Ruby Chat App

This is a simple chat application built with Ruby on Rails, using Redis for real-time messaging with ActionCable. It supports one-on-one and group chats with user authentication handled by Devise.

Features

• User authentication with Devise
• Real-time messaging using ActionCable and Redis
• One-on-one and group chats
• Stimulus for front-end interactivity

Getting Started

These instructions will help you set up and run the project on your local machine for development and testing purposes.

Prerequisites

• Ruby 3.2.0
• Rails 7.0.4.2
• PostgreSQL
• Redis
• Node.js and Yarn

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone git@github.com:Jay991/ruby_chat_app.git
cd ruby_chat_app

2. Install the required gems:

bundle install

3. Install JavaScript dependencies:

yarn install

4. Set up the database:

rails db:create
rails db:migrate
rails db:seed

5. Start the Redis server:

redis-server

Configuration

Ensure you have a .env file set up with necessary environment variables:

touch .env

Add the following lines to the .env file:

DATABASE_PASSWORD=your_database_password
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379/1

Running the Application

1. Start the Rails server:

rails server

2. Visit http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

Usage

• Sign up for a new account or log in with an existing account.
• Create a new chat or join an existing one.
• Start sending messages in real-time.

Project Structure

• app/models: Contains the application's models.
• app/controllers: Contains the application's controllers.
• app/views: Contains the application's views.
• app/javascript: Contains the front-end JavaScript code.
• config: Contains the configuration files for the application.

Key Files

• app/channels/messages_channel.rb: Handles real-time messaging.
• app/controllers/messages_controller.rb: Manages message creation.
• app/models/message.rb: Represents a chat message.
• app/javascript/channels/messages_channel.js: JavaScript client for ActionCable.

Deployment

To deploy this application to a production environment, follow these steps:

1. Precompile the assets:

rails assets:precompile

2. Run the database migrations:

rails db:migrate RAILS_ENV=production

3. Start the Rails server:

rails server -e production