Chat App

This is a full-stack real-time chat application built with the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js) and Socket.io.

Features

• User authentication (login/signup)
• Real-time messaging with Socket.io
• Online user status
• User profiles and profile updates
• Image uploads with Cloudinary

Technologies Used

Frontend:

• React
• Socket.io-client
• Axios
• React Router
• Tailwind CSS

Backend:

• Node.js
• Express
• MongoDB
• Socket.io
• JWT for authentication
• Cloudinary for image storage

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or later)
• npm
• MongoDB Atlas account or local MongoDB installation

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/chat-app.git
   cd chat-app

2. Install server dependencies:

   cd server
   npm install

3. Install client dependencies:

   cd ../client
   npm install

Configuration

Server

Create a .env file in the server directory and add the following environment variables:

PORT=5000
MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret

# Cloudinary credentials
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloudinary_cloud_name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_cloudinary_api_key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_cloudinary_api_secret

Client

Create a .env file in the client directory and add the following environment variable:

VITE_BACKEND_URL=http://localhost:5000

Running the Application

1. Start the server:

   cd server
   npm start

2. Start the client:

   cd ../client
   npm run dev

The application will be available at http://localhost:3000.