⏳ Next Realtime Chat

Next Realtime Chat is a privacy-focused, real-time chat application built for fleeting conversations. Users can create secure rooms to chat with another person for exactly 10 minutes. Once the timer expires, the room is automatically dismantled, and all conversation data is permanently purged from the database.

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✨ Features

• Instant Room Creation: Generate a private room in one click.
• 10-Minute Lifespan: Hard-coded session limits—once time is up, the data is gone.
• Serverless Real-Time: Powered by Upstash Redis for high-speed, low-latency messaging.
• Zero Persistence: No long-term storage, no accounts, and no logs.
• Responsive Design: Optimized for both mobile and desktop using Tailwind CSS.

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🛠️ Tech Stack

• Framework: Next.js 14+ (App Router)
• Language: TypeScript
• Styling: Tailwind CSS
• Database/Cache: Upstash Redis (REST-based Redis)
• State Management: React Hooks

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🚀 How It Works

1. Room Initialization: When a user creates a room, a unique ID is generated.
2. Redis TTL: The room data is stored in Upstash Redis with a Time-To-Live (TTL) of 600 seconds.
3. Active Chat: Users exchange messages in real-time.
4. Automatic Purge: Upstash handles the deletion automatically at the database level the moment the TTL reaches zero.
5. Session End: The frontend monitors the remaining time and redirects users back to the home page once the session expires.

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🏗️ Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18.0 or higher)
• An Upstash account for Redis hosting.

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/anoopraju31/next-realtime-chat.git
   cd next-realtime-chat

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Set up Environment Variables Create a .env.local file in the root directory:

   # Base URL
   NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL=localhost:3000
   
   # Environment (PRODUCTION, STAGING, or LOCAL)
   NEXT_PUBLIC_ENVIRONMENT=LOCAL
   
   # Upstash Redis
   UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL="paste-your-url"
   UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN="your_actual_token_here"

4. Run the development server

   npm run dev

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🔒 Security & Privacy

TempChat is designed for transient communication. By utilizing Redis TTL, we ensure that:

• Messages are never written to a permanent disk-based SQL database.
• Data cleanup happens server-side, even if both users close their browsers.
• No personal identifiable information (PII) is collected or stored.

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📜 License

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for more information.

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Maintained by anoopraju31