AI Chat Application

A modern full-stack chat application built with React and Express.js, featuring AI-powered conversations with Google Gemini and optional web search capabilities.

Features

• 💬 Real-time chat interface with AI responses
• 🔍 Optional web search integration for up-to-date information
• 🎨 Modern UI with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui components
• 🌙 Dark/light theme support with Catppuccin colors
• 📱 Responsive design for mobile and desktop
• 🔒 User authentication and conversation management
• 💾 PostgreSQL database with Drizzle ORM

Tech Stack

Frontend

• React 18 with TypeScript
• Vite for build tooling
• Tailwind CSS for styling
• shadcn/ui component library
• TanStack Query for state management
• Wouter for routing

Backend

• Node.js with Express.js
• TypeScript with ES modules
• Google Gemini AI integration
• PostgreSQL with Drizzle ORM
• Web search via DuckDuckGo API

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or higher
• PostgreSQL database
• Google Gemini API key

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/ai-chat-app.git
cd ai-chat-app

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Set up environment variables:

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with your configuration:

DATABASE_URL=your_postgresql_connection_string
GEMINI_API_KEY=your_google_gemini_api_key

4. Set up the database:

npm run db:push

5. Start the development server:

npm run dev

The application will be available at http://localhost:5000

Scripts

• npm run dev - Start development server
• npm run build - Build for production
• npm run start - Start production server
• npm run check - Run TypeScript type checking
• npm run db:push - Apply database schema changes

Project Structure

├── client/                 # React frontend
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/    # UI components
│   │   ├── pages/         # Page components
│   │   ├── hooks/         # Custom hooks
│   │   └── lib/           # Utilities
├── server/                # Express backend
│   ├── services/          # AI and web search services
│   └── routes.ts          # API routes
├── shared/                # Shared types and schemas
└── README.md

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Required
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL connection string	Yes
GEMINI_API_KEY	Google Gemini API key	Yes
NODE_ENV	Environment (development/production)	No

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Submit a pull request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details