Realtime Chat App

A simple and scalable real-time chat application built using React and Firebase. This app supports real-time messaging between users, with user authentication and message storage via Firebase Firestore.

⚡ View Demo https://cloudhangouts.web.app/

Features

• Real-time messaging between users.
• Firebase authentication (Google, Email, etc.).
• Firebase Firestore for message storage.
• Responsive design for mobile and desktop.
• User-friendly interface with a clean layout.

Screenshots

Technologies Used

• React - Frontend UI
• Firebase Authentication - User authentication
• Firebase Firestore - Real-time database
• Firebase Hosting - Deployment

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following installed:

• Node.js
• Firebase CLI
• A Firebase project setup with Authentication and Firestore and Storage

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/amineichou/realtime-chat-app.git

2. Install dependencies:

   cd realtime-chat-app
   npm install

3. Create a .env file at the root of the project and add your Firebase configuration:

   REACT_APP_FIREBASE_API_KEY=your_api_key
   REACT_APP_FIREBASE_AUTH_DOMAIN=your_auth_domain
   REACT_APP_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID=your_project_id
   REACT_APP_FIREBASE_STORAGE_BUCKET=your_storage_bucket
   REACT_APP_FIREBASE_MESSAGING_SENDER_ID=your_messaging_sender_id
   REACT_APP_FIREBASE_APP_ID=your_app_id

4. Start the development server:

   npm start

Firebase Setup

1. Go to the Firebase Console.
2. Create a new Firebase project.
3. Enable Firebase Authentication with the providers you need (Google, Email/Password, etc.).
4. Set up Firestore Database with appropriate rules for read/write access.
5. Get your Firebase configuration from the project settings and add it to your .env file.

Deployment

To deploy your app using Firebase Hosting:

1. Install the Firebase CLI:

   npm install -g firebase-tools

2. Log in to Firebase:

   firebase login

3. Initialize Firebase in your project:

   firebase init

4. Deploy to Firebase Hosting:

   firebase deploy

Contributing

If you'd like to contribute, feel free to fork the repository and submit a pull request. Any contributions are welcome!

License

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