RoomsBackend - Chat App Backend

A simple WebSocket-based backend for a multi-room chat application. This backend allows clients to join chat rooms, send and receive messages in real-time, and maintains message history for each room with automatic expiration.

Features

• Real-time chat using WebSockets
• Multiple chat rooms support
• Message history per room (auto-expires after 30 minutes of inactivity)
• System messages for join/leave events
• Simple, stateless server (no database required)

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16+ recommended)
• npm

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <your-repo-url>
   cd RoomsBackend

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

Running the Server

To start the server in development mode:

npm run dev

The WebSocket server will run on ws://localhost:8080.

WebSocket API

Events

• Join Room

  { "type": "join", "username": "yourName", "roomId": "room1" }

• Send Chat Message

  { "type": "chat", "message": "Hello!" }

• Receive Message

  { "type": "chat", "sender": "user", "message": "Hello!", "timestamp": 123456789 }

• Receive System Message

  { "type": "system", "sender": "system", "message": "user joined the room", "timestamp": 123456789 }

• Receive History

  { "type": "history", "messages": [ ... ] }

Project Structure

• src/index.ts - Main WebSocket server implementation
• src/types/ - TypeScript type definitions

Author

Haarush