Chat App - Laravel + Inertia (react)

A modern real-time chat application built with Laravel, providing seamless communication between users with real-time messaging capabilities.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Configuration
• Usage
• Architecture
• Contributing
• License

Features

• Real-time messaging between users
• User authentication and authorization
• Responsive web interface
• Message history and persistence
• Online/offline user status
• Notification system
• Clean and intuitive UI

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

• PHP 8.2 or higher
• Composer
• Bun
• PostgreSQL database
• Git

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/redhat127/chat-app-laravel.git
cd chat-app-laravel

2. Install PHP dependencies:

composer install

3. Install JavaScript dependencies:

bun install

4. Create environment configuration file:

cp .env.example .env

5. Generate application key:

php artisan key:generate

6. Create a symbolic link to the storage directory:

php artisan storage:link

Configuration

1. Update your .env file with database credentials:

DB_CONNECTION=pgsql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=5432
DB_DATABASE=chat_app_laravel_db
DB_USERNAME=postgres
DB_PASSWORD=

2. Configure broadcasting for real-time features:

php artisan install:broadcasting

When prompted, choose Reverb as your broadcasting driver. This will automatically configure the necessary environment variables for real-time messaging.

3. Run database migrations and seed the database:

php artisan migrate --seed

Usage

1. Compile assets for development:

bun run dev

2. Start the development server:

php artisan serve

3. Start the Reverb broadcasting server (in a separate terminal):

php artisan reverb:start --debug

4. Start the queue listener (in another separate terminal):

php artisan queue:listen

The application will be available at http://localhost:8000

Architecture

The application is structured as follows:

• Backend: Laravel framework handles API endpoints, database operations, and business logic
• Frontend: React with Inertia.js for server-driven single-page application experience
• Database: PostgreSQL stores user information, messages, and conversations
• Broadcasting: Real-time events powered by Laravel Reverb

License

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

Support

For issues and questions, please open an issue on the GitHub repository.

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Happy chatting! 💬