💬 Backend Chat Application

This repository contains the backend for a real-time chat application built using Node.js, Express, MongoDB, and JWT-based authentication. It offers secure login, user management, real-time messaging support, and avatar uploads.

📁 Repository: Backend-ChatApplication

---

🚀 Tech Stack

• ⚙️ Node.js + Express – Server and routing
• 🛢 MongoDB + Mongoose – NoSQL database with schema validation
• 🔐 JWT + httpOnly Cookies – Secure authentication
• ☁️ Cloudinary – For image/avatar uploads
• 🧪 Middleware – For protecting routes and token verification

---

✨ Features

• 👤 User registration, login, and logout
• 🧾 JWT-based authentication via secure cookies
• 🖼️ Profile update with avatar image (Cloudinary)
• 🔐 Protected routes using custom middleware
• 💬 Real-time messaging logic (text/image)
• 📦 Scalable file structure

---

🗂️ Folder Structure

backend/ │ ├── src/ │ ├── controllers/ # Request handlers (auth, user, message) │ ├── middlewares/ # JWT authentication middleware │ ├── models/ # Mongoose schemas (User, Message) │ ├── routes/ # API endpoints grouped by feature │ ├── lib/ │ │ ├── db.js # MongoDB connection setup │ │ ├── cloudinary.js # Cloudinary configuration │ │ └── utils.js # Token generation & utilities │ └── index.js # Main Express app entry point │ ├── .env # Environment variables (Mongo URI, JWT, Cloudinary keys) ├── package.json # Dependencies and scripts └── README.md # Project documentation

---

🔧 Installation & Setup

To run the server locally:

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/Priyansu22382/Backend-ChatApplication.git
   cd Backend-ChatApplication
   

2. Install Dependencies npm install

3. Create a .env file

   PORT=5001 MONGODB_URI=<your_mongo_uri> JWT_SECRET=<your_jwt_secret> CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=<your_cloud_name> CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=<your_api_key> CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=<your_api_secret>

4. Start The Server

   npm run dev