RTC-Made-Simple

A WebRTC video calling and real-time chat toolkit for React Native and NestJS. The packages provide signaling, UI hooks/components, and callback hooks so host apps can add auth, persistence, and business logic.

Features

• WebRTC video calling with Socket.IO signaling
• Real-time chat with typing indicators, read receipts, delete, and history hooks
• Room-based communication
• Call overlay and video call screen for React Native
• TypeScript support
• Extensible NestJS modules via forRoot({ callbacks })

Packages

@nightfuryequinn/rtc-made-simple-server

NestJS server module for video calling and chat signaling.

npm install @nightfuryequinn/rtc-made-simple-server

Peer dependencies: @nestjs/common, @nestjs/core, @nestjs/websockets, @nestjs/platform-socket.io, socket.io, class-validator, class-transformer.

import { VideoCallModule, ChatModule } from '@nightfuryequinn/rtc-made-simple-server';

@Module({
  imports: [
    VideoCallModule.forRoot({
      callbacks: {
        canConnect: async (callerName) => Boolean(callerName),
        onCallCreated: async (caller, receiver, conversationId) => {},
        onCallEnded: async (caller, receiver, status) => {}
      }
    }),
    ChatModule.forRoot({
      callbacks: {
        onMessageSent: async (sender, receiver, message, room, metadata) => {
          // Return { messageId } to control IDs used by clients
        },
        onGetMessages: async (roomName, limit) => []
      }
    })
  ]
})
export class AppModule {}

Full server docs

@nightfuryequinn/rtc-made-simple-ui

React Native components and hooks for video calling and chat.

npm install @nightfuryequinn/rtc-made-simple-ui
npm install socket.io-client react-native-webrtc react-native-incall-manager zustand

import { useVideoSocket, ChatWindow, CallOverlay } from '@nightfuryequinn/rtc-made-simple-ui';

const { initiateCall, acceptCall, declineCall } = useVideoSocket({
  currentUser: 'user123',
  baseUrl: 'http://your-server.com'
});

<ChatWindow
  userName="user123"
  roomName="general"
  baseUrl="http://your-server.com"
/>

Full UI docs

Example Application

The RTC-Made-Simple-Example folder contains:

• Backend (NestJS): ValidationPipe, in-memory chat history, Swagger
• Mobile (Expo): Video call + chat demo

Local development setup

Build the libraries first (examples depend on the local package directories):

cd RTC-Made-Simple-Server && npm install && npm run build
cd ../RTC-Made-Simple-UI && npm install && npm run build

Start the backend:

cd RTC-Made-Simple-Example/example-backend
npm install
npm run dev

Start the mobile app:

cd RTC-Made-Simple-Example/example-mobile
npm install
npm start

Emulator vs physical device

Environment	Default server URL
iOS simulator	http://localhost:3000
Android emulator	http://10.0.2.2:3000
Physical device	Set EXPO_PUBLIC_RTC_SERVER_URL=http://YOUR_LAN_IP:3000

Use two devices/emulators with different device names. Enter the other device's displayed name as the call target.

Event flows

Chat

1. Client connects to /chat with userName + roomName
2. sendMessage includes optional clientMessageId
3. Server persists via callback, emits newMessage to room peers and messageAck to sender
4. Clients reconcile optimistic IDs; getMessages / messageHistory load history
5. messageRead, deleteMessage, and typing fan out to the room

Video call

1. Clients connect to /call and stay in a home room named after themselves
2. Caller joins the receiver room, emits incomingCall
3. Receiver accepts then both open VideoCallScreen, join the receiver room, emit peerReady
4. Caller sends WebRTC offer (newCall), receiver answers (callAnswered), ICE via ICEcandidate
5. Hang up / decline / cancel / disconnect returns peers home and invokes onCallEnded

Security notes

This toolkit is signaling-only. It does not ship authentication, authorization, or durable storage.

1. Implement canConnect (and preferably token-based handshake auth) before production
2. Add rate limiting and content moderation for chat
3. Use TURN servers for reliable NAT traversal
4. Serve over HTTPS/WSS in production
5. Treat callerName / userName query params as untrusted unless verified

Architecture

Client (rtc-made-simple-ui)
  useVideoSocket / VideoCallScreen / ChatWindow
        | Socket.IO
Server (rtc-made-simple-server)
  VideoCallGateway (/call)   ChatGateway (/chat)
  VideoCallService           ChatService
        | callbacks                  | callbacks
  Host app persistence / auth / notifications

License

MIT