MERN Chat App

A real-time chat application built with the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, Node.js) featuring image uploads and modern styling.

Features

• User authentication and authorization
• Real-time messaging using WebSockets (Socket.io)
• Image upload support using Cloudinary
• Responsive UI styled with TailwindCSS
• RESTful API backend with Express and Node.js
• Data persistence with MongoDB

Project Structure

• client/ - React frontend code (uses TailwindCSS)
• server/ - Express backend code (handles Cloudinary uploads)
• .env - Environment variables for server and client

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or above)
• npm or yarn
• MongoDB instance (local or cloud)
• Cloudinary account for image uploads