💬 ChatFlow 🚀 App

A real-time, one-to-one chat application built with the MERN stack, Socket.io for bidirectional messaging, and Tailwind CSS for styling.

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📖 Table of Contents

• Demo
• Features
• Tech Stack
• Getting Started
  • Prerequisites
  • Installation
  • Environment Variables
  • Running the App
• Folder Structure
• Usage
• Contributing
• License

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🚀 Demo

Live Preview > https://youtu.be/eJ02u7vVLCI?si=oJ-oJu56It1HDVpr

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✨ Features

• ✅ JWT-backed authentication (signup, login, logout)
• 💬 Real-time messaging with Socket.io
• 👥 Online/offline user presence indicator
• 📥 Unread-message badges to highlight activity
• 🔒 Protected API routes via middleware
• 🎨 Responsive UI crafted with Tailwind CSS

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🛠 Tech Stack

• Frontend: React, Tailwind CSS, Vite
• Backend: Node.js, Express.js
• Database: MongoDB, Mongoose
• Real-Time: Socket.io
• Auth: JSON Web Tokens (stored in HttpOnly cookies)
• State Management: Zustand

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🏁 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js ≥ 16.x
• npm or Yarn
• MongoDB (local or Atlas)

💡 Usage Signup with a name, username, email & password.

Login to join the chat.

Select an existing conversation or start a new DM.

See online status & unread badges.

Chat in real time—messages appear instantly!

🤝 Contributing Fork this repository

Big THANKS to @Awtforex (YouTube)