ByteDesk Qt Client

January 13, 2026 · View on GitHub

A cross-platform instant messaging client based on C++ + Qt + MQTT

✨ Features

✅ User Authentication - Login/logout, automatic token refresh
✅ Real-time Communication - MQTT persistent connection, instant message delivery
✅ Thread Management - Load, switch, and refresh thread lists
✅ Messaging - Real-time text message sending and receiving
✅ Cross-platform - Supports Windows, macOS, and Linux
✅ Lightweight - Pure Qt implementation, no third-party MQTT library dependencies

🚀 Quick Start

Build and Run

# Method 1: Qt Creator (Recommended)
1. Open bytedesk.pro
2. Click the Run button (or press Ctrl+R)

# Method 2: Command Line
qmake bytedesk.pro && make
./qt

# Method 3: Build Script
./build.sh

Using Qt Creator (Recommended)

Qt Creator provides the best development experience with syntax highlighting, code completion, and integrated debugging.

Step 1: Install Qt Creator

Download Qt Creator from qt.io
Install Qt 6.10 or later
Make sure to include these components:
- Qt Creator IDE
- Qt 6.x (Desktop compilers)
- CMake/qmake build tools

Step 2: Open Project

Launch Qt Creator
Click File → Open File or Project (or press Ctrl+O)
Navigate to the project directory
Select bytedesk.pro file
Click Open

Step 3: Configure Build Kit

On the Configure Project screen:

Select Kit: Choose the appropriate Qt Kit for your platform
- Desktop Qt 6.10.x clang 64bit (macOS)
- Desktop Qt 6.10.x MinGW 64-bit (Windows)
- Desktop Qt 6.10.x GCC 64bit (Linux)
Configure Settings (if needed):
- Click Projects button on left sidebar
- Select Build & Run
- Verify build directory: ../build-bytedesk-Desktop_Qt_6-Debug
- Adjust if necessary
Click Configure Project

Step 4: Build the Project

Click the Build icon (hammer) in bottom-left corner (or press Ctrl+B)
Watch the Compile Output panel at the bottom
Wait for build to complete (should show "Elapsed time: xx:xx")

Build Status:

✅ Green checkmark: Build successful
❌ Red X: Build failed (check errors in Compile Output)

Step 5: Run the Application

Click the Run button (green play icon) or press Ctrl+R
The application window will appear
Check the Application Output panel for runtime logs

System Requirements

Qt 6.10+
C++17 compiler
macOS: 10.15+ (Catalina)
Windows: 10+
Linux: GCC 7+ or Clang 6+

📱 User Guide

1. Launch Application

When you run the program, you will see the main window:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Weiyu - ByteDesk Qt Client              │
├──────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Menu: [Login] [Logout] [Refresh] [Exit] │
├──────────────┬───────────────────────────┤
│ Thread List  │ Chat Window               │
│              │                            │
│ ☐ Thread 1  │ [10:30] Zhang San: Hi!    │
│ ☐ Thread 2  │ [10:31] Me: Hello!        │
│ ☐ Thread 3  │                            │
│              │ [Type message.....] [Send]│
├──────────────┴───────────────────────────┤
│ Status: Welcome to ByteDesk Qt - Please login│
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘

Click menu "Menu" → "Login"
Enter username and password
Click OK

3. Send Message

Click on a thread in the left thread list to select it
Type your message in the input box
Click "Send" or press Enter

4. Receive Messages

New messages will appear in real-time in the chat window
Your messages are displayed in blue
Others' messages are displayed in green

🏗️ Project Structure

qt/
├── bytedesk.pro              # qmake project file
├── build.sh                  # Build script
├── verify.sh                 # Verification script
└── src/
    ├── main.cpp              # Program entry point
    │
    ├── models/               # Data models (8 files)
    │   ├── message.cpp/h     # Message model
    │   ├── thread.cpp/h      # Thread model
    │   ├── user.cpp/h        # User model
    │   └── config.cpp/h      # Configuration model
    │
    ├── core/                 # Core functionality (14 files)
    │   ├── auth/            # Authentication management
    │   │   └── authmanager.cpp/h
    │   ├── mqtt/            # MQTT communication (TCP implementation)
    │   │   ├── mqttclient.cpp/h
    │   │   └── mqttmessagehandler.cpp/h
    │   └── network/         # HTTP API
    │       ├── httpclient.cpp/h
    │       ├── apibase.cpp/h
    │       ├── authapi.cpp/h
    │       ├── messageapi.cpp/h
    │       └── threadapi.cpp/h
    │
    └── ui/                   # User interface (3 files)
        ├── mainwindow.cpp/h  # Main window
        └── mainwindow.ui     # UI design

💡 Code Examples

Initialize Components

#include "models/config.h"
#include "core/network/httpclient.h"
#include "core/network/authapi.h"
#include "core/mqtt/mqttclient.h"
#include "core/auth/authmanager.h"

// Configure server
BYTDESK_CONFIG->setApiUrl("https://api.bytedesk.com");

// Create HTTP client
HttpClient* httpClient = new HttpClient(this);
httpClient->setBaseUrl(BYTDESK_CONFIG->getApiUrl());

// Create authentication manager
AuthApi* authApi = new AuthApi(httpClient, this);
MqttClient* mqttClient = new MqttClient(this);
AuthManager* authManager = new AuthManager(authApi, mqttClient, this);

// Connect signals
connect(authManager, &AuthManager::loginSuccess, [](const UserPtr& user) {
    qDebug() << "Login successful:" << user->getUsername();
});

// Execute login
authManager->login("username", "password");

Send Message

#include "core/mqtt/mqttmessagehandler.h"

MqttMessageHandler* mqttHandler = new MqttMessageHandler(mqttClient, this);
mqttHandler->init();

// Send text message
mqttHandler->sendTextMessage(thread, "Hello, World!", currentUser);

// Receive messages
connect(mqttHandler, &MqttMessageHandler::messageReceived,
        [](const MessagePtr& msg) {
    qDebug() << "Message received:" << msg->getContentString();
});

🛠️ Tech Stack

Core Technologies

Qt 6.10+ - Cross-platform UI framework
C++17 - Modern C++ standard
MQTT 3.1.1 - Real-time messaging protocol (TCP implementation)
HTTP/HTTPS - REST API calls

Qt Modules

QtCore - Core functionality
QtGui - GUI foundation
QtWidgets - UI components
QtNetwork - Network communication
QtSql - Database (to be integrated)

🔧 Configuration

Change Server Address

Edit src/models/config.cpp:

const QString Config::DEFAULT_API_URL = "https://your-server.com";
const QString Config::DEFAULT_MQTT_HOST = "mqtt.your-server.com";
const int Config::DEFAULT_MQTT_PORT = 1883;