api-gibtalk

REST API backend for the GibTalk AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) App. Serves searchable symbol/icon assets used in AAC communication tools.

Live at: https://api.gibtalk.com/

Tech Stack

• Rust with Axum web framework and Tokio async runtime
• Docker multi-stage build, published to Docker Hub as ragibkl/api-gibtalk
• GitHub Actions CI/CD, triggered on version bumps to master

API

Search Symbols

GET /api/symbols/search/?q={query}

Searches symbol filenames across all libraries. Returns up to 100 results sorted by similarity.

Example:

curl "https://api.gibtalk.com/api/symbols/search/?q=apple"

[
  { "url": "https://api.gibtalk.com/media/arasaac-symbols/apple.png" },
  { "url": "https://api.gibtalk.com/media/mulberry-symbols/apple.png" }
]

Serve Symbol Images

GET /media/{library}/{filename}.png

Static file serving for symbol images.

Templates

GET /api/templates
GET /api/templates/{id}

Ready-made word sets the app offers. The list gives each template's id, name, description, author, main language, word count and URL; one template adds its words (label, language, picture URL, children for folders).

curl "https://api.gibtalk.com/api/templates"

[
  {
    "id": "greetings-ms",
    "name": "Ucapan",
    "description": "Basic Greetings in Bahasa Malaysia",
    "author": "GK",
    "language": "ms",
    "words": 21,
    "url": "https://api.gibtalk.com/api/templates/greetings-ms"
  }
]

The templates live in templates/ as YAML, the same format as GibTalk's backup files, listed in templates/index.yaml. Picture paths are relative to media/ (e.g. arasaac-symbols/apple.png), and the API turns them into full URLs with BASE_URL, so moving hosts never means editing templates. The API won't start if a template names a picture that isn't in media/.

Symbol Libraries

Library	Files
ARASAAC	~11,700
Mulberry	~3,400
Tawasol	~1,600
Custom	46

Configuration

Variable	Default	Description
BASE_URL	http://localhost:3000/	Base URL prefix for symbol URLs in search results

The server listens on port 3000.

Development

# Run locally
cargo run

# Build release
cargo build --release

Docker

# Build
./scripts/build.sh

# Push to Docker Hub
./scripts/push.sh

The version tag is read from the version file.

Licence

The code in this repository is under the MIT licence.

The symbol images in media/ are not: each library keeps its own licence. ARASAAC symbols are by Sergio Palao, property of the Government of Aragón, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; Mulberry symbols are under CC BY-SA 2.0 UK; Tawasol symbols are under CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures in media/custom/ were made for GibTalk and are free to use. The songs/ set was generated with OpenAI's image model (gpt-image-2, October 2026) from a style sheet; scripts/songs-images/ has the prompts and script. The pk/ set (pictures for the Permata Kurnia and self-advocacy boards that the libraries lack) was made the same way, in the style of the library pictograms; see scripts/pk-images/. See gibtalk.com/symbols for full credits.