# Macaroni Messenger

7 Hacker News commenters recommended Macaroni Messenger and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Single-file chat app that stores messages on GitHub, with no server to run. Caveat: critics say it only works with GitHub, not standard git.

## Why people recommend it

- Fixes data loss and key custody (2 comments): "This pretty much solves the "Discord is not documentation" and the dataloss in forum problems." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48490806)) "It fixes who holds the keys — and who gets sued." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48528491))

## What people warn about

- Locked to GitHub, not standard git (2 comments): "GitHub is the only working write provider right now. GitLab, GitVerse, Gitea, Forgejo, and other git hosts are protocol targets for future adapters." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48487563)) "it's using GitHub specific APIs to read/write files. It's not standard git so any remote wouldn't work" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48487524))
- Still needs GitHub as a backend (3 comments): "Saying that this doesn't use a backend is like saying serverless app doesn't run on a server" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48488087)) "requiring the use of GitHub for your application to work is a dead end." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48487653)) "The whole app you write revolves around Github's HTTP endpoints." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48488219))
- Proof of concept, not for serious use (2 comments): "we're going to use git, html and json", I had a panic attack as soon as I read that." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48519172)) "a humorous proof of concept more so than anything someone should seriously use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48487464))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Facebook Messenger](https://hackerapproved.com/p/facebook-messenger.md): 36 recommend
- [Pidgin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pidgin.md): 30 recommend
- [Beeper](https://hackerapproved.com/p/beeper.md): 29 recommend
- [Dino XMPP client](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dino.md): 21 recommend
- [Element X](https://hackerapproved.com/p/element-x.md): 18 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Macaroni Messenger", https://hackerapproved.com/p/macaroni/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).