🗨️ WhatsChat

Connect Instantly, Communicate Securely, Empower Collaboration

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📹 Demo

Watch the full walkthrough and technical explanation of WhatsChat on YouTube:

🔗 Click here to view the full demo

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🚀 Overview

WhatsChat is a web app platform, for peer-to-peer communication built with Node.js, Express, and Socket.io. It supports:

• 🔄 Instant messaging (WebSocket)
• 🔐 Peer authentication
• 🧩 File sharing (with previews, version control, and sync)
• 💬 Chat with text message or voice, emojis, attachment
• 🛠️ Hybrid P2P + Central Server architecture

Ideal for learning real-time systems, secure communication, and collaborative applications.

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📦 Built With

• Node.js
• Express.js
• Socket.io
• JavaScript / HTML / CSS
• JSON
• Markdown

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📚 Table of Contents

• Overview
• Features
• Getting Started
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Usage
• Testing
• Project Structure
• Future Enhancements
• License

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🔧 Features

• ✅ Communication via WebSockets
• ✅ Encrypted Message transfers
• ✅ File version control & preview before download
• ✅ Chat with text, emojis, and file support
• ✅ Peer authentication using password or key
• ✅ Auto messages file sync and file history
• ✅ Peer can act as both client and server

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🚀 Getting Started

🛠 Prerequisites

Ensure the following are installed:

• Node.js
• npm

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Installation

Follow the steps to install and run WhatsChat Locally:

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/Usama-Codez/WhatsChat

2. Navigate to the project directory

cd WhatsChat

3. Install dependencies

npm install

Usage

Start the server:

npm start

Peers can join using default address:

http://localhost:3000

🧪 Testing

WhatsChat uses Mocha and Chai for testing.

Run tests using:

npm test

Encryption & Decryption

WhatsChat ensures secure communication by encrypting:

• Chat messages

• User authentication tokens

Encryption Features:

• End-to-end encryption between peers. For encryption I have used AES and RSA algorithms combination.

• Decryption is automatically done on the receiving side

Unauthorized access is denied without proper key exchange

🔎 You can find the encryption logic in:

utils/
├── encryption.js       # Core encryption/decryption logic
├── auth.js             # Key exchange and peer validation

🧠 More detailed explanation is available in the video demo: 🔗 Watch encryption explained ->

🔒 Security Features

1. 🔐 End-to-End Encryption for text messages

2. 🔑 Peer Authentication before each connection

3. 🛡️ Multi-Factor Authentication (future enhancement)

4. 🕵️‍♂️ Intrusion Detection System for file flooding (planned)

📈 Future Enhancements

• Load Balancing via central server
• Failover backup server
• Peer metrics dashboard
• File integrity verification with hashes

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🤝 Contribution

Pull requests are welcome! For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

🙋‍♂️ Developed By

Usama Akram