MERN Stack Real-time Chat App

This project is a real-time chat application built using the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, Node.js) and Socket.io. The application allows users to communicate in real-time, with features such as user authentication, message formatting, and responsive design.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Technologies Used
• Installation
• Usage
• Contributing
• License

Features

• User authentication with JWT
• Real-time messaging using Socket.io
• Responsive UI built with Tailwind CSS
• Image upload for user avatars
• Dynamic sidebar for user management
• Automatic scrolling to the latest messages

Technologies Used

• Frontend:

  • React.js
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Socket.io

• Backend:

  • Node.js
  • Express.js
  • MongoDB
  • Socket.io

Installation

To get started with the project, follow these steps:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/ankan24/Realtime_Chat_App.git
   cd Realtime_Chat_App
   

2. Installation

For the Backend:

cd backend
npm install

For the Frontend:

cd frontend
npm install

3. Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the server directory and add the following: MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_uri JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret

Usage

Start the Backend Server:

cd backend
npm run dev

Start the Frontend Application:

cd frontend
npm run dev

Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:5173 to access the chat application.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a pull request or open an issue for any bugs or feature requests.

License

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