RTC---Real-Time-Chat

Introduction

RTC (Real-Time Chat) is a real-time communication platform designed for users to chat and video conference in real-time. The app uses Firebase for authentication, Firestore for storing user and room data, and ZEGOCLOUD for video chat functionality.

Features

• User Authentication: Secure sign-in using Google with Firebase Authentication.
• Real-Time Messaging: Instant messaging support with live updates.
• Video Chat: High-quality group video calls powered by ZEGOCLOUD.
• Interactive Whiteboard: A real-time whiteboard for collaboration during video calls.
• Auto-Delete Previous Rooms: Rooms are automatically deleted after 5 hours using a
  hook, preventing clutter.

Installation

To set up and run the project locally, follow these steps:

• Frontend: React, Tailwind CSS
• Backend: Firebase (Authentication and Firestore)
• Real-Time Communication: ZEGOCLOUD (GeoGo)
• Build Tool: Vite
• Password Hashing: bcrypt for securely hashing room passwords
• Auto-Delete: Hook-based auto-deletion of room data after 5 hours

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/RahulRoyBXT/RTC---Real-Time-Chat.git

# Navigate to the project directory
cd RTC---Real-Time-Chat

# Install dependencies
npm install

Usage

After starting the application, open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:5173. Register or log in with your credentials to start chatting.

Set up Firebase:

Create a Firebase project via the Firebase Console.

• Set up Firebase Authentication and enable Google sign-in.
• Create a Firestore database to store user and room data.
• Add Firebase credentials (apiKey, authDomain, projectId, storageBucket, etc.) to your project configuration.

Set up ZEGOCLOUD:

• Register for an account at ZEGOCLOUD.
• Obtain your App ID and App Key from the ZEGOCLOUD dashboard.
• Integrate these credentials into your project for video calling functionality.

# Install bcrypt for hashing room passwords:
npm install bcrypt
# Start the development server:
npm run dev

Usage

• Sign-In: Users can sign in using their Google account via Firebase Authentication.
• Room Creation/Joining: Users can create a new room or join an existing room using a password.
• Chat: Users can send messages in real-time with instant delivery.
• Video Calling: Users can initiate or join group video calls.

Security

Authentication and Authorization

• Firebase Authentication is used to authenticate users via Google login. This ensures that users can securely log in without exposing passwords or other sensitive information.

• Firebase Security Rules are implemented to restrict access to Firestore collections based on authentication status. Only authenticated users can read/write to the database.

Example Firestore rules:

service cloud.firestore {
  match /databases/{database}/documents {
    match /rooms/{roomId} {
      allow read, write: if request.auth != null;
    }
  }
}

This allows only authenticated users to read and write to Firestore, preventing unauthorized access to sensitive data like room passwords.

Future Enhancements

• Message Encryption: Implement end-to-end encryption for chat messages to prevent unauthorized reading.
• UI/UX Improvements: Work on the visual interface to improve the user experience and make it more intuitive.

Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community. To contribute, please follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a new branch (git checkout -b feature-branch)
3. Make your changes
4. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add feature')
5. Push to the branch (git push origin feature-branch)
6. Create a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details.

Contact

For any questions or inquiries, please contact Rahul Roy at rahulroy.it2021@nsec.ac.in.