📦 Messenger Back-End

A RESTful API server built with Node.js and Express.js to support real-time messaging operations.

🚀 Features

• User authentication with JWT
• Secure password storage using bcrypt
• CRUD operations for users and messages
• Real-time chat support via WebSocket (Socket.IO)
• MongoDB database integration using Mongoose ORM
• Input validation with Joi
• Error handling and structured logging

⚙️ Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Runtime	Node.js (ES Modules)
Framework	Express.js
Database	MongoDB (Mongoose)
Authentication	JWT + bcrypt
Socket Library	Socket.IO
Validation	Joi

🧩 Installation & Setup

git clone https://github.com/naderianaliakbar/Messenger-Back-End.git
cd Messenger-Back-End
npm install

Copy .env.example to .env and configure:

PORT=5000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/messenger-db
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret

🏁 Running the Server

npm run dev     # Run in development mode with nodemon
npm start       # Run in production mode

API will be available at http://localhost:5000.

🛠️ API Endpoints

• Auth

  • POST /api/auth/register – Register new user
  • POST /api/auth/login – Login and receive JWT

• Users (protected)

  • GET /api/users – List all users
  • GET /api/users/:id – Get user by ID

• Messages (protected)

  • GET /api/messages/:chatId – List messages in a chat
  • POST /api/messages – Send a new message

Real-time WebSocket events (via Socket.IO):

• connection, disconnect – socket lifecycle
• message, typing, read – chat events

🧪 Testing

Include Jest or Mocha/Chai setup if you plan to add unit/integration tests. Example:

npm test

📘 Project Structure

src/
├── controllers/
├── models/
├── routes/
├── services/
├── middlewares/
├── utils/
└── index.js

💡 Usage Tips

• Always include Authorization: Bearer <JWT> header when using protected routes
• Use WS or Socket.IO clients for real-time message handling

🤝 Contribution

Fork the repo, create feature branches, and submit PRs. Please follow best practices for code quality and testing.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.