Framework | React + Tailwind (Modern) | Rails-based (Traditional) |
| User Preferences | Theme, language, avatar | Limited customization |
| Database Options | SQLite / PostgreSQL | PostgreSQL only |
| Docker | ✅ Supported | ✅ Supported |
| Admin Dashboard | Modern React UI | Legacy Rails interface |
| Room Sharing | ✅ Share rooms with users | ✅ Supported |
| Recording Management | Full control per room | Standard management |
| API | RESTful JSON API | RESTful API |
| Setup Complexity | Simple (5 min) | Moderate (10-15 min) |
| Customization | Easy (Tailwind CSS) | Requires Ruby/Rails |
| Community | doesn't exist lol | Established |
🚀 Quick Start
Prerequisites
- Docker & Docker Compose
- BigBlueButton server (with API access)
- SMTP server (optional, for email verification)
Installation
-
Clone the repository
git clone https://git.scrunkly.cat/Michelle/redlight cd redlight -
Configure environment
cp .env.example .envEdit
.envwith your settings:BBB_URL=https://your-bbb-server.com/bigbluebutton/api/ BBB_SECRET=your-bbb-shared-secret JWT_SECRET=your-secret-key DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:password@postgres:5432/redlight POSTGRES_USER=redlight POSTGRES_PASSWORD=redlight POSTGRES_DB=redlight # Optional: Email verification SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com SMTP_PORT=587 SMTP_USER=your-email@gmail.com SMTP_PASS=your-app-password -
Start the application
docker-compose up -d -
Access the application
- Open
http://localhost:3001in your browser - Default admin:
admin@example.com/admin123 - Change password immediately!
- Open
🛠️ Development
Local Setup
-
Install dependencies
npm install -
Start development server
npm run dev- Frontend: http://localhost:5173
- Backend: http://localhost:3001
-
Build for production
npm run build npm run preview
Tech Stack
- Frontend: React 18, Tailwind CSS, React Router, Lucide Icons
- Backend: Node.js, Express, JWT, Bcrypt
- Database: SQLite / PostgreSQL with better-sqlite3 / pg
- Email: Nodemailer
- Build: Vite
📁 Project Structure
redlight/
├── server/ # Node.js/Express backend
│ ├── config/ # Database & mailer config
│ ├── middleware/ # JWT authentication
│ ├── routes/ # API endpoints
│ └── index.js # Server entry point
├── src/ # React frontend
│ ├── components/ # Reusable components
│ ├── contexts/ # React context (Auth, Language, Theme, Branding)
│ ├── i18n/ # Translations (DE, EN)
│ ├── pages/ # Page components
│ ├── services/ # API client
│ ├── themes/ # Tailwind theme config
│ └── main.jsx # Frontend entry point
├── public/ # Static assets
├── uploads/ # User avatars (runtime)
├── compose.yml # Docker Compose configuration
├── Dockerfile # Container image definition
└── package.json # Dependencies
🔐 Security
- JWT Authentication – Secure token-based auth with 7-day expiration
- HTTPS Ready – Configure behind reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy)
- Password Hashing – bcryptjs with salt rounds 12
- Email Verification – Optional SMTP-based email verification
- CORS Protection – Configurable CORS settings
- Admin Isolation – Role-based access control
📦 API Endpoints
Authentication
POST /api/auth/register– Register new userPOST /api/auth/login– Login userGET /api/auth/verify-email?token=...– Verify email with tokenPOST /api/auth/resend-verification– Resend verification emailGET /api/auth/me– Get current user infoPUT /api/auth/profile– Update profilePUT /api/auth/password– Change passwordPOST /api/auth/avatar– Upload avatar image
Rooms
GET /api/rooms– List user's roomsPOST /api/rooms– Create new roomGET /api/rooms/:uid– Get room detailsPUT /api/rooms/:uid– Update roomDELETE /api/rooms/:uid– Delete roomPOST /api/rooms/:uid/start– Start meeting
Recordings
GET /api/recordings/:roomUid– List room recordingsPUT /api/recordings/:recordingId– Publish/unpublish recordingDELETE /api/recordings/:recordingId– Delete recording
Admin
GET /api/admin/users– List all usersGET /api/admin/stats– System statisticsPUT /api/admin/users/:id– Update userDELETE /api/admin/users/:id– Delete user
Branding
GET /api/branding– Get branding settingsPUT /api/branding– Update branding (admin only)
🌍 Internationalization (i18n)
Redlight comes with built-in support for multiple languages. Currently supported:
- 🇩🇪 Deutsch (German)
- 🇬🇧 English
Adding a new language
- Create
src/i18n/xx.json(e.g.,fr.jsonfor French) - Copy structure from
de.jsonoren.json - Translate all strings
- Update
src/i18n/index.jsto include the new language
🎨 Themes
Redlight includes the following themes:
- 🌙 Dracula
- ❄️ Nord
- 🐱 Catppuccin
- 🌹 Rosé Pine
- 🍂 Gruvbox (Dark, Light)
- 💜 One Dark
- 🌊 Tokyo Night
- And more...
Themes are fully customizable by editing src/themes/index.js.
🐳 Docker Deployment
Using Docker Compose (Recommended)
docker-compose up -d
Services:
- redlight – Node.js application
- postgres – PostgreSQL database
Production Deployment
Behind a reverse proxy (nginx example):
upstream redlight {
server localhost:3001;
}
server {
listen 443 ssl http2;
server_name your-domain.com;
ssl_certificate /path/to/cert.pem;
ssl_certificate_key /path/to/key.pem;
client_max_body_size 5M;
location / {
proxy_pass http://redlight;
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection upgrade;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
}
}
🐛 Troubleshooting
Issue: "Email verification not working"
Solution: Ensure SMTP is configured in .env. If SMTP_HOST is not set, email verification is disabled.
Issue: "BigBlueButton API error"
Solution: Verify BBB_URL and BBB_SECRET are correct. Test the connection with:
curl "https://your-bbb-server/bigbluebutton/api/getMeetings?checksum=..."
Issue: "Database connection failed"
Solution: Check DATABASE_URL format. For PostgreSQL: postgres://user:password@host:5432/redlight
Issue: "Theme not applying"
Solution: Clear browser cache (Ctrl+Shift+Del) or restart dev server with npm run dev.
📝 License
This project is licensed under the MIT License – see LICENSE file for details.
🤝 Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.
- Fork the repository
- Create a feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature) - Commit changes (
git commit -m 'Add amazing feature') - Push to branch (
git push origin feature/amazing-feature) - Open a Pull Request