AnyChat

Developed by Happy Kumar

AnyChat is a real-time chat application built using React.js, Node.js, Socket.IO, and Firebase. It uses Firebase Realtime Database for seamless data synchronization and Firebase Authentication for secure user access.

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🚀 Features

• Real-Time Chat – Engage in real-time conversations via Socket.IO.
• Firebase Integration – Real-time data sync using Firebase Realtime Database.
• Authentication – Secure user login with Firebase Auth.
• Responsive UI – User-friendly chat interface.

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✅ Prerequisites

Ensure the following are installed:

• Node.js
• Git
• Firebase Account

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🔧 Installation

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/ImHappyKumar/any-chat.git
   cd any-chat

2. Install dependencies:

   cd client
   npm install
   cd ../server
   npm install

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⚙️ Configuration

🔒 1. Setup Environment Variables

• Rename .env.example to .env in both client/ and server/ folders.
• Replace placeholder values with your actual environment values.

📁 2. Configure Firebase – Client Side

• Replace the contents of client/src/firebase.js.example with your Firebase config.
• Rename firebase.js.example to firebase.js.

// client/src/firebase.js
import { initializeApp } from "firebase/app";
import { getAuth } from "firebase/auth";

const firebaseConfig = {
  apiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY",
  authDomain: "YOUR_AUTH_DOMAIN",
  databaseURL: "YOUR_DATABASE_URL",
  projectId: "YOUR_PROJECT_ID",
  storageBucket: "YOUR_STORAGE_BUCKET",
  messagingSenderId: "YOUR_MESSAGING_SENDER_ID",
  appId: "YOUR_APP_ID"
};

const app = initializeApp(firebaseConfig);
export const auth = getAuth(app);
export default app;

🔐 3. Configure Firebase – Server Side

• Rename serviceAccountKey.json.example to serviceAccountKey.json and add your Firebase Admin credentials.
• In server/firebaseConfig.js, make sure it looks like this:

// server/firebaseConfig.js
const admin = require("firebase-admin");
const serviceAccount = require("./serviceAccountKey.json");

admin.initializeApp({
  credential: admin.credential.cert(serviceAccount),
  databaseURL: "https://your-project-id.firebaseio.com"
});

module.exports = admin;

🚀 4. Set up Firebase Hosting (Optional):

• Rename .firebaserc.example to .firebaserc.
• Replace the default project ID with your own Firebase project ID:

  {
    "projects": {
      "default": "your-project-id"
    }
  }
  

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▶️ Usage

1. Start the backend server:

   cd server
   npm start

2. Start the frontend app:

   cd client
   npm start

3. Open in Browser:

   • Visit http://localhost:3000

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🤝 Contributing

Feel free to fork the repo, create a new branch, and submit a pull request. Issues and suggestions are welcome!