Show HN: Accord – Serverless Discord Clone Running on Cloudflare Workers

Accord is a serverless, open-source real-time chat application inspired by Discord. It is built to run entirely on the Cloudflare ecosystem, offering a scalable, low-cost, and privacy-focused alternative to traditional chat platforms.

Accord provides a full-featured chat experience including text, voice, and video, all without a dedicated server. It leverages Cloudflare's edge network to manage real-time connections and storage.

Accord uses a modern, serverless architecture:

The application connects users directly to a global edge network:

The project is split into two parts: the frontend (React/Vite) and the worker (Backend API/WebSockets). You will need two terminal windows to run the development environment effectively.

Navigate to the worker directory:

Install Dependencies:

Configure Environment Variables:

Copy the example environment file.

Edit .dev.vars with your Firebase credentials (required for Push Notifications).

Setup Local Database:

Initialize the local D1 database by applying the schema migrations.

(Note: If the migration fails, try applying files 0001 through 0006 individually from the ../database/migrations folder).

Start the Backend Server:

The backend will start at http://localhost:8787.

Open a NEW terminal window and navigate to the frontend directory:

Install Dependencies:

Start the Frontend Server:

The frontend will start (usually at http://localhost:5173). It is configured to proxy API requests to your local worker.

Deploying to the Cloudflare global network requires setting up the persistent storage resources (D1 & R2) and configuring the secrets.

⚠️ IMPORTANT: The first command will output a database_id (looks like xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx). Copy this ID!

Copy the configuration template:

Open wrangler.toml and replace <DATABASE_ID> with the ID you copied in the previous step.

Build Frontend:

This compiles the React app. Ensure your worker configuration is set to serve static assets from the frontend build output (e.g., dist or public).

Deploy Worker:

Your app is now live! Wrangler will output your production URL (e.g., https://accord.your-subdomain.workers.dev).

📄 License

AGPL-3.0-only

Marco Rodriguez