💬 CommUnity

A Real-Time 🔐 Encrypted Chat Application

CommUnity is a secure, scalable, and user-friendly chat application designed to enable seamless real-time communication. Built with modern technologies like React, Node.js, Firebase, and MongoDB, it offers encrypted messaging using AES, image sharing via Cloudinary, and a responsive UI that adapts to all screen sizes.

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🚀 Features

• 🔒 AES Message Encryption: Every message is encrypted using AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) to ensure end-to-end privacy and security.
• 🔄 Real-Time Messaging (via Polling): Instant message updates using efficient client-side polling in place of WebSockets.
• ✅ Firebase Authentication: Secure, reliable user login and registration using Firebase Auth.
• 🖼️ Media Upload Support: Easily upload and share images using Cloudinary.
• 🗃️ MongoDB Database: Scalable and flexible NoSQL database for storing users and chat messages.
• 📱 Responsive UI: Built with React and Tailwind CSS to work seamlessly across mobile, tablet, and desktop.

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🧰 Tech Stack

🖥️ Frontend

• React – Component-based UI library for dynamic interfaces.
• Tailwind CSS – Utility-first CSS framework for styling.
• Vite – Fast frontend build tool and development server.

⚙️ Backend

• Node.js – JavaScript runtime for server-side logic.
• Express.js – Minimalist web framework for building REST APIs.

🗄️ Database

• MongoDB – Document-based NoSQL database for efficient data management.

🔐 Authentication

• Firebase Auth – Handles secure login, registration, and session management.

🌐 Media Handling

• Cloudinary – Cloud-based image and media upload, transformation, and CDN.

🔐 Encryption

• AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) – Symmetric encryption algorithm for securing chat messages before storage/transmission.

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Installation & Setup

Follow these steps to get the application up and running on your local machine:

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone https://github.com/pragya79/CommUnity.git
   cd community

2. Install Dependencies

   npm install
   cd client
   npm install

3. Environment Variables Create a .env file in the root directory and add the following:

   MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
   FIREBASE_API_KEY=your_firebase_api_key
   FIREBASE_AUTH_DOMAIN=your_firebase_auth_domain
   FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID=your_firebase_project_id
   CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloudinary_cloud_name
   CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_cloudinary_api_key
   CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_cloudinary_api_secret

4. Run the Application

   • Start the backend server:

     npm start

   • Start the React frontend:

     cd client
     npm run dev

5. Access the Application Open your browser and navigate to: http://localhost:5173

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🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions to improve CommUnity! Follow these steps:

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

📞 Contact

If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to reach out:

• Email: pragyaxibs4834@gmail.com
• LinkedIn: Pragya Sharma

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Thank you for checking out CommUnity!