Laravel Chat Application

Overview

This Laravel application manages chat messages between users using Laravel Echo, Pusher, and WebSockets for real-time updates.

Components

Event Broadcasting

The MessageSentEvent broadcasts new chat messages using private channels based on sender and receiver IDs.

Controllers

ChatMessageController

• sendMessage: Handles sending messages between users.
• getChatHistory: Retrieves chat history for a specific user.
• markAsRead: Marks messages as read for a user.
• contacts: Retrieves contacts for a user.
• getAllChats: Retrieves all chat messages.

Resources

ChatMessageResource

• Transforms ChatMessage model data into JSON responses, including sender and receiver information.

Requests

SendMessageRequest

• Validates and handles requests to send messages, ensuring sender and receiver IDs are valid and different.

Interfaces

ChatMessageInterface

• Defines methods for managing chat messages.

Repositories

ChatMessageRepository

• Implements ChatMessageInterface methods using Eloquent models for database operations.

Services

ChatMessageService

• Orchestrates message sending, broadcasting, and retrieval operations using the repository.

Frontend Integration

The frontend uses Laravel Echo and Pusher to listen for new messages and update the UI in real-time.

Setup

1. Clone the repository.
2. Install dependencies: composer install and npm install.
3. Configure .env for database and Pusher settings.
4. Run migrations: php artisan migrate.
5. Compile frontend assets: npm run dev.

Usage

1. Register/login users.
2. Start sending messages between users.
3. View chat history, mark messages as read, and manage contacts.