Elimu Chat Application

A real-time chat application designed for educational institutions, enabling seamless communication between students and instructors.

Features

• Real-time messaging using SendBird and Socket.IO
• User authentication and authorization
• Group channels and direct messaging
• Message notifications
• Modern, responsive UI with Material-UI
• TypeScript support for better type safety

Tech Stack

Frontend

• React + TypeScript (Vite)
• Material-UI
• SendBird UI Kit
• Socket.IO Client

Backend

• NestJS
• SendBird SDK
• Socket.IO
• JWT Authentication

Project Structure

elimu-messaging/
├── frontend/              # React + TypeScript frontend
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/   # React components
│   │   ├── services/     # API and chat services
│   │   ├── types/        # TypeScript type definitions
│   │   └── utils/        # Utility functions
│   └── .env              # Frontend environment variables
│
└── backend/              # NestJS backend
    ├── src/
    │   ├── modules/      # Feature modules
    │   ├── gateways/     # WebSocket gateways
    │   └── services/     # Business logic services
    └── .env              # Backend environment variables

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18 or higher)
• npm or yarn
• SendBird account and API credentials

Getting Started

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/your-username/elimu-messaging.git
cd elimu-messaging

2. Set up frontend:

cd frontend
npm install
cp .env.example .env # Configure your environment variables
npm run dev

3. Set up backend:

cd backend
npm install
cp .env.example .env # Configure your environment variables
npm run start:dev

Environment Variables

Frontend (.env)

VITE_SENDBIRD_APP_ID=your_sendbird_app_id
VITE_BACKEND_URL=your_backend_url

Backend (.env)

SENDBIRD_APP_ID=your_sendbird_app_id
SENDBIRD_API_TOKEN=your_api_token
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret

Development

• Frontend development server runs on http://localhost:5173
• Backend development server runs on http://localhost:3000

Deployment

The application is deployed on Render:

• Frontend: https://elimu-chat-frontend.onrender.com
• Backend: https://elimu-chat-backend.onrender.com

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

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