Modern TypeScript port of the 1996+ Microsoft Comic Chat IRC client w/ Cloudflare Durable Objects as the network layer.
Features
The composition rules follow the SIGGRAPH '96 Comic Chat paper and original works: (credits).
Validated against traces from an instrumented C++ client of the original to accurately reproduce the original engine including:
- Original character cast and artpacks, automatic panel layout
- Emotion detection, speech balloon splines
- Avatar posing, reactive angles and camera
Progressive Web App (PWA) notifications
Get notified of new chat without keeping the window open:
- iOS: tap Share, then
Add to Home Screen, and open from that icon. - Android and desktop: install from the browser menu.
Then tap the bell in the titlebar inside a room. It is per room.
- Pings only while you are away from the room, with no message text.
- One ping per absence; it rearms when you rejoin or after 24 hours.
Slash Commands/Gestures:
Typing / will list gestures the character you are wearing has art for: most carry three or four, some none.
The command text itself is stripped from messages. Gesture commands reach pose art found in the files that did not otherwise seem accessible. The original stores these under codes above the emotion ring which appears skipped by GetBodyFromEmotion.
/wave /shrug
/point /pointself /doublepoint
/walk /walkup /walkaway
Defaults
These are by default and control some quality-of-life changes not in the 1996 client. Turn it off to get closer to the original behavior.
Naming someone points your avatar at them, and being named highlights that line and adds an * to the tab title. Both work off the bare name, with or without the @. Anyone can wear any character, so some composition rules were adjusted to key by nickname and avatar. Optional nametags can be enabled if it feels confusing.
Studio
An integrated editor allowing you to create strips (panel by panel) on your own is available at /studio
The result is exportable as a PNG sheet or square, as an MP4 or GIF that plays the panels in order, or import/export as its JSON definition document. It's pretty fun to tool around with.
- Available art per character is generated as an asset list in
catalog.json. - Includes art, combinations, and control not reachable in normal chat (sizing, direction, gestures, etc).
- The
MODERATIONvariable acts similarly to how it does in chat, putting a pause on rendering. See DEPLOYMENT.md.
For assistance from an AI agent to spin up some strips, a skill is available. It has understanding of the poses, backgrounds, characters, limitations, and can generate a condensed link that will prefill the editor page for review/adjustments/download. See /agent-skill for details or use one of the following methods:
npx skills add remsky/comic-chat-web
Download comic-strip.skill from the latest release and drop it into a chat on ChatGPT or claude.ai as a custom skill.
/plugin marketplace add remsky/comic-chat-web
/plugin install comic-strip@comic-chat-web
codex plugin marketplace add remsky/comic-chat-web
codex plugin add comic-strip@comic-chat-web
{
"version": 2,
"columns": 5,
"panels": [
{
"background": "volcano",
"camera": "close",
"actors": [
{
"avatar": "kevin",
"text": "It's not the worst studio",
"emotion": "shout"
},
{
"avatar": "denise",
"text": "Pretty decent options",
"facing": "left"
}
]
},
{
"background": "volcano",
"zoom": 1.3,
"actors": [
{
"avatar": "kevin",
"text": "Wait. We're also over there?!",
"emotion": "shout",
"gesture": "pointself",
"facing": "left"
},
{
"avatar": "denise",
"text": "Don't worry about it",
"emotion": "laugh_1",
"gesture": "wave",
"facing": "left"
}
]
}
]
}
Deployment / Self-Hosting
[!NOTE] See DEPLOYMENT.md before deploying to understand the parameters available, and what a fork inherits.
Rooms are anonymous (no accounts); moderation is rudimentary: a content filter with escalating mutes. A deploy is bounded by its fixed room list, and public billed deployments must determine and set Cloudflare rate-limiting rules and usage alerts to avoid any suprising bills. On Free Tier, it will simply stop running until end of day if limits are reached. For reference, the traffic on this repo's demo sits comfortably under 10% of daily Free Tier usage.
Reception
Sampled from the live rooms as rendered; without attributions
Technical
Spin up locally to test via:
git clone https://github.com/remsky/comic-chat-web
cd comic-chat-web
npm install
npm run preview:worker
npm ci
npm run dev # Vite dev server at localhost:5173
npm test # both vitest projects: node + worker
npm run test:browser # Playwright desktop + mobile smoke; wants `npm run dev:api` up for the studio's screen call
npm run check # biome + strict tsc over src, worker, test, and tools
npm test runs two vitest projects, selectable with --project:
Worker tests get isolated storage per test and read their bindings from wrangler.jsonc. They typecheck under their own test/worker/tsconfig.json, since workers types collide with the node and DOM types the rest of the suite uses.
The engine is validated against JSONL traces from an instrumented C++ client, the Comic Chat trace harness:
All steps are deterministic and byte-reproducible, sourced from a sibling checkout of the Comic Chat trace harness:
npm run assets:avatars: packed per-character avatar atlases and runtime manifest inpublic/assets/avatars/from the original.avbfiles.npm run assets:backgrounds: backdrop PNGs inpublic/assets/backgrounds/from the original.bgbfiles.npm run fixtures:avatars: the test fixture.
Related projects to check out
- TimBroddin/comic-chat-macos: a macOS port of Comic Chat (write-up)
- OnionMadder/comic-chat-composer: Independent TypeScript reimplementation of the panel-composition algorithm
- comicchat/comicchat: unofficial TypeScript port from the official source; connects to IRC servers over WebSockets, no backend
- theAlexes/comic-chat-deslopped: fork of the official Microsoft source sans AI cruft; with Windows build fixes
- codegod100/comic-chat: fork of the official Microsoft source starting a Qt6 desktop port
- gyng/comicchat (archived): quick and dirty web client and node.js server based on Comic Chat
License and attributions
This unofficial port builds on the original Microsoft Comic Chat client and the efforts of those who preserved it.
- Jim Woodring: created the original character cast, poses, and backgrounds
- Vincent Connare: designed Comic Sans, the typography of Comic Chat's speech balloons
- David Kurlander: original creator and lead developer of the Microsoft Comic Chat engine (1995)
- Tim Skelly and David Salesin: co-authors, with Kurlander, of the SIGGRAPH '96 Comic Chat paper defining the panel layout, balloon placement, and avatar composition algorithms reproduced in this port
- Robert Standefer and Scott Hanselman: facilitated the 2026 open-source release of the original Microsoft repository
Except for the third-party material identified below, this project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 only. If you operate a modified version over a network, the AGPL requires you to offer its corresponding source to the people using it.
Microsoft-derived code and artwork retain Microsoft's MIT license and notice. See Third-Party Notices and the preserved Microsoft MIT license for details.
This is an unofficial community project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft; based on the open-source Microsoft Comic Chat repository.
