The OwlPost

The OwlPost is a JavaFX-powered messaging application with a fun Harry Potter theme, offering secure, real-time chat, voice & video calls, AI integration, and even a networked tic-tac-toe game.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Features
• Screenshots
• Getting Started
• Project Structure
• Contributors
• License
• Acknowledgments

Overview

Inspired by the magical world of Hogwarts, The OwlPost delivers a lightweight, theme-driven messaging experience. Built in JavaFX and backed by a real-time database, it supports multiple user roles, secure authentication, group chats, multimedia messaging, voice/video calls, AI assistance, and even a mini tic-tac-toe game.

Features

🔐 Authentication & User Info

• Sign Up with House sorting and age check (18–25)
• Login system
• Forgot password feature
• Last seen tracking
• Online status (real-time)
• Real-time database integration (e.g., Firebase) to keep chat history safe

📨 Messaging

• Send text, emoji, and file messages
• Emoji palette
• Background audio changes with time
• Voice-to-text transcription
• Real-time group loading and UI updates
• Internet-enabled text messaging

📞 Communication

• Audio calls
• Video calls
• Voice recognition
• AI assistant API integration

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Group Features

• Create custom groups
• Real-time group messaging with dynamic UI changes
• Group info panel (member list, etc.)
• Add/leave groups anytime with live updates
• Timestamps and sender labels on every message
• System messages for group events

🕹️ Games

• Networked Tic-Tac-Toe with challenge/request system

💬 Infrastructure & Performance

• Threading and caching for smooth, responsive UI

Screenshots

Below are some screenshots of the application.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Java 8 or higher
• JavaFX SDK
• Maven (bundled via the included wrapper)

How to Run

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/SaklainTheSpellbinder/TheOwlPost.git
   cd TheOwlPost

2. Configure API keys
   • Copy your AssemblyAI key into assemblyaiAPI.txt
   • Copy any other service key into apikey.txt
3. Build the project

   ./mvnw clean install

4. Run the application
   • In your IDE: import as a Maven project, ensure JavaFX is set up, then run the JavaFX Application class (the one extending javafx.application.Application).
   • Or via Maven:

     ./mvnw javafx:run

Project Structure

TheOwlPost/
│
├── .idea/                    # IDE config files
├── src/
│   └── main/
│       ├── java/             # Java source (controllers, services, models)
│       └── resources/        # FXML layouts, CSS, audio assets
│
├── target/                   # Compiled artifacts
├── apikey.txt                # Gemini API key
├── assemblyaiAPI.txt         # AssemblyAI API key
├── owlpost.db                # SQLite database file
├── recording.wav             # Sample audio for testing
├── mvnw, mvnw.cmd            # Maven wrapper scripts
├── pom.xml                   # Maven project configuration
└── README.md                 # Project documentation

Contributors

• Saklain
• Rakib

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by the Harry Potter universe’s Owl Post system.
• Thanks to the open-source JavaFX community for libraries and guidance.