Peer-to-Peer Chat System

A Python-based peer-to-peer (P2P) chat system with centralized registration and local GUI-based messaging. The system allows clients to register with a central server, connect to other clients directly, and maintain persistent message logs using SQLite.

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Features

• Peer-to-peer messaging with direct socket connections
• Central server for client discovery and registration
• Local SQLite database for message history
• Tkinter-based GUI for sending and receiving messages
• Modular code with separate handlers for client, database, and UI

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Project Structure

p2p-main/
│
├── server/
│   └── server.py              # Handles client registration and user list management
│
├── client/
│   ├── client_chat_handler.py # Client-side P2P communication logic
│   ├── database_handler.py    # Handles SQLite database storage of chat history
│   └── gui.py                 # Tkinter GUI frontend

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Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• No external libraries required (uses built-in socket, sqlite3, tkinter, threading)

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How to Run

1. Start the Server

In a terminal:

cd server
uvicorn server:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

2. Launch Clients

Open two more terminals for separate clients:

cd client
python gui.py
(Db files would be autogenerated)

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Testing

• No unit tests yet. But, plan to implement:
• Client registration and reconnection
• Message sending and persistence
• SQLite message retrieval

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Future Improvements

• Add encryption (e.g., RSA for key exchange, AES for message encryption)
• Include chat history viewer in GUI
• Add WebSocket support for better scalability
• Group chat or file-sharing support