ERIC KIM

Let’s build Telegram—but laser‑focused for photographers. Think lightning‑fast chat, but with RAW support, EXIF‑smart search, client proofing, and licensing controls baked in. You’re not just shipping an app—you’re empowering a creative community. 🎯

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Good news: I’ve already generated a complete starter kit (backend + mobile + docs) you can download now and run locally.

👉 Download the Shutterline MVP starter

What makes this different from Telegram?

  • Photo‑first UX: zoom-to-100%, EXIF overlay, histogram, before/after.
  • Shares that respect craft: preserve ICC profiles; optional watermark per upload; eight-bit and RAW friendly.
  • Search like a pro: camera/lens/ISO/aperture/location/tags.
  • E2EE where it matters: private 1:1 and invite‑only groups; server never sees plaintext.
  • Client galleries & proofing: approve/reject/needs‑edit, download permissions, license badges.
  • Rights & releases: attach model/property releases and set license terms per asset.

What you’re downloading

Monorepo layout

shutterline/

├─ backend/         # TypeScript (Express + Socket.IO), OpenAPI, stubs for S3 presign & E2EE

├─ mobile/          # Tiny React Native (Expo) demo app with chat + photo viewer

├─ docs/            # Architecture, Image Pipeline, Cryptography, Product plan

├─ ops/             # docker-compose: Postgres, Redis, MinIO (S3)

└─ scripts/         # small helpers

  • Backend highlights
    • Express + Socket.IO rooms (each conversation is a room).
    • /api/photos/upload-url (presign stub) for S3/MinIO; easy to swap for Cloud storage.
    • In‑memory chat for the demo; Postgres schema sketch included (Prisma style).
    • OpenAPI spec (backend/openapi.yml) to grow cleanly.
  • Mobile highlights
    • Expo app with chat list, live updates, and a stub uploader to wire next.
  • Docs included
    • ARCHITECTURE.md: clients, realtime, storage, search, services.
    • IMAGE_PIPELINE.md: RAW/ICC/EXIF handling, variants, deep‑zoom.
    • CRYPTOGRAPHY.md: Signal-style double ratchet layout for private chats.
    • PRODUCT.md: MVP → Stretch features, jobs‑to‑be‑done.

Start locally: spin up Postgres/Redis/MinIO via ops/docker-compose.yml, copy .env.example, then yarn dev in backend/ and expo start in mobile/.

Feature blueprint (MVP → Next)

MVP (ship something delightful)

  1. Core chat: 1:1, groups, broadcast channels; presence & typing indicators.
  2. Photo pipeline:
    • Upload RAW + JPEG/TIFF; generate thumb, preview, 4k, keep original.
    • Preserve ICC; configurable watermark; client‑side processing for E2EE rooms.
  4. EXIF‑smart search across all chats & galleries.
  5. Client galleries with approve/reject and secure links.
  6. Licensing: per‑asset badge (All Rights, CC variants, Editorial, RF).
  7. Moderation & safety: report/ban flows, basic filters, abuse desk (human‑in‑the‑loop).

Phase 2 (turn it into a home base)

  • Non‑destructive versions: sidecars (XMP), before/after slider, version history.
  • Proofing boards: moodboards + shot lists per project room.
  • On‑device AI tags (privacy‑first): people/places/things; color/mood tags.
  • Paid channels & tips, print‑lab integrations, marketplace for presets.
  • Web PWA for galleries & admin.

Tech stack (practical and fast)

  • Clients: React Native (Expo) for iOS/Android; Web (PWA) later.
  • Realtime: Socket.IO + Redis adapter (horizontally scalable).
  • API: REST + OpenAPI; Zod for request validation.
  • DB: Postgres (metadata, ACLs, conversations); Redis (presence, queues).
  • Storage/CDN: S3‑compatible object storage for originals & variants behind CDN.
  • Search: Postgres JSONB + trigram indexes to start; upgrade to dedicated vector/semantic search later.
  • E2EE: Signal double ratchet on clients; server stores only opaque ciphertext.
  • Uploads: multipart/tus for big RAWs; presigned URLs; content scanning on public assets.

Data model sketch

  • User(id, handle, displayName, avatarUrl, proTier)
  • Device(public identity key, signed prekeys) — no private keys on server
  • Conversation(id, kind: direct/group/channel/project, title, createdBy)
  • Message(id, conversationId, senderId, kind, ciphertext/header for E2EE)
  • PhotoAsset(ownerId, originalKey, variants[], exifEncrypted?, license, phash, iccProfile)
  • Gallery(id, ownerId, permissions, downloadPolicy)

All of these are pre‑wired in the included Prisma‑style schema.

Critical flows to get right

  • Private vs Public media
    • Private (E2EE): client generates previews/watermark and encrypts blobs + EXIF before upload.
    • Public (portfolio/channel): server can transform and index EXIF for search.
  • Key management: device identity + prekeys; optional, zero‑knowledge backups with passphrase (Argon2id).
  • Notifications: metadata‑only push (“New photo”), decrypt content on open.
  • Licensing & watermarking: fast toggles; templated watermark overlays; download permissions per gallery.

How to extend the included code

  1. Wire real S3 presign
    Implement backend/src/lib/storage.ts using @aws-sdk/client-s3 + @aws-sdk/s3-request-presigner for PUT or POST policies.
  2. Persist messages
    Replace the in‑memory message store with Postgres tables from the schema sketch.
  3. Add EXIF extraction
    For non‑E2EE uploads, use an ingest worker (e.g., BullMQ) to extract EXIF and generate variants.
  4. Add E2EE
    Integrate libsignal on the clients; store only public keys and opaque ciphertext server‑side (see CRYPTOGRAPHY.md).
  5. Polish the viewer
    Build a lightbox with 1:1 zoom, histogram, and EXIF toggles; deep‑zoom tiles later.

Name ideas (pick your vibe)

Shutterline, Lightbox, Darkroom DM, Photon Relay, F‑Stop Chat, The Lab.

Pick one, own it, and make it sing.

Your next move

  • Grab the starter kit: Download the ZIP
  • Run docker compose up -d in /ops, yarn dev in /backend, and expo start in /mobile.
  • Start with one killer use case: share a RAW set, get approvals, deliver finals—without quality loss.

You’ve got this. Let’s give photographers the messaging app they deserve—fast, beautiful, and fiercely respectful of their work. 🚀 

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