Ban Behavior in marchat

[Cod-e-Codes]

Currently, bans in marchat function as a temporary disconnect and mute:

• Banned users cannot connect, send, or receive messages while banned.
• Once unbanned, if the database has not been cleared, they can still see the full history of messages that occurred during their ban.

This raises the question: should bans also hide or "gap" message history, or remain as they are?

Observations

• If bans do not gap history, they effectively behave as a mute rather than a full lockout from the conversation.
• Some administrators may expect a stricter model where banned users lose access to everything said during the ban period.
• Others may prefer the current lightweight approach, where bans simply remove live access without erasing history.

Options

1. Keep bans as they are now

   • No live messages while banned, but history still visible if the DB isn’t cleared.
   • Admins can backup and run :cleardb before unbanning if they want to hide conversation content.
   • Pros: Simple, minimal performance overhead, consistent with marchat’s lightweight philosophy.
   • Cons: Provides no way to prevent users from later seeing conversations during their ban.

2. Add a :private <recipient> <message> command

   • Introduce private, direct messages between users.
   • Avoids misuse of bans as a tool for holding “private moments.”
   • Pros: Clearer semantics (ban = discipline, private = privacy).
   • Cons: Increases scope and complexity; requires encryption considerations if security is expected.

3. Block history during the ban period

   • Ensure that banned users cannot see messages that were sent while they were disconnected.
   • Pros: Aligns with expectations from mainstream chat platforms (Discord, Slack, etc.).
   • Cons: Hardest to implement, as it requires per-user state tracking and filtering. Likely to slow down message retrievals across the board.

Key Question

Should bans in marchat be treated primarily as discipline tools (mute + disconnect), or as privacy/enforcement tools (history gaps)?

This choice will shape both community expectations and future moderation features.

[Cod-e-Codes]

Update:
We’ve implemented the Ban History Gaps feature. Now, when a user is banned, they cannot connect, send, or receive messages during the ban. After being unbanned, their message history will exclude all messages sent during their ban period, unless the admin has cleared the database.

This makes bans act more like a full temporary lockout from the conversation, rather than just a mute. Administrators can still use :cleardb if they want to remove all history before unbanning.

The feature can be toggled via the MARCHAT_BAN_HISTORY_GAPS environment variable (default: true).

With this implemented, I’m closing the discussion as resolved. However, if you have any other ideas or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to open a new discussion.