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wtf is clubhouse?

shriyashzzz/clubhouse — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

0JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5Setup · moderate

TL;DR

A role-based chat app where Members, VIPs, and Admins each see a different amount of information about the same messages.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((clubhouse))
    What it does
      Role based chat
      Hidden author and time
      VIP unlock code
    Tech stack
      Express
      EJS
      PostgreSQL
      Passport
    Use cases
      Send anonymous style messages
      Unlock VIP visibility
      Admin moderation
    Audience
      Developers
      Hobby projects

Code map

Detail Auto

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filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Run a chat where members cannot see who posted a message by default.

REASON 2

Unlock a VIP role with a secret code to see message authors and times.

REASON 3

Let an admin delete any message in the chat for moderation.

What's in the stack?

JavaScriptExpressEJSPostgreSQLPassport

How it stacks up

shriyashzzz/clubhouse00kaku/gallery-slider-block0xkinno/vellum
Stars00
LanguageJavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript
Last pushed2021-05-19
MaintenanceDormant
Setup difficultymoderateeasyhard
Complexity2/52/54/5
Audiencedevelopergeneraldeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 1h+

Needs a PostgreSQL database and Railway-style hosting, README has no local setup instructions.

The README does not state license terms.

Wtf does this do

Clubhouse is a small messaging app that plays with the idea of an underground chat where not everyone sees the same amount of information. Any member who signs up and logs in can send messages into the chat, but by default they cannot see who posted a message or when it was posted. There is a separate VIP tier that a user can unlock with a secret code, and once someone is a VIP they can see the author and timestamp attached to each message. On top of that there is an admin role, and the admin can delete any message in the chat. So the app is built around three roles: Member, VIP, and Admin, each with a different level of access to the same chat. A regular member is reading blind, a VIP gets full visibility into who said what and when, and an admin has moderation power to remove messages outright. This is described by the author in a playful, tongue in cheek way rather than as a serious security product. Under the hood, this is a server side rendered application. It uses EJS to generate the HTML pages, PostgreSQL as the database, express-validator to check and clean user input, express-session together with pg-connect-simple to manage login sessions and store them in the database, and passport for handling authentication. The database and the server are both hosted on Railway. The README for this project is quite short and does not go into setup instructions, environment variables, or how to run the project locally. It only describes what the app does and the technology behind it, so anyone wanting to try it would need to look directly at the source code for further detail.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Explain how the Member, VIP, and Admin roles differ in this project's access control.
Prompt 2
Show me how express-session and pg-connect-simple work together for session storage here.
Prompt 3
Help me set up PostgreSQL locally to run this Clubhouse app.
Prompt 4
Walk me through how passport authentication is likely wired into this EJS app.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is clubhouse?

A role-based chat app where Members, VIPs, and Admins each see a different amount of information about the same messages.

What language is clubhouse written in?

Mainly JavaScript. The stack also includes JavaScript, Express, EJS.

What license does clubhouse use?

The README does not state license terms.

How hard is clubhouse to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 1h+ to a first successful run.

Who is clubhouse for?

Mainly developer.

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