A libpurple/Pidgin protocol plugin for Signal (formerly textsecure) using presage.

Contains code from flare by Schmiddi.

Download

• Latest Build for Windows

Set-up

1. Create a new Pidgin account. Enter your Signal account UUID as username. In case you do not know your UUID, just enter anything. The plug-in will tell you what to use.
2. Enable the connection. A window with the QR-code should pop-up. Scan it with your master device. Wait for the window to close.

Note: bitlbee users will receive the login QR-code in form of a URI from a system contact "Logon QR Code". You may need to allow unsolicited messages from unknown contacts in your client. The URI can be converted using any tools like local qrencode or online services (use at your own risk).

Features

Present

• Can link as secondary device via QR-Code.
• Receives a simple text message from a contact or a group.
• Displays quotes, reactions and incoming calls.
• Receives attachments (see caveats below).
• Can send a simple text message or an attachment.
• Will add buddies to contact list unconditionally.
• Can list groups as rooms and open the chat.
• Uses special handling of login procedure for bitlbee.

Missing

To Be Done Soon™

• Add chats to contact list unconditionally.
• Forward all errors to front-end properly.

On Hold

• Mark messages as "read" (currently not implemented in back-end, see whisperfish/presage#141). At time of writing, notifications on main device are deleted after answering via linked device. So that is working alright.
• Reply to a specific message (no example exists in back-end).

"Contributions Welcome"

• Configuration option whether to add contacts to buddy list or not
• Reasonable generation of C headers and rust constants
• Stickers, mentions, replies, styles,…
• Display typing notifications
• Display receipts (not important)
• Support for alternative host applications (Spectrum, Bitlbee)
• Support for adding contacts via phone number
• Support receiving contacts (seems to be a dedicated message type)

These lists are not exhaustive.

Known Issues

• Handling errors when sending messages is barely tested.
• Attachments end up in the conversation of the sender, not the destination (especially confusing when a group chat is involved).
• Failing to send an attachment may bring down the entire application.
• Some message features such as displaying edits do not work for sync messages or do not work at all.

Building

Linux

Dependencies

• libpurple-dev
• libqrencode-dev
• protobuf (or any other package which provides the protoc compiler)

Build

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/hoehermann/purple-presage
mkdir purple-presage/build
cd purple-presage/build
cmake ..
cmake --build .
sudo cmake --install .

Windows

purple-presage is known to compile with MSVC 19.30 and rust 1.75. You need the version of rust mentioned in libsignal-service-rs. A newer version will probably work, too. Using the "x86 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2022" is recommended.

Dependencies

Install dependencies via vcpkg:

vcpkg.exe install libqrencode:x86-windows-static

protoc needs to be in your PATH. You can install it with any method you like, including vcpkg:

vcpkg.exe install protobuf

Build

Same as Linux build instructions, but may need to modify the configuration:

1. Generate MSBuild project:

    cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM=WIN32 -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE="…/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake" -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x86-windows-static -DRust_CARGO_TARGET="i686-pc-windows-msvc" ..
   

   If necessary, the rust tool-chain version can be specified via -DRust_TOOLCHAIN="1.75-i686-pc-windows-msvc".

2. Build, Install and Run:

    cmake --build .
    cmake --install . --config Release
    cmake --build . --target run
   

When using the "Debug" configuration, the linker complains about mismatching configurations. The implications of this are unknown.

Notes

purple-presage must be built with MSVC. MinGW's GCC encountered a number of issues such as incompatibility with rustc versions newer than 1.69 and not shipping libbcrypt by default.

Needs a whooping 6 GB of disk space during build! 😳