Real-Time Chat Application - MERN Stack

Demo

Welcome to the Real-Time Chat Application! This project is built using the MERN stack, incorporating real-time communication with Socket.io, and styled with TailwindCSS and Daisy UI.

Features

🌟 Tech Stack: MERN (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js) + Socket.io + TailwindCSS + Daisy UI
🔐 Authentication & Authorization: Secured with JWT for managing user sessions.
💬 Real-Time Messaging: Instant chat functionality powered by Socket.io.
🚦 Online User Status: Display online users using Socket.io and React Context.
🌐 Global State Management: Managed with Zustand for a consistent app state.
🛠️ Error Handling: Comprehensive error handling implemented both on the server and client sides.
🚀 Deployment: Guidance for deploying the application professionally and for free!
⏳ Additional Features: More features and improvements included for a robust chat experience.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Ensure you have the following installed on your system:

Node.js
MongoDB
npm or yarn

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/reetpriye/convo-space.git
cd convo-space

Install dependencies:

Needs to be done twice, in root folder and in frontend folder
```
npm install
cd frontend
npm install
```

Setup Environment Variables Create a .env file in the root directory and add the following variables:

PORT=... [specify port you want to use]
MONGO_DB_URI=... [create a cluster on mongoDB & use it's connection string]
JWT_SECRET=... [any password]
NODE_ENV=... [can be development or production]

Start the Backend To start the backend server, execute:
```
npm start
```
The application should now be running on the port specified in your .env file or if you don't specify it will run on port 5000.
Start the Frontend To start the frontend, execute:
```
cd frontend
npm run dev
```
The application should now be visible on https://localhost:3000

Usage

Register or log in to access the chat functionality.
Chat with other users in real time.
View the online status of users.
Log out to end the session securely.

Deployment

Follow the steps to deploy your application on a free hosting platform like Heroku or Vercel. Ensure your environment variables are configured correctly on the hosting platform.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please fork the repository and submit a pull request with your improvements.

Happy coding! 🎉

Convo Space.