🗨️ Full-Stack Chat Application

A cross-platform real-time chat app using React Native & Node.js

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✨ Features

• 🔐 User Authentication with JWT + bcryptjs
• ⚡ Real-Time Messaging using Socket.IO
• 💬 Private Chats (1-on-1 conversations)
• 💾 Persistent Data stored in PostgreSQL via Sequelize
• 📱 Cross-Platform Frontend (iOS + Android)
• 🎨 Tailwind CSS UI using NativeWind
• 🧭 Smooth Navigation with React Navigation

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🧱 Tech Stack

🔧 Backend

• Node.js, Express.js
• PostgreSQL + Sequelize
• Socket.IO
• JWT + bcryptjs

📱 Frontend

• React Native (Expo)
• NativeWind (Tailwind CSS for RN)
• React Navigation
• Axios + Socket.IO Client
• React Native Paper

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🗂️ Project Structure

fullstack_chatapp/
│
├── backend/         # Node.js + Express API
│   ├── models/      # Sequelize models
│   ├── routes/      # API endpoints
│   ├── socket/      # WebSocket logic
│   └── .env
│
└── frontend/        # React Native app (Expo)
    ├── screens/     # Auth + Chat UI
    ├── components/  # UI elements
    └── app.json     # API link config

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🚀 Getting Started

🔌 Backend Setup

cd backend
npm install

Create a .env file in the backend directory:

DB_NAME=your_db_name
DB_USER=your_db_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_db_password
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=5432
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret
IP_ADDRESS_LINK="http://<YOUR_LOCAL_IP>:3000"

Start the server:

npm run dev

The backend will run at http://localhost:5000.

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📱 Frontend Setup

cd ../frontend
npm install

Edit app.json to point to your backend:

{
  "expo": {
    "extra": {
      "API_LINK": "http://<YOUR_LOCAL_IP>:5000"
    }
  }
}

Start Expo:

npx expo start

Scan the QR code with the Expo Go app on your device to run the application.

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📡 API Endpoints

🔐 Authentication

• POST /api/auth/register
• POST /api/auth/login
• GET /api/session

💬 Conversations

• GET /api/conversation/:userId
• GET /api/conversation/chat/:conversationId

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🔌 Socket Events

Event	Description
connection	User connects to the socket server
chat message	Client sends a message (content, conversationId, receiverId); server broadcasts to recipient
disconnect	User disconnects from the socket

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🔮 Future Plans

• 📞 Voice & Video Calling (WebRTC)
• 📁 File Sharing (images, PDFs, documents)
• 📸 Screenshot Sharing

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🖼️ Screenshots

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.