Retro Chat is a terminal-style, real-time chat application built with Node.js, WebSockets, and pure frontend code. It features a nostalgic green-on-black interface, reminiscent of classic hacker terminals.

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🚀 Live Demo

Try it now:
👉 https://chat-mar1.onrender.com

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🛠️ Built With

• Frontend:

  • HTML5
  • CSS3 (with retro terminal theme)
  • Vanilla JavaScript

• Backend:

  • Node.js
  • WebSocket (using ws library)

• Hosting:

  • Render.com

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✨ Features

• Real-time messaging with WebSockets
• Retro terminal-style interface
• Dynamic username input modal
• Random color coding per user (based on hashed username)
• System messages for user join/leave events
• Fully responsive layout – works on both desktop and mobile
• Clean code with zero dependencies on frontend frameworks

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📦 Getting Started

Prerequisites

Make sure you have Node.js installed:

node -v
npm -v

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/rajkrish63/chat.git
cd chat

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Start the server

npm start

4. Open in browser

http://localhost:8080

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📁 Project Structure

chat/
├── server.js           # Node.js server with WebSocket logic
├── package.json        # Dependencies and scripts
├── .gitignore          # Ignored files/folders
└── README.md           # This file

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⚙️ Scripts

"scripts": {
  "start": "node server.js"
}

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🧾 .gitignore

node_modules/
.env
.DS_Store

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🤖 Upcoming Enhancements

• Chat history saving with localStorage or DB
• Private messaging (DM)
• User list with online status
• Emojis and themes toggle

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✍️ Author

Built with dedication by Raj Krish GitHub: @rajkrish63

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⚖️ License

This project is licensed under the MIT License – do anything you want, but give credit.

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