Chatly

Chatly is a simple Web Application where you can share your thoughts and interact with anyone in real time.

About

This repository contains a full-stack web application built from scratch using React.js and Node.js with TypeScript. The application incorporates several important concepts and technologies to deliver a robust and secure user experience.

Key Features

The project includes the following key features, all developed from scratch:

• JWT Authentication: Implements a secure authentication system using JSON Web Tokens (JWT) with session token refresh functionality: each JWT is signed by the Server with its own secret and stored on the user's localStorage, expiring every 7 days. A refreshToken HTTP Only cookie (expires every 30d and signed with a different secret) is also stored on the user's browser and is used to generate a new accessToken automatically every 7 days;
• Enhanced Password Encryption: Utilizes a robust hashing algorithm in conjunction with SALTS to ensure the secure storage of passwords in the database.
• Node.js: Utilizes various Node.js features such as routing, middlewares, Mongoose, Express, and TypeScript for server-side development;
• NoSQL: Integrates NoSQL databases, specifically MongoDB, to handle data storage and retrieval efficiently;
• DB Schemas Migrations: handling MongoDB schema migrations to keep all documents up to date;
• RESTful API: Implements a RESTful API architecture for seamless communication between the frontend and backend;
• React.js: Utilizes React.js with Vite and TypeScript for building the user interface, incorporating routing, context management, JWT authentication, and state management.

Tech Stack

The project leverages the following technologies:

• React.js;
• Node.js + Express.js;
• Typescript
• MongoDB;

Getting Started

To run the project locally, follow the steps below:

• Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/yannickBona/chatly.git

• Install the required dependencies:

  • For the client, navigate to the /client directory and run npm install;
  • For the server, navigate to the /server directory and run npm install;

• Configure the environment variables: Create a .env file in both /server & /client directories and set the necessary variables as displayed in the .env.sample file.

• Start the development server:

  • For the frontend, navigate to the /client directory and run npm run dev.
  • For the backend, navigate to the /server directory and run npm run dev.

• Access the application by opening http://localhost:<your_port> in your web browser.

Contact

For any inquiries or suggestions, please reach out to [email protected].

Feel free to provide feedback or suggestions!