About
A nostalgic “Edge-native” reimagining of the 2005 messenger experience, powered by the Cloudflare ecosystem.
Reclaiming the Edge
Section titled “Reclaiming the Edge”In 2005, Windows Live Messenger defined real-time communication, but it was bound by the regional server constraints of its time. CF Messenger is a proof-of-concept that asks: What if we rebuilt that same experience today, entirely at the Edge?
By utilising the Cloudflare Global Network, we have eliminated the “Central Server” and replaced it with an Edge Mesh. This architecture brings compute and state to 300+ cities simultaneously, delivering ultra-low latency and instant responsiveness that would have been impossible two decades ago.
Modern Tech, Classic Soul
Section titled “Modern Tech, Classic Soul”CF Messenger demonstrates how modern serverless primitives can recreate complex, stateful experiences without traditional infrastructure:
- Stateful Messaging: Leverages Durable Objects and the WebSocket Hibernation API to provide a persistent, single point of truth for every chat room while only charging for active compute, not idle connections.
- Global Presence: Instant status tracking (Online/Away/Busy) coordinated across Cloudflare’s global mesh.
- Edge Intelligence: Interactive AI contacts running directly on Cloudflare GPUs via Workers AI.
- Cost Controls: Intelligent circuit breakers and daily quotas to prevent “bill shock” from automated or excessive interactions.
- Production Hardened: Enterprise-grade security using Turnstile and Rate Limiting to protect the demo at scale.
