LaunchChess

Play chess with your Novation Launchpad, or other compatible device!

launchchess.com

Note This repository holds the code for the online version of LaunchChess. For the standalone python library, see launchchess-python.

development

Clone this repository git clone https://github.com/quaternionmedia/launchchess.git

The simplest way to start developing is with docker. Basic commands are included with the launchchess executable, and can be run with ./launchchess [command]

website frontend

Note: Does not work for online play with Lichess accounts. See backend for instructions.

init

If this is the first time, install npm dependencies: ./launchchess init

run locally

Run the development server: ./launchchess dev

Visit: http://localhost:5555

This starts a development server at port 5555. When files have changed, it will automatically rebuild the site and reload any open tabs.

If tabs aren't reloading correctly after a rebuild:

• open the developer tools (right click: inspect)
• go to the Network tab
• check the Disable cache checkbox
• refresh the page (F5)

backend

In order to play online, the server needs to be configured for https, meaning you need an ssl certificate. Such a thing is beyond the scope of this documentation, but these steps should generate a valid (though not trusted) certfile, which is enough to work locally.

1. generate a new certfile

./launchchess cert

Answer interactive prompt for location / contact info (for development purposes, empty answers are fine)

2. configure Lichess OAuth

• Add a new lichess oauth app, with a callback url to https://[your.domain:port]/oauth/authorize

(where [your.domain:port] is localhost:9999 or whatever local domain or ip address and port your browser will be accessing )

• Add the client id and secret from above to config.py.

3. secrets

Generate an AUTH_SECRET_KEY and a different SESSION_SECRET and paste them into config.py

openssl rand -hex 32

4. run server

Install uvicorn if not already installed

pip3 install uvicorn

Run server

./launchchess run

Visit https://localhost:9999 and authorize your Lichess account with this server!

5. (optional) build js

If you are running the uvicorn server and want to rebuild the js files (and auto rebuild future changes): ./launchchess build

production

Assuming a running traefik docker instance as a reverse proxy:

certs

Playing with the Lichess Board API requires a valid https certificate. In addition, this must be served by the server itself (not the reverse proxy) in order to successfully generate an oauth token.

This is performed with the following label to the docker-compose file:

...
    - labels:
      - traefik.tcp.routers.launchchess.tls.passthrough=true

Copying the traefik certificate is performed with: ./renew-cert.sh

run

./launchchess p