Synchronous Chat - Realtime Chat Application

A real-time chat application built with the MERN Stack, Socket.IO, Tailwind CSS & ShadcnUI. It enables the user for chat, share files with other user in realtime.

Key Features

• Authentication & Authorization - Secure login and token-based authentication with JWT.

• Real-time Messaging – Instant chat updates powered by Socket.IO.

• Typing Indicators – See when a user is typing in real time.

• Contacts Search – Quickly find contacts with an intuitive search.

• Status Updates – View online/offline status of contacts.

• State Manage – Managed globally with React Context & Zustand.

• Data Caching - Implements client side caching using React Query.

• Schema Validation – Ensures data integrity with Zod on both client and server.

• Error Handling – Robust error handling on both frontend and backend.

Quick Start

Ensure you have Git, Node.js and npm installed on your machine.

Setup Instructions

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/shekharsikku/synchronous-chat

cd synchronous-chat

Install Dependencies

Install packages for both the server and client:

npm install && cd client && npm install

Environment Variables Setup

cp .env.example .env

Copy, .env.example file to file name .env in the root directory and add the required values:

CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=""
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=""
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=""

ACCESS_SECRET=""
ACCESS_EXPIRY=""

REFRESH_SECRET=""
REFRESH_EXPIRY=""

COOKIES_SECRET=""
SOCKET_PUBLIC=""
PAYLOAD_LIMIT=""
PORT=""

CORS_ORIGIN=""
MONGODB_URI=""
NODE_ENV=""

Run in Development Mode

Start the server:

npm run dev

Start the client:

cd client && npm run dev

Then, open below link in your browser.

http://localhost:5173

Building for Production

Build React App

cd client && npm run build

Start the Application

Ensure you're in the root directory:

npm run build && npm run start

Your app will be available at the port specified in .env.

http://localhost:<PORT>

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Security Policy

Express Supported Versions

Use this section to tell people about which versions of your project are currently being supported with security updates.

Version	Supported
5.1.x	✅
5.0.x	❌
4.0.x	✅
< 4.0	❌

npm install express@latest

This project is built with - Mongoose v9.

Using older versions may cause unexpected issues.

npm install mongoose@latest

Security Best Practices

• Use environment variables for sensitive data.
• Regularly update dependencies.
• Follow secure authentication practices.

Reporting a Vulnerability

Use this section to tell people how to report a vulnerability.

Tell them where to go, how often they can expect to get an update on a reported vulnerability, what to expect if the vulnerability is accepted or declined, etc.

Found a security issue? Please open an issue!

We appreciate responsible disclosure and will respond promptly.

Developer License

MIT License | Developed by Shekhar Sharma