🟢 PingMe - Real-Time Chat Application

PingMe is a full-stack real-time chat application that allows users to sign up, log in, and exchange messages instantly with others. It’s built with the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js) and supports secure authentication and WebSocket-powered messaging.

🚀 Features

• 🔒 Secure user authentication with JWT & cookies
• 💬 Real-time one-on-one messaging using Socket.io
• 👥 Online/offline user status
• 🧭 Sidebar with live search filter
• 🖼️ Profile avatars and message timestamps
• 📱 Responsive UI for mobile, tablet, and desktop

🛠️ Tech Stack

Frontend	Backend	Real-Time	Database
React + Vite	Express.js	Socket.IO	MongoDB

📦 Installation

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/dedJack/pingMe.git
cd pingMe

2. Set Up Server

cd server
npm install

Start the server:

npm run start

3. Set Up Client

cd ../client
npm install
npm run dev

4. Build for Production

npm run build

🌐 Deployment

• PingMe: Render
• might be take a minute to load as it uses a free instance of Render.com, Once loaded then it will work fine.

Ensure your production server serves the client/dist folder in Express when NODE_ENV=production.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.

📄 License

MIT License. See LICENSE for more information.

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Built with ❤️ by [dedJack]