Fun Friday Group Chat

Real-time group chat application with anonymous mode, built with Node.js, Socket.io and MySQL.

Prerequisites

• Node.js v14+
• MySQL Server

Quick start

1. Install dependencies

npm install

2. Configure your database in .env (set DB_PASSWORD)

3. Create the database and tables

npm run setup-db

4. Start the server

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

Notes

• This project stores messages in MySQL. The setup-database.js script will create the chat_app database and required tables.
• The UI is a minimal iPhone-style chat implemented in public/index.html.

Troubleshooting

• If you see ECONNREFUSED when running setup-db, ensure MySQL is running and your .env credentials are correct.
• If port 3000 is in use, change PORT in .env.