Show HN: WhatsApp Bridge for those with their own VPS

A developer released whatsapp-bridge, a self-hosted Go 1.27+ tool built on whats-meow that links to WhatsApp as an extra device, stores only user-ticked chats in an encrypted database on the user's own VPS, and exposes them read-only to AI assistants via MCP at https://<your server>/mcp. The bridge offers six read-only tools — search_messages, read_chat, get_message_context, list_chats, get_document and get_status — and attaches a wa:// citation to every message, with no ability to send messages, set an online status or read receipts. Deployment is documented for three paths (cloud-init, Docker Compose, and an install script for Ubuntu 24.04 or Debian 12), and the whatsapp-bridge.env file holds the database key that must be backed up or the database cannot be read.

A self-hosted bridge & seutp gateaway built on top of whats-meow for storing and accessing your raw whatsapp data whatsapp-bridge links to your WhatsApp as an extra device, the way WhatsApp Web does. It keeps the chats you choose in an encrypted database on your own VPS, where you can serach the chats or query them using MCP. For now, it is read only. flowchart LR phone "Your phone<br/ WhatsApp " -- "linked device,<br/ like WhatsApp Web" -- bridge "whatsapp-bridge<br/ on your server" bridge -- db "Encrypted database<br/ messages of ticked chats only" ai "Your AI assistant<br/ Claude · ChatGPT · Codex" -- "MCP, after you sign in<br/ read-only tools" -- bridge 1. Link. On your phone, open Settings › Linked devices › Link a device and scan the QR code. The bridge now receives your messages like any other linked device in WhatsApp. 2. Tick. Choose only which chats it keeps. Every chat starts unticked, and the bridge stores none of its messages until you tick it. Tick within an hour of linking to also keep the history WhatsApp sends at linking. 3. Ask. Connect your assistant to https://<your server /mcp and sign in. It searches and reads your ticked chats when it needs to, and cites every message it uses. Go 1.27 or newer. The web UI is built into the binary. git clone https://github.com/vid-t/whatsapp-bridge.git && cd whatsapp-bridge CGO ENABLED=0 go build -o bin/whatsapp-bridge ./cmd/whatsapp-bridge ./bin/whatsapp-bridge keygen whatsapp-bridge.env && chmod 600 whatsapp-bridge.env ./bin/whatsapp-bridge serve -env-file whatsapp-bridge.env Open http://127.0.0.1:8080 http://127.0.0.1:8080 , enter the access code from whatsapp-bridge.env , link WhatsApp and tick your chats. Tick them within the hour to keep their recent history. Important whatsapp-bridge.env holds the database key. Without it the database cannot be read, so back it up. claude.ai and ChatGPT reach the bridge from their own servers, so they need a public HTTPS address. Claude Code and Codex also work over localhost or a private network. deploy/SELF-HOSTING.md https://github.com/vid-t/whatsapp-bridge/blob/main/deploy/SELF-HOSTING.md has three paths. Each ends at https://<your domain with automatic HTTPS from Caddy. | Path | Best for | |---|---| | A. cloud-init https://github.com/vid-t/whatsapp-bridge/blob/main/deploy/SELF-HOSTING.md path-a-one-click-vps-with-cloud-init | a fresh VPS: paste one file and boot | | B. Docker Compose https://github.com/vid-t/whatsapp-bridge/blob/main/deploy/SELF-HOSTING.md path-b-docker-compose | a server that already runs Docker | | C. Install script https://github.com/vid-t/whatsapp-bridge/blob/main/deploy/SELF-HOSTING.md path-c-a-server-you-already-have | an existing Ubuntu 24.04 or Debian 12 server | You need a domain pointing at the server, with ports 80 and 443 open. In Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http whatsapp-bridge https://<host /mcp claude mcp login whatsapp-bridge In claude.ai, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT or Codex, add https://<host /mcp as a connector and sign in on the page that opens. docs/MCP-SETUP.md https://github.com/vid-t/whatsapp-bridge/blob/main/docs/MCP-SETUP.md has the steps for each assistant, plus API keys for scripts. Your assistant gets six read-only tools: | Tool | What it does | |---|---| | search messages | full-text search across the ticked chats | | read chat | read one chat in time order | | get message context | show the messages around a search hit | | list chats | list the ticked chats, most recent first | | get document | give the file name and caption of an attachment | | get status | show the linked devices and how fresh the data is | Every message comes with a wa:// citation, so you can check the source of an answer. - Read-only. The code has no way to send messages, an "online" status or read receipts. The tools cannot change or delete anything. - Only ticked chats. Chats start unticked. The bridge never stores the messages of an unticked chat, only its name and last activity for the chat list, so no assistant can see it. For an hour after you link a phone, it holds those messages in memory only, so a chat you tick in that hour keeps its history. Then they are dropped. - Encrypted at rest. The database file is encrypted with Adiantum when BRIDGE DB KEY is set keygen creates it . A running bridge decrypts messages in memory, so run it on a machine you control. - Closed by default. It listens on 127.0.0.1 and refuses a public address unless an access code and a database key are set. - Audited. Every tool call is logged: who called it, which tool, which chats and how many rows. The log never holds message text. - Nothing goes to an AI provider on its own. Your assistant gets messages only when it calls a tool, and only that call's results. - Your phone stays in charge. Unlink the device in WhatsApp and the bridge is cut off at once. WhatsApp also logs out linked devices when the phone has been offline for 14 days. Warning Unofficial client. whatsapp-bridge uses whatsmeow https://github.com/tulir/whatsmeow , an unofficial implementation of the WhatsApp Web protocol. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to WhatsApp or Meta. WhatsApp does not permit unofficial clients, and an account linked to one can be restricted. Staying silent and read-only keeps that risk low but cannot remove it. You accept it when you link an account. Not built yet: downloading attachments and reading their text, and limiting what each member sees today every member sees all ticked chats . - Configuration and commands https://github.com/vid-t/whatsapp-bridge/blob/main/docs/CONFIGURATION.md : every setting, flag and command - Self-hosting https://github.com/vid-t/whatsapp-bridge/blob/main/deploy/SELF-HOSTING.md : install, upgrade and back up - Connect your assistant https://github.com/vid-t/whatsapp-bridge/blob/main/docs/MCP-SETUP.md : Claude, ChatGPT, Codex and API keys - Security policy https://github.com/vid-t/whatsapp-bridge/blob/main/SECURITY.md · Contributing https://github.com/vid-t/whatsapp-bridge/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md AGPL-3.0-only https://github.com/vid-t/whatsapp-bridge/blob/main/LICENSE . If you run a modified whatsapp-bridge as a service, you must offer its source code to the people who use it.