myChat: A ChatGPT Clone

myChat is an open-source project modeled after ChatGPT. It provides a user-friendly interface for interacting with GPT-like LLMs via the OpenAI API. This project is NOT directly affiliated with OpenAI in any way.

Table of Contents

• Prerequisites
• Technologies Used
• Installation
• Setup
• Usage
• Deployment
• Contributing
• License

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 14
• An OpenAI API Key
• A MongoDB database
• A Redis instance

Technologies Used

• Next.js - A React-based framework for building server-side rendered and statically exported web applications
• OpenAI LLMs - Large language models developed by OpenAI
• Tailwind CSS - A utility-first CSS framework for rapidly building custom user interfaces
• Axios - A popular library for making HTTP requests in JavaScript
• NextAuth.js - A complete authentication solution for Next.js applications
• MongoDB - A popular NoSQL database used for storing user information
• Mongoose - An Object Data Modeling (ODM) library for MongoDB and Node.js
• Redis - An in-memory data structure store, used as a database, cache, and message broker
• Crypto - A built-in Node.js module for handling cryptographic operations

Setup

MongoDB Setup

We use MongoDB for storing user information and session data. You can set up a MongoDB instance in several ways:

• Download and install MongoDB directly on your local machine.
• Use a Docker container to run MongoDB.
• Use a managed MongoDB service, like MongoDB Atlas, which offers a free tier.

Once you have a running MongoDB instance, you'll need to obtain the connection string. If you're using MongoDB Atlas, you can find the connection string in your cluster's connection settings.

Add the MongoDB connection string to your .env.local file like so:

Redis Setup

We use Redis for rate limiting in our API routes. You can set up a Redis instance in several ways, including:

• Download and install Redis directly on your local machine (not recommended for Windows users).
• Use a Docker container to run Redis.
• Use a managed Redis service, like RedisLabs, which offers a free tier.

Once you have a running Redis instance, you'll need to obtain the connection string. If you're using RedisLabs, you can find the connection string in your database's configuration page.

Installation

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/myChat.git
   

   or get started using GitHub's template feature

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd myChat
   

3. Install the dependencies:

   npm install
   

4. Create a .env.local file in the project root and add the necessary environment variables:

   touch .env.local
   

   Add the following to the .env.local file:

   NEXTAUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000
   MONGODB_URI=yourURI
   NEXTAUTH_SECRET=yourSecret
   ENCRYPTION_KEY: a 32-digit hexadecimal string for AES-128 encryption (for users' API key)
   REDIS_URL=yourRedisConnectionString
   

Replace http://localhost:3000 with whatever port your application is running on, yourURI with your MongoDB connection string, yourSecret with a secure random string, your32HexDigitString with a 32-digit hexadecimal string for AES-128 encryption, and yourRedisConnectionString with your Redis connection string.

...

Usage

• To run the development server:

  npm run dev
  

• To build the application for production:

  npm run build
  

• To start the production server:

  npm run start
  

Deployment

To deploy your myChat Clone to Vercel, follow these steps:

1. Sign up for a Vercel account if you haven't already.

2. Install the Vercel CLI:

   npm install -g vercel
   

3. Log in to your Vercel account from the command line:

   vercel login
   

4. Navigate to your project directory:

   cd myChat
   

5. Run the following command to deploy your application:

   vercel --prod
   

6. During the deployment process, the Vercel CLI will ask you for the environment variables. Provide the same values you used for your .env.local file:

   NEXTAUTH_URL: https://your-vercel-url.vercel.app
   MONGODB_URI: yourURI
   NEXTAUTH_SECRET: yourSecret
   ENCRYPTION_KEY: a 32-digit hexadecimal string for AES-128 encryption (for users' API key)
   REDIS_URL=yourRedisConnectionString
   

Replace http://localhost:3000 with whatever port your application is running on, yourURI with your MongoDB connection string, yourSecret with a secure random string, your32HexDigitString with a 32-digit hexadecimal string for AES-128 encryption, and yourRedisConnectionString with your Redis connection string.

7. Once the deployment is complete, Vercel will provide you with a live URL to access your myChat Clone.

Remember that every time you make changes to your myChat Clone and want to deploy the updated version, you can simply run vercel --prod from the project directory.

Contributing

We welcome contributions! To contribute, please follow these steps:

1. Fork this repository
2. Clone your fork to your local machine: git clone https://github.com/your-username/myChat.git
3. Create your feature branch: git checkout -b feature/my-new-feature or git checkout -b fix/my-new-fix
4. Commit your changes: git commit -am 'Add some feature'
5. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/my-new-feature
6. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.