ChatTea: Real-Time Chat Application

ChatTea is a real-time chat application built using Node.js, Express.js, Socket.IO, and MongoDB. It allows users to join different chat rooms, send messages, and see who's online. This project is designed to demonstrate real-time communication with a focus on clarity and maintainability.

Features

• Real-Time Chat: Instant message delivery using WebSockets.
• Multiple Chat Rooms: Users can join and switch between rooms.
• Usernames: Users can set a username to be displayed with messages.
• Announcements: System messages for users joining/leaving rooms.
• Persistent Messages: Stores all messages using MongoDB database.
• Admin Functionality
  • Users can be promoted to admins, and admins can remove other users
• User Functionality
  • Shows a list of all admins and users
  • Displays a username in header
  • User can delete their own messages

Technologies Used

• Node.js: JavaScript runtime environment for server-side development.
• Express.js: A minimal and flexible Node.js web application framework.
• Socket.IO: Real-time, bidirectional, event-based communication library.
• MongoDB: NoSQL document database for storing messages, rooms, and users.
• JavaScript: For client-side logic and interactivity.

Setup Instructions

To run ChatTea locally, follow these steps:

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/OmarKHDR/ChatTea.git
   cd ChatTea

2. Install Dependencies: Navigate to both the client and server folders and install dependencies using npm.

     cd backend
     npm install

3. Set Up MongoDB:

   • Make sure you have MongoDB installed and running.

   • if not the local default uri for mongodb Create a .env file inside the backend folder and add the following, filling with your database URI:

     MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
     

4. Start the Server: Navigate to the backend folder and start the server:

      npm run dev

   This will start the server on port 5000 (default),

5. Start the Client: Navigate to the backend folder and start the client:

      npm run dev

6. Open in Browser: Open your web browser and go to http://localhost:5000 to view the application.

API Endpoints

User

• /api/user/username - returns a username if one is present in session

Room

• /api/room/list-rooms - returns a list of all rooms
• /api/room/list-members - returns a list of all members in a room
• /api/room/list-admins - returns a list of all admins in a room
• /api/room/room-session?roomName={roomName} - set the session's room name
• /api/room/add-member - adds current user to the room's list of members
• /api/room/remove-member?roomName={roomName} - removes the current user from the room's list of members

Message

• /api/message/all-messages - returns all messages from the current room in the session
• /api/message/add-message - adds a message to the database
• /api/message/delete-messages/ - removes all messages from the current room in the session

Socket.IO Events

• username: Used to set the username of the current socket
• joinRoom: Sent when a user joins a room (or switches rooms).
• message: Used to send message data between users.
• announcement: Sent when a user joins or leaves a room.
• rejoin: Sent to inform client that username was not present when a client requested to join a room
• message-failed: Informs client that the message they sent failed to send to server

Contributing

Contributions are always welcome! If you have suggestions, bug reports, or want to contribute code, please:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch for your feature or fix.
3. Commit your changes.
4. Push your branch to your forked repository.
5. Submit a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Author

OmarKHDR