🛠️ PandaChats – Backend Server 🐼💬

This is the backend server for PandaChats, a full-stack real-time chat application. It provides RESTful APIs, real-time WebSocket communication, and data persistence using MongoDB.

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🔗 Live Links

• 🌐 Frontend App: https://pandachats.vercel.app
• ⚙️ Backend API: https://chat-5km8.onrender.com
• 📁 Frontend Repo: https://github.com/subramanyamchoda/chat_client
• 📁 Backend Repo: https://github.com/subramanyamchoda/chat_backend

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🚀 Features

• 🔐 User authentication using JWT
• 📁 REST APIs for users, chats, and messages
• ⚡ Real-time communication with Socket.IO
• 💬 One-to-one and group chat support
• ✍️ Typing indicators and online presence tracking
• 📂 Media and file message handling

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🧰 Tech Stack

Component	Tech
Server	Node.js + Express
Real-time Comm	Socket.IO (WebSockets)
Database	MongoDB + Mongoose
Auth	JWT + Bcrypt
Deployment	Render

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📂 Folder Structure

├── config/
│   └── db.js              # MongoDB connection
├── controllers/
│   └── userController.js  # Auth & user logic
│   └── chatController.js  # Chat creation
│   └── messageController.js # Message handling
├── middleware/
│   └── authMiddleware.js  # JWT auth guard
├── models/
│   └── User.js
│   └── Chat.js
│   └── Message.js
├── routes/
│   └── userRoutes.js
│   └── chatRoutes.js
│   └── messageRoutes.js
├── .env                   # Env variables
├── server.js              # App entry point

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⚙️ Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the root directory with the following:

PORT=5000
MONGO_URI=your-mongodb-uri
JWT_SECRET=your-secret-key

🔐 Replace your-mongodb-uri and your-secret-key with actual values.

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▶️ Getting Started

1. Clone the Repo

git clone https://github.com/subramanyamchoda/chat_backend.git
cd chat_backend

2. Install Dependencies

npm install

3. Start the Server

npm run dev

Server will run at: http://localhost:5000

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📡 WebSocket Events (Socket.IO)

The server emits and listens to:

Event	Description
setup	Initializes user socket
join chat	Joins a specific chat room
typing / stop typing	Typing status broadcast
new message	Sends/receives new messages
disconnect	Handles socket cleanup

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✅ API Endpoints

👤 Auth & Users

POST   /api/user/register   # Register
POST   /api/user/login      # Login
GET    /api/user?search=... # Search users

💬 Chat

POST   /api/chat            # Create one-to-one or group
GET    /api/chat            # Fetch user chats
PUT    /api/chat/group      # Rename group
PUT    /api/chat/add        # Add user to group
PUT    /api/chat/remove     # Remove user from group

✉️ Messages

POST   /api/message         # Send a message
GET    /api/message/:chatId # Get all messages for a chat

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🧪 Sample Request (JSON)

POST /api/user/login
{
  "email": "[email protected]",
  "password": "123456"
}

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🤝 Contributing

# 1. Fork this repo

# 2. Create a branch
git checkout -b feature/your-feature

# 3. Commit changes
git commit -m "Add your-feature"

# 4. Push to your fork
git push origin feature/your-feature

# 5. Open a Pull Request

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🙌 Acknowledgments

This backend was created to practice and demonstrate:

• 🔐 Secure authentication with JWT
• ⚡ Real-time messaging with Socket.IO
• 📁 Clean API architecture with Express
• ☁️ Full-stack MERN deployment (Render + Vercel)

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📌 License

This project is open-source and free to use.

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📞 Contact

Reach out on LinkedIn or star ⭐ the repo if you found it helpful!