SyncTalk - Real-Time Chat Backend

This repository contains the backend server for SyncTalk, a full-stack, real-time chat application. It provides a hybrid architecture with a secure REST API for authentication and a real-time WebSocket server for instant messaging.

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✨ Features

• Real-Time Communication: Utilizes WebSockets via Socket.IO to push messages and updates to all connected clients instantly.
• Secure User Authentication: Implements a complete email/password registration and login system from scratch, featuring secure password hashing with Argon2.
• JWT-Based Authorization: Uses JSON Web Tokens to secure all private API endpoints and WebSocket events.
• Multi-Room Chat: Includes API endpoints for creating and listing chat rooms, with WebSocket logic to manage users joining and leaving rooms.
• Robust & Type-Safe: Built with TypeScript and uses Zod for strict, schema-based input validation on all critical API routes.
• Persistent Database: Comes with a pre-configured Docker Compose file for a consistent and persistent local PostgreSQL database, managed by the Prisma ORM.

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🛠️ Tech Stack

• Runtime: Node.js
• Framework: Express.js
• Real-time Engine: Socket.IO
• Language: TypeScript
• Database: PostgreSQL
• ORM: Prisma
• Password Hashing: Argon2
• Validation: Zod

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🚀 Getting Started

Follow these instructions to get a local copy of the backend up and running.

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18 or later)
• Docker and Docker Compose

Installation & Setup

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone [https://github.com/your-username/synctalk-backend.git](https://github.com/your-username/synctalk-backend.git)
   cd synctalk-backend

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Set up environment variables:

   • Make a copy of the example environment file: cp .env.example .env
   • Open the .env file and fill in your database password and a strong JWT_SECRET.

4. Start the database:

   • Make sure Docker is running.
   • Run docker-compose up -d to start the PostgreSQL container.

5. Run database migrations:

   • This will create the User, Room, and Message tables.

     npx prisma migrate dev

Running the Application

• To start the development server with hot-reloading:

  npm run dev

• The server will be running at http://localhost:3001.

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⚙️ API Endpoints

Method	Route	Protection	Description
POST	/api/auth/register	Public	Creates a new user account.
POST	/api/auth/login	Public	Logs in a user and returns a JWT.
POST	/api/rooms	Private	Creates a new chat room.
GET	/api/rooms	Private	Retrieves a list of all available rooms.
GET	/api/rooms/:roomId/messages	Private	Retrieves message history for a room.

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