Peafowl — Real-Time Scalable Chat Application

Peafowl is a full-stack real-time chat application inspired by modern messaging platforms like WhatsApp.

Built using the MERN stack with Socket.IO and Redis, the project focuses on scalable real-time communication, presence tracking, and modular backend architecture.

Tech Stack

Frontend

• React
• Vite
• Socket.IO Client

Backend

• Node.js
• Express.js
• Socket.IO
• Redis
• MongoDB
• JWT Authentication

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Features

• Real-time one-to-one messaging
• Socket.IO powered bidirectional communication
• Redis Pub/Sub for scalable socket event distribution
• Online/offline user presence
• Typing indicators
• Persistent chat storage with MongoDB
• JWT-based authentication
• Modular backend architecture
• Rate limiting and middleware support
• Responsive React UI

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Architecture Overview

React Client
     │
Socket.IO + REST APIs
     │
Express + Socket.IO Server
     │
Redis Pub/Sub Adapter
     │
MongoDB

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Project Structure

peafowl/
│
├── client/        # React frontend
├── server/        # Express + Socket.IO backend
│
├── README.md
└── .env.example

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Environment Variables

Create a .env file inside the server/ directory.

Example:

PORT=5000
MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection
JWT_SECRET=your_secret
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379

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Getting Started

1. Clone Repository

git clone <repo-url>
cd peafowl

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2. Start Backend Server

cd server
npm install
npm run dev

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3. Start Frontend Client

cd client
npm install
npm run dev

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Upcoming Features

• Group chats
• Message seen/delivery status
• Media/file sharing
• Voice/video calling
• End-to-end encryption
• Push notifications

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Learning Goals

This project is primarily focused on learning and implementing:

• Real-time system design
• WebSocket communication
• Redis Pub/Sub architecture
• Scalable socket handling
• Full-stack application structure
• Authentication and session handling