RealTime chatrooms

A real-time chat room platform built with React, Node.js, Express, Socket.IO, and MongoDB. Users can create rooms, join with a unique code, chat instantly with others, and see live online activity.

Features

• Unique client-based user system
• Create and manage chat rooms
• Join rooms using generated room codes
• Real-time messaging with Socket.IO
• Live online user count
• Persistent message storage with MongoDB
• Message history loading after refresh
• Instant updates without page refresh
• Modern responsive UI

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Tech Stack

Frontend

• React
• TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS
• Zustand
• Socket.IO Client
• Vite

Backend

• Node.js
• Express.js
• TypeScript
• Socket.IO
• MongoDB
• Mongoose

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Preview

2026-07-15.19-26-15.mov

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How It Works

1. User receives a unique client ID stored locally.

2. Users can create a room or join an existing room using a code.

3. When entering a room:

   • Username is created if needed.
   • User joins the Socket.IO room.
   • Previous messages are loaded from MongoDB.

4. New messages are:

   • Saved in MongoDB.
   • Broadcast instantly to everyone in the room.

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Running Locally

Clone repository

git clone
cd project-name

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Backend Setup

cd backend
npm install

Create a .env file:

PORT=8000
MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
FRONTEND=http://localhost:5173
GEMINI_API_KEY=<paste your gemini api key for message moderation>

Start server:

npm run dev

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Frontend Setup

cd frontend
npm install

Create .env:

VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:8000

Start frontend:

npm run dev

Acknowledgments

I used AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude to help with the frontend development, including UI design ideas, component structure, and styling. The backend, real-time functionality, database setup, and overall project integration were built by me.

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Future Improvements

• User authentication
• File sharing
• Emoji reactions
• Notifications
• Typing indicators
• Message moderation
• Mobile app version

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Author

Arham Kabir

Backend Developer focused on building scalable APIs and real-time applications.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.