Real-Time Chat Application

A real-time chat application built using Node.js, Express, MongoDB, and WebSockets (Socket.io). This project allows users to register, log in, and chat in different rooms with real-time message updates.

Features

• User authentication (JWT-based).
• Real-time messaging using WebSockets.
• MongoDB for data storage (User and Message data).
• Docker support for easy deployment.

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React (for user interface, but not included here)
• Backend: Node.js, Express, Socket.io
• Database: MongoDB
• Authentication: JWT (JSON Web Token)
• WebSocket: Socket.io for real-time communication

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Setup Instructions

Follow these instructions to set up and run the application locally.

1. Clone the Repository

Clone this repository to your local machine using:

git clone https://github.com/Nuraj250/Real-Time-Chat-Application.git

2. Install Dependencies

Navigate to the server directory and install the required dependencies:

cd Real-Time-Chat-Application
npm install

3. Configuration

Create a .env file in the root of the project with the following environment variables:

MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/chatdb
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret
EMAIL_USER=your_email@gmail.com
EMAIL_PASS=your_email_password

• MONGO_URI: The connection string for MongoDB. By default, it is set to mongodb://localhost:27017/chatdb, but you can change it based on your setup.
• JWT_SECRET: Secret key used for JWT-based authentication.
• EMAIL_USER and EMAIL_PASS: Credentials for sending emails (if applicable).

4. Run the Application Locally

After setting up the environment variables, you can run the server with:

npm start

This will start the server on http://localhost:5000.

5. Access the API

You can now interact with the following endpoints:

• POST /api/auth/register: Register a new user.
• POST /api/auth/login: Log in and receive a JWT token.
• POST /api/messages/send: Send a new message.
• GET /api/messages/:chatRoomId: Get messages from a specific chat room.
• GET /api/users/:userId: Get user profile information.

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Docker Configuration

Docker is used to containerize the application and MongoDB, making it easy to run the app and database in isolated environments.

1. Dockerfile

The Dockerfile in the project builds the Node.js application image, installs dependencies, and starts the server.

2. docker-compose.yml

The docker-compose.yml file defines services for both the Node.js application and MongoDB. It automatically links them, allowing the app to connect to MongoDB.

Docker Compose Configuration

version: '3.8'

services:
  app:
    build: .
    container_name: real-time-chat-app
    ports:
      - "5000:5000"
    environment:
      - MONGO_URI=mongodb://mongo:27017/chatdb
      - JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret
      - EMAIL_USER=your_email@gmail.com
      - EMAIL_PASS=your_email_password
    depends_on:
      - mongo

  mongo:
    image: mongo:latest
    container_name: mongo-db
    volumes:
      - mongo-data:/data/db
    ports:
      - "27017:27017"

volumes:
  mongo-data:

• The app service is built from the Dockerfile, and it connects to MongoDB (via the mongo container).
• The mongo service uses the official MongoDB image, and its data is persisted in a volume named mongo-data.

3. Build and Run with Docker

Build Docker Images

To build the application image and MongoDB container, run the following command:

docker-compose build

Start the Application and Database Containers

After building the images, you can start the containers using:

docker-compose up

This will start the server and MongoDB container. The application will be accessible at http://localhost:5000.

Stop the Containers

To stop the containers, run:

docker-compose down

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API Endpoints

Authentication

• POST /api/auth/register:
  Register a new user by sending a JSON body with username and password.

• POST /api/auth/login:
  Log in with username and password and receive a JWT token.

Messaging

• POST /api/messages/send:
  Send a message to a chat room. Requires authentication via a Bearer token.

• GET /api/messages/:chatRoomId:
  Get all messages for a specific chat room.

User

• GET /api/users/:userId:
  Get the profile information of a user by their ID.

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Contributing

If you'd like to contribute to the project, follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch (git checkout -b feature-branch).
3. Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add feature').
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature-branch).
5. Open a pull request.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.