A pluggable, real-time chat microservice built with NestJS, MongoDB, Redis, and Socket.IO.

• Direct and group conversations
• Message send/edit/delete with attachments
• Real-time messaging over WebSocket
• Emoji reactions and read receipts
• Typing/recording indicators and presence
• Webhooks for host integration
• Horizontal scaling with Redis adapter

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 18+
• Docker + Docker Compose

1. Copy environment file:

cp .env.example .env

2. Start dependencies + service:

docker-compose --profile with-db up

If you use external MongoDB/Redis, omit the profile and set MONGODB_URI and REDIS_URL.

3. Verify:

curl http://localhost:3000/health

• API: docs/API.md
• WebSocket: docs/WEBSOCKET.md
• Webhooks: docs/WEBHOOKS.md
• Configuration: docs/CONFIGURATION.md
• Integration Guide: docs/INTEGRATION.md
• Architecture: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
• Troubleshooting: docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md
• Communication Model: docs/communication.md
• Swagger UI: /api/docs (runtime)

• POST /api/conversations
• GET /api/conversations
• GET /api/conversations/:id
• POST /api/conversations/:id/participants
• POST /api/conversations/:id/messages
• GET /api/conversations/:id/messages
• PATCH /api/messages/:id
• DELETE /api/messages/:id

Default WebSocket port: WS_PORT (default 3001)

JWT auth can run in symmetric mode with AUTH_JWT_SECRET or asymmetric mode with AUTH_JWT_VALIDATION_MODE=asymmetric plus AUTH_JWT_JWKS_URL.

Potential future phases:

Phase 9: Search

• Full-text message search
• Elasticsearch/Typesense integration

Phase 10: File Handling

• Direct file uploads
• Image thumbnails
• File preview

Phase 11: Push Notifications

• FCM/APNs integration
• Email notifications

Phase 12: Admin Dashboard

• Usage analytics
• Moderation tools
• User management

Phase 13: End-to-End Encryption

• Client-side encryption
• Key exchange

Phase 14: Threads

• Threaded replies
• Thread notifications