GitHub - lugvitc/whats4linux: An unofficial WhatsApp client for Linux

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Whats4Linux is an unofficial WhatsApp client for Linux with a native Go backend and a lightweight WebKit-based UI.

It is not a wrapper around WhatsApp Web.
Instead, it directly connects to WhatsApp using the official multi-device protocol via whatsmeow.

The goal of Whats4Linux is to provide a fast, efficient, Linux-first desktop client without Electron, Chromium, or browser automation.

✨ Key Highlights

  • Uses WhatsApp’s real multi-device APIs
  • Native Go backend for networking, crypto, and storage
  • Lightweight UI rendered using WebKitGTK (via Wails)
  • No Electron, no Node.js, no Chromium
  • Linux-first in spirit, cross-platform by design.

🧠 Architecture

Whats4Linux follows a native-backed, web-rendered architecture:

flowchart LR
    UI["Web UI (WebKitGTK)"] -->|Wails RPC| Go[Native Go Backend]
    Go -->|Multi-Device Protocol| WA[WhatsApp Servers]
    Go --> DB["(SQLite)"]
    Go --> Media[Media Cache]
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What is native?

  • WhatsApp protocol implementation
  • Encryption & crypto
  • Message sync & pagination
  • Database access
  • Media handling
  • IPC between frontend and backend

What is not native?

  • UI widgets (HTML/CSS instead of GTK/Qt)

🚀 Features

Messaging

  • One-to-one chats
  • Group chats
  • Full chat history sync (TODO)

Media & Storage

  • Linux-native media cache
  • SQLite-backed message storage
  • Optimized database configuration for chat workloads

Performance

  • Lower memory usage than Electron clients
  • No Chromium overhead
  • Minimal JS ↔ Go IPC
  • Tuned SQLite queries and cache sizes

Privacy & Security

  • Uses WhatsApp’s official encryption via whatsmeow
  • No telemetry
  • No analytics
  • All data stored locally

Customisation

  • Custom JS, CSS allowed
  • Custom Bezier curve editor for UI animations
  • Easy to use colour scheme editor

🐧 Linux-First Design

Whats4Linux is built specifically for Linux:

  • Uses WebKitGTK instead of Chromium
  • Respects XDG base directories
  • Designed for long-running sessions
  • Works on both Wayland and X11

Settings Page

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Login Page

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🛠 Tech Stack

Component Technology
Backend Go
WhatsApp API whatsmeow
UI Framework Wails
Web Engine WebKitGTK
Database SQLite
IPC Wails RPC bindings

📦 Building

⚠️ Project is under active development

git clone https://github.com/lugvitc/whats4linux
cd whats4linux
wails build

This will produce a binary in the build/bin/ directory.

🧪 Development Notes

  • The backend exposes strongly-typed APIs to the frontend via Wails bindings.
  • Message pagination is optimized for large chat histories.
  • SQLite is tuned using WAL mode and controlled cache sizes for high-throughput reads.
  • Media loading is lazy to avoid unnecessary memory usage.
  • UI performance is carefully tuned to minimize scroll jank and IPC overhead.
  • Designed for long-running sessions without gradual memory bloat.

Contributing

Contributions are what make the open source community such an amazing place to be learn, inspire, and create. Any contributions you make are greatly appreciated.

  • If you have suggestions for adding or removing features, feel free to open an issue to discuss it, or directly create a pull request after you edit the README.md file with necessary changes.
  • Please make sure you check your spelling and grammar.
  • Create individual PR for each suggestion.

Creating A Pull Request

  1. Fork the Project
  2. Create your Feature Branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
  3. Commit your Changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
  4. Push to the Branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
  5. Open a Pull Request

⚠️ Disclaimer

Whats4Linux is an unofficial WhatsApp client and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to WhatsApp or Meta in any way.

Use at your own risk.

📜 License

License: AGPL v3

This project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0).

You are free to:

  • Use the software
  • Study and modify the source code
  • Redistribute copies
  • Distribute modified versions

Under the condition that:

  • Any network-deployed modifications must also be released under the same license.

See the LICENSE file for full details.

❤️ Philosophy

Build native where it matters.
Keep the UI lightweight.
Respect Linux and its users.

Whats4Linux exists to provide a performant, efficient, and Linux-focused WhatsApp experience without unnecessary abstractions or heavy runtimes. Your feedback and contributions are highly appreciated!