Real-Time Chat Application

Description

This is a real-time chat application developed using the MERN stack. It enables users to register, log in, send and receive real-time messages, and manage their online status. Additionally, it integrates with a language model API for generating responses when the recipient is 'BUSY'.

Features

• User Authentication (Registration and Login)
• Real-Time Chat Functionality
• Message Storage in MongoDB
• User Online Status Management
• Integration with a Language Model API for Generating Responses

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/haasithp/chat_application_mern.git
   

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd real-time-chat-app
   

3. Install dependencies:

   npm install
   

Configuration

1. Create a .env file in the root directory with the following environment variables:

   PORT=9090
   MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/chatapp
   JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret
   LLM_API_URL=your_llm_api_url
   

   Replace your_jwt_secret with a secret key for JWT token encryption and your_llm_api_url with the URL of the language model API.

Usage

1. Start the backend server:

   npm start
   

2. Open another terminal window and navigate to the frontend directory:

   cd frontend
   

3. Install frontend dependencies:

   npm install
   

4. Start the frontend server:

   npm start
   

5. Access the application in your browser at http://localhost:PORT.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.