Hive - A Simple Open Source Chat Application

Hive is a simple, open-source chat application built for real-time communication and community building. This project was developed as part of the CSE470 - Software Engineering course at BRAC University.

Features:

• User Accounts: Users can sign up and log in to access the chat platform.
• Real-time Chat: Send and receive messages with other users instantly using Socket.io.
• Group Chats: Create and participate in group chats for discussions with multiple users.
• Notifications: Receive notifications for new messages and activity.
• Intuitive Interface: The user interface is built with Chakra UI, providing a clean and modern experience.

Technologies Used:

• Frontend: React
• Backend: Node.js, Express (MERN Stack)
• Database: MongoDB, Mongoose
• Real-time Messaging: Socket.io
• UI Framework: Chakra UI

Contributing:

We welcome contributions to this project! Feel free to fork the repository, make changes, and submit a pull request.

I'd be glad to provide a comprehensive response incorporating the best aspects of the previous responses, addressing potential issues, and following the guidelines:

Getting Started with Hive

This guide outlines the steps to set up and run the Hive chat application locally on your development machine.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js (version 14 or later): https://nodejs.org/en
• npm (Node Package Manager): Comes bundled with Node.js installation

Installation:

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/mahrjose/hive.git
   cd hive

2. Install Dependencies:

   • Install dependencies for backend:

     npm install

   • Install dependencies for frontend:

     cd frontend
     npm install

   • If encountering peer dependency conflicts, use npm install --legacy-peer-deps as a temporary workaround. However, it's generally better to address compatibility issues by updating dependencies to work together. Refer to the official npm documentation for more details on peer dependencies: https://nodejs.org/en/blog/npm/peer-dependencies

Building the Frontend:

1. Build the Frontend Application:

   cd frontend
   npm run build

   This command creates an optimized production build of the frontend code.

Starting the Application:

1. Return to the Project Root Directory:

   cd ..  # Navigate back to the root directory of the project

2. Start the Backend Server:

   npm start

   This command starts the Node.js server that powers the backend functionality of the Hive application.

Running the Application:

Once the backend server is running (usually on port 5000 by default), you can access the Hive chat application in your web browser by visiting:

http://localhost:5000

Notes:

• Change the origin URL in server.js and ENDPOINT url in SingleChat.js to http://localhost:3000 if you're running the application locally. This step is crucial for enabling CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) and allowing the frontend to communicate with the backend server.

• A backend/.env file is needed with the MONGO_URI, PORT, JWT_SECRET, NODE_VERSION and NODE_ENV (optional) variables. The MONGO_URI should be a connection string to your MongoDB database, the PORT should be the port number for the backend server, and the JWT_SECRET should be a secret key for JSON Web Token (JWT) authentication. Here's an example of the .env file:

   MONGO_URI=mongodb+srv://<DB_username>:<DB_password>@<applicationName>.wt9mah7.mongodb.net/?retryWrites=true&w=majority&appName=<applicationName>
   PORT=5000
   JWT_SECRET=secret
   NODE_VERSION = 21.7.3
   NODE_ENV = production / development  ## OPTIONAL

• To read the .env file in the backend/ directory, change the script in the package.json file to:

   "start":"node --env-file=backend/.env backend/server.js",
   "dev": "nodemon --env-file=backend/.env backend/server.js",

• For testing and developing the app locally, you can use the dev script by running:

   npm run dev

Then in the frontend, you'll need to run the following command:

   cd frontend
   npm start

Then open the http://localhost:3000/ in a browser to see / use the app frontend.

License:

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

Developed by:

• Mirza Mahrab Hossain (BRAC University)