bearware-teamtalk

Complete knowledge base for BearWare.dk's TeamTalk 5 Conferencing System. Use when working with TeamTalk audio/video conferencing, the TeamTalk 5 SDK (C-API, .NET, Java, Python, Rust), TeamTalk server administration, TeamTalk client development, building TeamTalk from source, or any TeamTalk-related task including cloning, building, detecting installed SDK, API usage, and configuring servers.

BearWare.dk / TeamTalk 5 Skill

Overview

BearWare.dk is a Danish software company (founded 2005 by Bjørn D. Rasmussen) that develops the TeamTalk 5 Conferencing System - a self-hosted audio/video conferencing platform with a standalone server, multiple clients, and a full SDK. The entire source code is open on GitHub.

Quick Actions

Check if SDK is installed

Run scripts/check_sdk.py to detect TeamTalk SDK on the current system. It checks common install paths and reports the version if found.

Build from Source

Run scripts/build_from_source.sh to clone, build, and set up the TeamTalk 5 SDK from GitHub source. Supports Linux, macOS, and cross-compilation for Android/iOS/Raspberry Pi.

Detect Platform

Run scripts/check_sdk.py --detect-only to print the current platform string.

Building TeamTalk 5 from Source

The full source is at https://github.com/BearWare/TeamTalk5. Build using CMake or the provided Makefile.

Prerequisites

• CMake 3.10+
• C++17 compiler (GCC 9+, Clang 10+, MSVC 2019+)
• Qt 5.15+ (for the client GUI)
• OpenSSL (for encryption support)
• ALSA / PulseAudio development headers (Linux)

Build with Makefile (Linux/macOS)

The Build directory contains a Makefile for common targets:

bash

git clone https://github.com/BearWare/TeamTalk5.git
cd TeamTalk5

# Install dependencies then build
sudo make -C Build depend-ubuntu24
make -C Build ubuntu24

# macOS
brew install qt openssl
make -C Build depend-mac
make -C Build mac

# Build all Android targets
make -C Build android-all

# Build for Raspberry Pi OS
make -C Build raspios12

Build with Docker

bash

git clone https://github.com/BearWare/TeamTalk5.git
cd TeamTalk5

docker compose run --rm ubuntu24 make -C /TeamTalk5/Build ubuntu24
docker compose run --rm android make -C /TeamTalk5/Build android-all

Build with CMake (Advanced)

bash

git clone https://github.com/BearWare/TeamTalk5.git
cd TeamTalk5/Library/TeamTalkLib
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
make -j$(nproc)

Build Individual Components

Component	Directory	Dependency
C-API DLL	Library/TeamTalk_DLL	TeamTalkLib
.NET Wrapper	Library/TeamTalk.NET	TeamTalk_DLL
Java JNI	Library/TeamTalkJNI	TeamTalk_DLL
Python Bindings	Library/TeamTalkPy	TeamTalk_DLL
Rust Bindings	Library/teamtalk_rust	TeamTalk_DLL
Qt Client	Client/qtTeamTalk	TeamTalk_DLL
MFC Client	Client/TeamTalkClassic	TeamTalk_DLL
.NET Client	Client/TeamTalkApp.NET	TeamTalk.NET
iOS Client	Client/iTeamTalk	TeamTalk_DLL
Android Client	Client/TeamTalkAndroid	TeamTalkJNI
C++ Server	Server/TeamTalkServer	TeamTalk_DLL (Pro)
.NET Server	Server/TeamTalkServer.NET	TeamTalk.NET (Pro)
Java Server	Server/jTeamTalkServer	TeamTalkJNI (Pro)
PHP Admin	Client/ttphpadmin	PHP CLI

SDK Structure (after build)

text

TeamTalk5/
├── Library/
│   ├── TeamTalkLib/         # Core library source
│   ├── TeamTalk_DLL/        # C-API DLL project
│   │   ├── TeamTalk5.h      # C-API header (main API)
│   │   └── TeamTalk5.def    # DLL exports
│   ├── TeamTalk.NET/        # .NET wrapper source
│   ├── TeamTalkJNI/         # Java JNI wrapper source
│   ├── TeamTalkPy/          # Python bindings
│   └── teamtalk_rust/       # Rust bindings
├── Client/
│   ├── qtTeamTalk/          # Qt-based client
│   ├── TeamTalkClassic/     # Accessible MFC client
│   ├── TeamTalkApp.NET/     # C# .NET client
│   ├── iTeamTalk/           # iOS Swift client
│   ├── TeamTalkAndroid/     # Android Java client
│   └── ttphpadmin/          # PHP admin script
├── Server/
│   ├── TeamTalkServer/      # C++ server example
│   ├── TeamTalkServer.NET/  # C# server example
│   └── jTeamTalkServer/     # Java server example
├── Build/
│   ├── Makefile             # Unified build targets
│   └── Docker/              # Docker build environments
└── Setup/                   # Installer scripts

TeamTalk 5 SDK Editions

Feature	Standard	Professional
Client DLL API	Yes	Yes
Encryption (TLS/AES)	Optional	Yes
Standalone server	Yes (unencrypted)	Yes (encrypted)
Server DLL API	No	Yes

The source builds both editions. Professional features are enabled at compile time.

TeamTalk 5 Pro Server

Encrypted TeamTalk server with Web-Login authentication. Built from source with Professional Edition flags.

Features:

• TLS/AES encrypted connections
• BearWare.dk Web-Login authentication
• SpamBot (auto-kick foul language, block VPN/proxies)
• Available for Ubuntu 22/24, Windows, Raspbian 12

Supported Platforms

• Windows: 10/11, 32-bit and 64-bit
• macOS: 10.13+, 64-bit
• Linux: Ubuntu 22/24, x86_64 (Debian 9+ variants)
• Android: v5.0+ (ARMv7, ARM64, x86, x86_64)
• iOS: v7.0+ (Universal)
• Raspberry Pi: Raspbian 12, arm64

SDK API Reference

See references/api_reference.md for the complete SDK API overview including all structs, enums, events, and methods.

See references/changelog.md for the full change history from v5.0a to v5.22a.

Language Bindings

All bindings wrap the same C-API DLL:

• C-API: TeamTalk5.h - the native interface
• .NET: TeamTalk.NET - C# wrapper
• Java: TeamTalkJNI - Java JNI wrapper
• Python: TeamTalkPy - Python bindings
• Rust: teamtalk_rust - bindgen-generated Rust bindings

Key SDK Concepts

Client Workflow

1. Create instance: TT_InitTeamTalk() or TT_InitTeamTalkEx()
2. Set sound devices: TT_InitSoundDevices() or TT_InitSoundDuplexDevices()
3. Connect: TT_Connect() with IP, TCP port, UDP port
4. Login: TT_DoLogin() with username, password
5. Join/create channel: TT_DoJoinChannel() / TT_DoMakeChannel()
6. Transmit audio/video: TT_EnableVoiceTransmission() / TT_StartVideoCaptureTransmission()
7. Cleanup: TT_CloseTeamTalk() and TT_DeleteInstance()

Server Workflow

1. Create instance: TTS_InitTeamTalkServer() or TTS_InitTeamTalkServerEx()
2. Load config: TTS_LoadConfiguration() from tt5srv.xml
3. Run: TTS_RunServer() (blocking)
4. Handle callbacks from registered events
5. Shutdown: TTS_CloseServer()

Key Data Structures

• TTInstance - opaque handle to a client instance
• Channel - channel properties (name, password, topic, codec, disk quota, etc.)
• User - user properties (ID, username, IP, status, etc.)
• UserAccount - server-side user account (username, password, user type, user rights, etc.)
• TextMessage - text message (from user, to user/channel, content, etc.)
• AudioCodec / VideoCodec - codec configuration for audio/video streams
• SoundDevice - sound device properties
• ServerProperties - server config (max users, motd, etc.)

Audio Codecs

• OPUS - primary VoIP codec
• Speex - legacy codec
• AudioFileFormat - WAV, MP3, OGG (OPUS), WMA

Video Codecs

• WebM (VP8) - primary video codec, supports VBR and CBR
• Capture via DirectShow (Windows), AVFoundation (macOS), V4L2 (Linux)

Stream Types

• STREAMTYPE_VOICE - microphone audio
• STREAMTYPE_VIDEOCAPTURE - webcam video
• STREAMTYPE_DESKTOP - desktop sharing
• STREAMTYPE_MEDIAFILE_AUDIO - streamed audio files
• STREAMTYPE_MEDIAFILE_VIDEO - streamed video files
• STREAMTYPE_CHANNELMSG - channel text messages
• STREAMTYPE_LOCALMEDIAPLAYBACK_AUDIO - local media playback

Channel Types

• CHANNEL_DEFAULT - normal channel
• CHANNEL_CLASSROOM - teacher controls who transmits
• CHANNEL_SOLO_TRANSMIT - only one user transmits at a time
• CHANNEL_FREEFORALL - override classroom restrictions
• CHANNEL_HIDDEN - invisible without USERRIGHT_VIEW_HIDDEN_CHANNELS

User Rights

• USERRIGHT_DEFAULT - basic access
• USERRIGHT_VIEW_HIDDEN_CHANNELS - see hidden channels
• USERRIGHT_TEXTMESSAGE_USER - send private messages
• USERRIGHT_TEXTMESSAGE_CHANNEL - send channel messages
• USERRIGHT_MODIFY_CHANNELS - create/rename permanent channels
• USERRIGHT_MULTI_LOGIN - allow multiple logins from same account

Encryption

• TLS for control channel, AES-256 for media streams
• Configure via EncryptionContext struct
• Peer verification supported (client and server)

Public Test Servers

• tt://tt5us.bearware.dk?tcpport=10335&udpport=10335&username=bearware&channel=/ (unencrypted)
• tt://tt5us.bearware.dk?tcpport=10443&udpport=10443&username=bearware&channel=/&encrypted=1 (encrypted)

Press F2 in the TeamTalk client for more public servers.

GitHub

• Repository: https://github.com/BearWare/TeamTalk5
• 377 stars, 184 forks
• 49 releases (latest: v5.22, April 2026)
• Languages: C++ (61%), Java (13%), C# (11%), C (6%), Swift (3%), CMake (3%)
• 8,635 commits
• Topics: voip, video-streaming, conferencing, desktop-sharing

License

The TeamTalk 5 SDK source code is on GitHub under the TeamTalk 5 SDK License Agreement: https://github.com/BearWare/TeamTalk5/blob/master/LICENSE.txt

Consulting & Custom Development

BearWare.dk offers consulting for custom TeamTalk integrations. Email [e-mail]. Customers span: entertainment, defense, radio communications, medical, education, space agencies, emergency services.

News

• April 6, 2026: TeamTalk v5.22 released
• November 13, 2025: TeamTalk Pro Server v5.21.1 released
• September 29, 2025: TeamTalk v5.21 released