Here's a README.md file for your Laravel chat room app that uses Inertia, Vue, Pinia, and Laravel Echo (with Reverb) for real-time communication, including a typing indicator.

Laravel Chat Room App

This is a real-time chat application built using Laravel, Inertia.js, Vue 3, and Pinia for state management. It leverages Laravel Echo and Reverb for WebSockets to provide real-time messaging and a typing indicator between users.

Features

✅ Real-time chat with WebSockets
✅ Client-to-client typing indicators
✅ User authentication with Laravel Breeze
✅ Vue 3 + Inertia.js frontend
✅ Pinia for state management
✅ Laravel Echo & Reverb for WebSocket communication
✅ Persistent chat history

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/laravel-chat-room.git
cd laravel-chat-room

2. Install dependencies

composer install
npm install

3. Set up environment variables

Copy .env.example to .env:

cp .env.example .env

Generate an application key:

php artisan key:generate

4. Configure database

Edit your .env file and update the database settings:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=your_database_name
DB_USERNAME=your_database_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_database_password

Run migrations:

php artisan migrate

5. Set up WebSockets (Reverb)

Reverb is used for WebSockets. Install it with:

php artisan reverb:install

Start the WebSocket server:

php artisan reverb:start

6. Start development servers

Run Laravel:

php artisan serve

Run Vite for Vue frontend:

npm run dev

Usage

Sending Messages

Users can send messages in real-time to other connected users.

Typing Indicator

A real-time typing indicator is displayed when a user starts typing.

License

This project is open-source under the MIT License.

CurvesTech/LaravelChatRooms