Real-Time Chat Application

A modern, real-time chat application built with React, FastAPI, and WebSocket technology. Features user authentication, real-time messaging, and online user tracking.

🚀 Features

• Real-time messaging with WebSocket connections
• User authentication using custom JWT
• Online user tracking and user list
• Responsive design with modern UI
• System messages for user join/leave notifications

🛠️ Tech Stack

Frontend

• React 19 - Modern React with hooks
• Vite - Fast build tool and dev server
• JWT - Authentication and user management

Backend

• FastAPI - Modern Python web framework
• SQLAlchemy - Database ORM
• PostgreSQL - Primary database
• Redis - Caching and session management
• WebSocket - Real-time bidirectional communication
• Alembic - Database migrations
• fastapi-limiter - Rate limiting backed by Redis

🖼️ Screenshots

🚀 Quick Start with Docker

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose installed
• JWT for authentication

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/mikhailofff/simple-chat-fastapi.git
   cd simple-chat-fastapi

2. Set up environment variables

   Copy the example environment files and configure them:

   cp backend/src/.env.example backend/src/.env

   Then edit .env file with your actual values.

3. Start the application

   docker compose up --build

4. Access the application

   • Frontend: http://localhost:3000
   • Backend API: http://localhost:8000
   • API Documentation: http://localhost:8000/docs

Stopping the application

docker compose down

🔧 Development

Project Structure

simple-chat-fastapi/
├── backend/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── app.py               # FastAPI application (lifespan, middleware, routers)
│   │   ├── routes/              # API routes (e.g., chat endpoints, WebSocket)
│   │   ├── database/            # DB engine, sessions, CRUD helpers, models
│   │   │   ├── models/          # SQLAlchemy models
│   │   ├── core/                # Core utilities (e.g., Redis client)
│   │   ├── schemas/             # Pydantic schemas
│   │   ├── dependencies.py      # FastAPI dependencies (auth helpers, etc.)
│   │   ├── config.py            # Settings and config
│   │   ├── utils.py             # JWT utilities and helpers
│   │   ├── .env.example         # Environment variables template
│   │   └── .env                 # Your environment variables (not in git)
│   ├── migrations/              # Alembic migration scripts
│   ├── logging_config.ini       # Centralized Python logging configuration
│   ├── server.py                # ASGI app export; loads logging config
│   └── Dockerfile               # Backend container
├── frontend/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/         # React components
│   │   ├── pages/              # Page components
│   │   └── hooks/              # Custom React hooks
│   ├── package.json            # Node.js dependencies
│   └── Dockerfile              # Frontend container
└── docker-compose.yaml         # Multi-container setup

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature-name
3. Commit your changes: git commit -m 'Add feature'
4. Push to the branch: git push origin feature-name
5. Submit a pull request

📝 License

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

---

Happy Chatting! 🎉