Quickstart

Chat now

Start chatting immediately at chat.conversejs.org.

Host your own instance

To run your own instance, follow the steps below. You’ll need:

An XMPP server (or an account on a public server like conversations.im or jabber.de)
A web server (or just a local HTML file for testing)

Step 1: Get the files

Fastest: Use the CDN

Add these lines to your HTML <head>:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.conversejs.org/dist/converse.min.css">
<script src="https://cdn.conversejs.org/dist/converse.min.js"></script>

You can also pin to a specific version:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.conversejs.org/12.0.0/dist/converse.min.css">
<script src="https://cdn.conversejs.org/12.0.0/dist/converse.min.js"></script>

Alternative: Self-host

If you prefer to host the files yourself, either:

Download the latest release archive and extract the dist/ folder, or
Build from source — see Generating Builds

Already run an XMPP server?

Many servers have built-in plugins that serve Converse for you:

Openfire: inverse plugin
Prosody: mod_conversejs
ejabberd: mod_conversejs

Check your server’s documentation — this is often the easiest path.

Step 2: Initialize Converse

Add this before your closing </body> tag:

<script>
    converse.initialize({
        // Replace with your XMPP server's BOSH or WebSocket URL
        bosh_service_url: 'https://your-xmpp-server:5280/bosh',
        // Or use WebSocket:
        // websocket_url: 'wss://your-xmpp-server:5280/ws',
    });
</script>

Complete minimal example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>My Chat</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.conversejs.org/12.0.0/dist/converse.min.css">
    <script src="https://cdn.conversejs.org/12.0.0/dist/converse.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
    <script>
        converse.initialize({
            bosh_service_url: 'https://conversejs.org/http-bind/',
        });
    </script>
</body>
</html>

Save this as index.html and open it in your browser. You’ll see a login screen where you can enter any XMPP account.

Step 3: Choose your display mode

Converse supports three layouts:

Mode	Description	Best for
`fullscreen`	Chat fills the entire page	Standalone chat apps
`overlay`	Chat floats in a corner, toggleable	Adding chat to an existing site
`embedded`	Chat lives inside a specific `<div>`	Custom page layouts

converse.initialize({
    view_mode: 'fullscreen', // or 'overlay' or 'embedded'
});

See the live demos for examples of each mode.

What’s next?

Configuration — All available options for converse.initialize()
Session Management — Auto-login users who are already authenticated on your site
Features — File sharing, OMEMO encryption, group chats, and more
Setup and Integration — Production deployment guide with server-side auth

Thank you to our sponsors

If you'd like to sponsor this project, please visit Github, Patreon, Liberapay or contact us.