hotmic 🎙️

Disposable voice rooms from your terminal. One command, one QR code, zero signup.

npx @pigeonflow/hotmic

That's it. Scan the QR, talk.

Why

Every voice call tool wants you to create an account, download an app, verify your email, accept terms, update the app, and then maybe you can talk.

hotmic is for when you just need to talk to someone. Right now.

How it works

1. You run hotmic
2. It starts a local server and prints a QR code
3. People scan it and join from their browser
4. WebRTC connects everyone peer-to-peer
5. Audio never touches the server

The server only handles signaling (who's in the room, WebRTC negotiation). All voice data flows directly between participants.

Features

• Zero config — npx and go
• Peer-to-peer audio — WebRTC mesh, no relay server
• Works on any device — phone, tablet, laptop, anything with a browser
• Public mode — --public creates a Cloudflare tunnel, instant HTTPS
• Voice visualizer — real-time frequency bars around each participant
• Reconnection — drop your connection, come back, keep talking
• Password protection — --password secret for private rooms
• SVG everything — crisp icons at every size, no emoji rendering issues

Usage

# Quick room (60 min TTL, up to 8 people)
npx @pigeonflow/hotmic

# Named room, stays open until everyone leaves
npx @pigeonflow/hotmic --name "standup" --persist

# Public room with password (accessible from anywhere)
npx @pigeonflow/hotmic --public --password "shhh"

# LAN with HTTPS (mic works without tunnel)
npx @pigeonflow/hotmic --https

# Custom limits
npx @pigeonflow/hotmic --max 4 --ttl 30 --name "quick sync"

Flags

| Flag | Default | Description | |------|---------|-------------| | --name <name> | random | Room name | | --public | off | Expose via Cloudflare tunnel (HTTPS) | | --https | off | Self-signed HTTPS for LAN (mic works without tunnel) | | --persist | off | Room lives until last person leaves | | --password <s> | none | Require password to join | | --ttl <min> | 60 | Room time-to-live in minutes | | --max <n> | 8 | Max participants | | -p, --port <n> | random | Server port |

Architecture

┌─────────┐     WebSocket      ┌──────────┐     WebSocket      ┌─────────┐
│ Phone A ├────(signaling)──────┤  hotmic  ├────(signaling)──────┤ Phone B │
│ browser │                     │  server  │                     │ browser │
└────┬────┘                     └──────────┘                     └────┬────┘
     │                                                                │
     └──────────── WebRTC (voice, peer-to-peer) ──────────────────────┘

The server weighs ~50KB. It handles room state and WebRTC signaling. Audio goes directly between browsers via WebRTC with STUN-assisted NAT traversal.

Mesh topology caps at ~8 participants (each peer connects to every other peer). This is intentional — hotmic is for quick syncs, not conferences.

Limitations

• HTTPS required for mic access — use --public for a tunnel, --https for a self-signed cert on your LAN, or access via localhost. Plain HTTP on a LAN IP won't prompt for microphone permission (browser security policy).
• STUN only — works for ~80% of network configurations. Symmetric NATs and strict corporate firewalls may block peer connections. TURN relay support is planned.
• Mesh topology — each participant connects to every other. Works great for 2-8 people, won't scale to 50.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• A browser with WebRTC support (all modern browsers)
• Microphone (obviously)

License

MIT

Author

@pigeondev_