JonKazama-Hellion
d8802881c8
Add repo.json at the repo root so testers can drop the raw URL
into Dalamud's Custom Plugin Repositories list and pick Hellion
Chat up like any other Dalamud plugin. The file is generated from
the in-assembly HellionChat.json plus the extra fields a Dalamud
custom-repo entry needs:
- DownloadLinkInstall / Update / Testing point at the GitHub
release asset for v0.1.0 (latest.zip), so refreshing the
plugin list pulls the released ZIP rather than building from
source.
- IconUrl points at the raw icon.png in the repository so the
plugin list can render the Hellion logo even before the user
installs the plugin.
- CategoryTags, IsHide and IsTestingExclusive use sane defaults
for a single-track release.
README gains an Install section with the exact custom-repo URL,
the steps to add it in Dalamud and a note about disabling
upstream Chat 2 first so the layout migration runs clean.
Hellion Chat
A GDPR-compliant, Linux-aware fork of Chat 2 for FINAL FANTASY XIV / Dalamud.
Same chat replacement you know from upstream, with extra controls for what actually gets stored:
- Channel whitelist for database persistence (GDPR Art. 25 — privacy by default). Out-of-the-box only your own conversations are kept: Tells, Party, Free Company, Linkshells, Cross-World Linkshells, Alliance, ExtraChat. Public chat from strangers (Say/Shout/Yell), Novice Network, NPC dialogue, system spam and battle messages stay outside the database unless you opt them in.
- Per-channel retention with a 24-hour idempotent background sweep. Tells default to 365 days, own-conversation channels to 90, the global default to 30. Off until you switch it on — the plugin never deletes history without your explicit consent.
- Retroactive cleanup with a Ctrl+Shift confirm. Apply the current whitelist to an existing 800-MB+ database, watch it shrink to MBs, all on a background thread.
- Export to Markdown, JSON or CSV (GDPR Art. 15 right of access). Filter by channel, date range or sender substring; written via Dalamud's file dialog without blocking the UI.
- First-run wizard with three profiles (Privacy-First / Casual / Full History) that maps to concrete configuration sets. Reopenable from the Privacy tab any time.
- Independent plugin state. Config and database live under
pluginConfigs/HellionChat/, completely separate from upstream Chat 2 — you can run both side by side, or migrate from Chat 2 once and keep going. - Migration recovery. Heals databases left in a half-applied Migrate3
state (columns added,
user_versionnever bumped) without needing the backup file upstream creates. - Localized UI (EN + DE). All Hellion-specific surfaces follow Dalamud's
language override and switch live. Translations live in
Resources/HellionStrings.<lang>.resx.
Status
Bootstrap (v0.1.x). Used in production on a single user's setup. Not (yet) submitted to the official Dalamud plugin repository — distributed as a custom-repo / dev-plugin while the architecture stabilises.
Install (testers)
Hellion Chat is shipped via a Dalamud custom repository during the bootstrap phase. To install:
- Open Dalamud settings (
/xlsettings) → Experimental. - Add a new entry under Custom Plugin Repositories:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JonKazama-Hellion/HellionChat/main/repo.json - Click Save, then back in
/xlpluginshit All Plugins and refresh. - Hellion Chat now appears in the list — install it from there.
- If you previously had Chat 2 installed, disable it first. The two
share their database and config dir until Hellion Chat's first launch
migrates everything into
pluginConfigs/HellionChat/.
Updates land in the same plugin list once the maintainer pushes a new
v0.1.x tag.
Why a fork
The upstream maintainer has left filtering-related issues open since 2024 (#84, #173, #174). The original design treats the database as an unlimited searchable archive of everything the chat window sees, which is fine in the US-/JP-shaped privacy mindset but hard to reconcile with EU GDPR data minimization rules when the archive contains messages from third parties.
Forking under EUPL-1.2 is explicitly permitted, the upstream stays
authoritative for the chat-replacement engine, and we cherry-pick relevant
upstream bugfixes from Infiziert90/ChatTwo periodically.
Build
# Linux with XIVLauncher Core
cp .env.example .env
# adjust DALAMUD_HOME if your hooks live somewhere else
set -a; source .env; set +a
dotnet build ChatTwo/ChatTwo.csproj
The output assembly is ChatTwo/bin/Debug/HellionChat.dll. Add the parent
directory as a Dev Plugin Location in Dalamud's experimental settings.
Branding assets
ChatTwo/images/icon.png is the upstream Chat 2 icon and stays in place
until a hand-drawn Hellion logo replaces it. No AI-generated artwork —
ever.
License
EUPL-1.2 (same as upstream Chat 2). See LICENCE.
Acknowledgments
- Infi & Anna (ascclemens) — original Chat 2 engine, filtering, IPC, all the heavy lifting before this fork existed.
- Dalamud team — the plugin framework underneath everything.
- JonKazama-Hellion — fork maintenance, privacy/retention/export features, German localization.
AI assistance disclosure
See AI_DISCLOSURE.md.