Nova Chatbot App

A modern chatbot mobile app built with React Native, Firebase, and Cohere AI.

This project was developed as part of a technical task to build a chatbot system that collects user information and allows dynamic interaction with a bot, with clean UI/UX, proper code quality, and feature-rich design.

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✨ Features

• User onboarding with Email and Phone Number
• Input validation for email and phone fields
• Chat interface built using @flyerhq/react-native-chat-ui
• Bot replies powered by Cohere AI (trial API integration)
• Fully responsive and polished UI for Android and iOS
• Persistent chat history using Firebase Firestore
• Persistent user session using AsyncStorage
• Create, View, Delete chats with smooth UX
• Quick Inquiry Buttons to start conversations faster
• Theme switching (light/dark mode)
• Modern animations with Moti library

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🔹 Tech Stack

• Frontend: React Native, Expo
• Backend: Firebase Firestore (DB), Firebase Functions
• Chat UI: @flyerhq/react-native-chat-ui
• Bot AI: Cohere Command-Light Model (API)
• Storage: AsyncStorage for persistence

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📂 Project Structure

app/
 |_ components/     # Reusable UI components (Header, ChatList, Typing Indicator)
 |_ screens/        # ChatScreen (main chat experience)
 |_ hooks/          # useChat, theme context
 |_ functions/      # Firebase functions (for server side if needed)
 |_ assets/         # Images, icons, assets

functions/           # Cloud Functions (optional)
package.json         # Dependencies
firebase.json        # Firebase config

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⚙️ Setup Instructions

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/nova-chatbot.git
cd nova-chatbot

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Setup Firebase:

• Create a Firebase project
• Enable Firestore Database
• Update the firebaseConfig inside /functions/firebase.ts

4. Setup Cohere API Key:

• Create a free Cohere account
• Get your API key
• Add it to your Expo config (app.config.js) under extra

extra: {
  cohereApiKey: "YOUR-COHERE-API-KEY",
}

5. Run the app:

npm start

Use Expo Go to scan and open the app!

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💪 Key Functionalities

• Login/Register:

  • If the user email and phone exists → Login
  • If new → Create new Firebase document

• Chat Handling:

  • Create a new chat on first message
  • Fetch chat messages from Firestore
  • Delete chat via a delete icon beside each chat

• Bot Response:

  • Sent through Cohere AI model based on user query
  • Optimistic updates for a smoother UX

• Local Persistence:

  • User session saved in AsyncStorage
  • Chat history fetched automatically

• Animations:

  • Entry animations on message bubbles
  • Typing indicator when bot is replying

• Theme Switching:

  • Toggle between Light and Dark mode from the header dropdown

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💪 Credits

• React Native
• Firebase
• Cohere AI
• Flyer Chat UI
• Moti Animations

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📊 Status

✅ Fully functional, cleanly coded, production-ready demo app.

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🔗 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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If you find this useful, don't forget to ✨ star the repo and support the project!