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Text Chat App

A modern, real-time chat application built with Node.js, Express, and Socket.io. Users can create rooms, chat in real-time, and see typing indicators.

Features

  • ✨ Real-time messaging with WebSocket
  • 👥 Multiple chat rooms
  • 📝 Live typing indicators
  • 👤 User presence tracking
  • 📱 Responsive design
  • 🎨 Modern UI with gradient design
  • 🔒 XSS protection

Getting Started

Prerequisites

  • Node.js (v14 or higher)
  • npm or yarn

Installation

  1. Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/Obaego12-debug/Text-.git
cd Text-
  1. Install dependencies:
npm install
  1. Create a .env file:
cp .env.example .env
  1. Configure .env if needed (default settings work for local development)

Running the App

Development mode (with auto-reload):

npm run dev

Production mode:

npm start

The app will start on http://localhost:3000 by default.

Testing the Chat

  1. Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser
  2. Enter a username
  3. Enter a room ID (e.g., "general", "tech", "random")
  4. Click "Join Room"
  5. Open another browser tab/window and repeat steps 2-4 with the same room ID
  6. Start chatting!

Project Structure

src/
  ├── server.js          Main application with Socket.io setup
public/
  ├── index.html         Chat UI
  ├── styles.css         CSS styling
  ├── chat.js            Client-side Socket.io logic
.env.example             Environment variables template
.gitignore              Git ignore rules
.eslintrc.json          ESLint configuration
package.json            Project configuration
README.md               This file

API Endpoints

REST API

  • GET /api/health — Server health check
  • GET /api/rooms — List all active chat rooms
  • GET /api/users — List all connected users

Socket.io Events

Client → Server:

  • join_room — Join a chat room with username
  • send_message — Send a message to the room
  • typing — Notify that user is typing
  • leave_room — Leave current room

Server → Client:

  • user_joined — User joined the room
  • receive_message — New message received
  • user_typing — User is typing indicator
  • user_left — User left the room
  • user_disconnected — User disconnected

Development

Linting

npm run lint

Testing

npm test

Environment Variables

PORT=3000              # Server port
NODE_ENV=development   # Node environment

Technologies Used

  • Express.js — Web framework
  • Socket.io — Real-time WebSocket communication
  • dotenv — Environment configuration
  • nodemon — Development auto-reload
  • ESLint — Code linting
  • Jest — Testing framework

Future Enhancements

  • User authentication with JWT
  • Message persistence (MongoDB/PostgreSQL)
  • Private direct messages
  • User profiles and avatars
  • Message reactions and editing
  • File sharing
  • Message search
  • Voice/video chat

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues and enhancement requests!

License

MIT License

Support

For issues and questions, please create an issue on GitHub.