Project Overview

We are building a desktop application called "Serial Chat" using C++ and Qt. The vision is to revolutionize serial port debugging by presenting it as a familiar chat application interface. Instead of traditional terminal views, data streams between serial ports will be visualized as chat bubbles in a conversation.

MVP Goal for the Generated Boilerplate

Generate a clean, well-architectured Qt Widgets application skeleton that serves as the foundation for this vision. The priority is a scalable structure, not complete functionality.

Core Architecture & Key Components

Please structure the project using a Model-View pattern. Create the following core classes with clear separation of concerns:

1. Data Models (Model Layer):

   • SerialPort: Represents a physical/virtual serial port. Uses QSerialPort. Should have properties like portName, baudRate, and signals like dataReceived(QByteArray).
   • Message: Represents a single unit of communication. Has properties like content (QByteArray), timestamp (QDateTime), direction (Incoming/Outgoing/System), sourcePort (Pointer to SerialPort).
   • Session (or ChatSession): Manages a collection of SerialPort objects and a log of Message objects. It's the central "conversation".

2. UI Components (View Layer):

   • MainWindow: The main window with a layout inspired by WeChat/Telegram.
     • Left Sidebar: A QListView for a session list. (Data model: QStringListModel or a custom model for future).
     • Central Area: A QScrollArea (with a vertical QVBoxLayout) to hold chat bubbles. This is where MessageBubbleWidget objects will be added dynamically.
     • Right Dock (Optional for MVP): A QDockWidget that can later show connected serial ports and their status.
   • MessageBubbleWidget: A custom QWidget that paints a chat bubble. It should accept a Message object and display its content (as text or hex) styled differently based on direction (e.g., left-aligned/gray for incoming, right-aligned/blue for outgoing).

Requested Deliverables

• Generate the .pro file with necessary Qt modules (core, gui, widgets, serialport).
• Create the header and source files for the classes mentioned above (SerialPort, Message, Session, MainWindow, MessageBubbleWidget). Focus on clean class declarations with essential signals and slots. The implementation can be minimal (e.g., empty stubs is acceptable for some methods).
• The MainWindow constructor should set up the basic UI layout (sidebar, central area, maybe a bottom send bar with a QLineEdit and QPushButton).
• A basic main.cpp that creates and shows the MainWindow.

Important Notes on Code Quality

• Use modern C++ (C++17) and Qt conventions.
• Use Q_SIGNALS and Q_SLOTS macros.
• Prefer forward declarations in headers to reduce compile time dependencies.
• This boilerplate is the foundation for future development, so clarity and correct architecture are more important than fully functional code at this stage.