💬 Go Chat - Real-time Chat Application

A modern, full-stack real-time chat application built with Go (Golang) backend and React frontend. Features instant messaging, user authentication, online status tracking, and a beautiful responsive UI.

✨ Features

🔐 Authentication & Security

• User registration and login system
• JWT-based authentication
• Password hashing with bcrypt
• Protected routes and middleware
• Input validation and sanitization

💬 Real-time Messaging

• Instant message delivery via WebSocket
• Online/offline user status tracking
• Real-time user presence indicators
• Message broadcasting to connected users
• Persistent message history

🎨 Modern UI/UX

• Responsive design with Tailwind CSS
• Beautiful and intuitive chat interface
• Dark/light theme support
• Loading skeletons and smooth animations
• Toast notifications for user feedback

🏗️ Architecture

• Clean MVC architecture
• Modular component structure
• State management with Zustand
• RESTful API design
• WebSocket integration

🛠️ Tech Stack

Backend (Go)

• Framework: Gorilla Mux for HTTP routing
• Database: MongoDB with official Go driver
• Real-time: WebSocket connections
• Authentication: JWT tokens
• Security: Password hashing, input validation
• Environment: dotenv for configuration

Frontend (React)

• Framework: React 19 with Vite
• State Management: Zustand
• Styling: Tailwind CSS + DaisyUI
• HTTP Client: Axios
• Routing: React Router DOM
• Icons: Lucide React
• Notifications: React Hot Toast

📁 Project Structure

go-chat/
├── backend/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── main.go                 # Application entry point
│   │   ├── controllers/            # HTTP request handlers
│   │   │   ├── auth.controller.go
│   │   │   └── messages.controller.go
│   │   ├── lib/                    # Core libraries
│   │   │   ├── db.go              # Database connection
│   │   │   └── socket.go          # WebSocket handling
│   │   ├── middleware/             # HTTP middleware
│   │   │   ├── authenticate.go
│   │   │   └── cors.go
│   │   ├── models/                 # Data models
│   │   │   ├── messages.go
│   │   │   └── users.go
│   │   └── routes/                 # API routes
│   │       ├── auth.route.go
│   │       └── messages.route.go
│   ├── internals/                  # Internal utilities
│   │   ├── security.go
│   │   └── validate.go
│   ├── utils/                      # Helper functions
│   │   ├── json.go
│   │   └── jwt.go
│   ├── go.mod
│   └── go.sum
├── frontend/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── App.jsx                 # Main app component
│   │   ├── main.jsx               # App entry point
│   │   ├── components/            # Reusable components
│   │   │   ├── ChatContainer.jsx
│   │   │   ├── Sidebar.jsx
│   │   │   ├── MessageInput.jsx
│   │   │   └── ...
│   │   ├── pages/                 # Route components
│   │   │   ├── HomePage.jsx
│   │   │   ├── LoginPage.jsx
│   │   │   └── SignUpPage.jsx
│   │   ├── store/                 # State management
│   │   │   ├── useAuthStore.js
│   │   │   ├── useChatStore.js
│   │   │   └── useThemeStore.js
│   │   └── lib/                   # Utilities
│   │       ├── axios.js
│   │       └── utils.js
│   ├── package.json
│   └── vite.config.js
└── README.md

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Go 1.24.2 or higher
• Node.js 18+ and npm/yarn
• MongoDB database
• Git

Backend Setup

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/muskiteer/go-chat
   cd go-chat/backend

2. Install Go dependencies

   go mod download

3. Environment Configuration Create a .env file in the backend directory:

   PORT=8000
   MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017
   JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-jwt-key
   NODE_ENV=development

4. Start MongoDB Make sure MongoDB is running on your system:

   # For local MongoDB installation
   mongod
   
   # Or using Docker
   docker run -d -p 27017:27017 --name mongodb mongo:latest

5. Run the backend server

   cd src
   go run main.go

   The server will start on http://localhost:8000

Frontend Setup

1. Navigate to frontend directory

   cd ../frontend

2. Install dependencies

   npm install
   # or
   yarn install

3. Environment Configuration Create a .env file in the frontend directory:

   VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:8000

4. Start the development server

   npm run dev
   # or
   yarn dev

   The frontend will start on http://localhost:5173

📡 API Endpoints

Authentication

• POST /api/auth/signup - User registration
• POST /api/auth/login - User login
• POST /api/auth/logout - User logout
• GET /api/auth/check - Check authentication status

Messages

• GET /api/messages/users - Get all users for chat
• GET /api/messages/:id - Get messages with specific user
• POST /api/messages/send/:id - Send message to user

WebSocket

• WS /ws?userId={userId} - WebSocket connection for real-time features

🗄️ Database Schema

Users Collection

{
  _id: ObjectId,
  username: String,
  email: String,
  hashed_password: String,
  created_at: Date
}

Messages Collection

{
  _id: ObjectId,
  sender_id: ObjectId,
  receiver_id: ObjectId,
  content: String,
  created_at: Date
}

🔧 Key Dependencies

Backend Dependencies

github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5 v5.2.2
github.com/gorilla/mux v1.8.1
github.com/gorilla/websocket v1.5.3
github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1
github.com/microcosm-cc/bluemonday v1.0.27
go.mongodb.org/mongo-driver v1.17.4
golang.org/x/crypto v0.33.0

Frontend Dependencies

{
  "react": "^19.1.0",
  "zustand": "^5.0.6",
  "axios": "^1.10.0",
  "react-router-dom": "^7.6.3",
  "tailwindcss": "^3.4.17",
  "daisyui": "^4.12.23",
  "lucide-react": "^0.525.0",
  "react-hot-toast": "^2.5.2"
}

🌟 Features in Detail

Real-time Communication

• WebSocket connections for instant messaging
• Online user status tracking
• Real-time message delivery
• Connection management and cleanup

Security Features

• JWT-based authentication
• Password hashing with bcrypt
• Input validation and sanitization
• CORS protection
• Protected routes

User Experience

• Responsive design for all devices
• Dark/light theme toggle
• Loading states and skeletons
• Error handling with toast notifications
• Smooth animations and transitions

🧪 Development

Running Tests

# Backend tests
cd backend
go test ./...

# Frontend tests
cd frontend
npm test

Building for Production

# Backend
cd backend/src
go build -o ../bin/chat-app main.go

# Frontend
cd frontend
npm run build

🚀 Deployment

Backend Deployment

1. Build the Go binary
2. Set up environment variables
3. Configure MongoDB connection
4. Deploy to your preferred platform (AWS, GCP, Heroku, etc.)

Frontend Deployment

1. Build the React app
2. Deploy to static hosting (Vercel, Netlify, AWS S3, etc.)
3. Update API URLs for production

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📝 License

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

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Go community for excellent libraries
• React team for the amazing framework
• MongoDB for reliable database solutions
• All contributors and testers

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Made with ❤️ by Muskiteer

For questions or support, please open an issue or contact the maintainers.