ChatApp

Simple MERN chat app — minimal, private, and fast.

Author: Om Singhal

Repo layout

• backend/ — Express + Socket.IO API (entry: backend/server.js)
• frontend/ — React + Chakra UI client (entry: frontend/src/index.js)
• frontend/src/components — UI components (examples: Signup, ProfileModal)

Features

• Real-time messaging with Socket.IO
• Group and 1:1 chats
• User authentication with JWT
• File upload (profile pictures)
• Responsive UI built with Chakra UI

Tech stack

• Node.js, Express, Socket.IO
• MongoDB (Mongoose)
• React, Chakra UI

Environment variables

Create a .env in backend/ with at least:

• PORT=5000
• MONGO_URI=your_mongo_connection_string
• JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret

Build for production

From project root: npm run build This script builds the frontend and prepares the repo for deployment.

Useful files

• Backend server/socket setup: backend/server.js
• Frontend theme and provider: frontend/src/index.js
• Authentication pages: frontend/src/components/Authentication/Login.js, frontend/src/components/Authentication/Signup.js
• Chat rendering: frontend/src/components/ScrollableChat.js