This contains everything you need to run your app locally with MongoDB integration.

View your app in :https://connect-chat-app-indol.vercel.app/

• Node.js (v18 or higher)
• MongoDB (local installation or MongoDB Atlas account)

npm install

Set the GEMINI_API_KEY in .env.local to your Gemini API key

1. Install MongoDB locally
2. Start MongoDB service
3. Navigate to backend directory:

   cd backend
   npm install

4. The .env file is already configured for local MongoDB

1. Create a free account at MongoDB Atlas
2. Create a new cluster
3. Get your connection string
4. Navigate to backend directory:

   cd backend
   npm install

5. Update backend/.env with your Atlas connection string:

   MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://username:password@cluster.mongodb.net/connect-messaging
   

cd backend
npm run dev

The backend will start on http://localhost:3001

npm run dev

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

• Real-time messaging with MongoDB persistence
• User profiles with avatars
• AI chatbot integration (Gemini)
• Automatic fallback to localStorage if backend is unavailable
• Message history across devices
• Group chat functionality

If the backend is not running, the app automatically falls back to localStorage for offline functionality. Data will sync to MongoDB when the backend becomes available.

The backend exposes the following endpoints:

• POST /users - Register or retrieve user
• GET /users - Get all users
• POST /messages - Send a message
• GET /messages?u1=userId1&u2=userId2 - Get messages between users

See backend/README.md for detailed API documentation.

connect-admin username eou8RaUNJNqGRn5I password

mongodb+srv://:@cluster0.rjmijfs.mongodb.net/?appName=Cluster0