Messenger

A real-time web messenger built with Django, Django REST Framework, Django Channels, and vanilla JavaScript.

Features

• User registration, login, logout, and password reset flow
• User profiles with bio and profile pictures
• One-to-one conversations
• REST API for conversations and messages
• Real-time messaging with WebSockets
• Responsive layout for desktop and mobile browsers

Tech Stack

• Python and Django
• Django REST Framework
• Django Channels and Daphne
• SQLite for local development
• HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript

Local Setup

python -m venv chat
.\chat\Scripts\Activate.ps1
pip install -r requirements.txt
Copy-Item .env.example .env
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py runserver

Open http://127.0.0.1:8000/ and register two accounts to test messaging.

For testing from another device on the same Wi-Fi network:

python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000

Then open http://YOUR_LAPTOP_IP:8000/ on the other device. Add the laptop IP to DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS in .env when needed.

Project Structure

• accounts/: authentication, profiles, templates, and frontend assets
• chats/: conversations, messages, REST endpoints, and WebSocket consumer
• config/: Django and ASGI configuration
• requirements.txt: Python dependencies

This project is intended for local learning and portfolio demonstration. Production deployment requires secure secrets, a production database, HTTPS, and a persistent channel layer.

Deploy on Render with Docker

1. Push the repository to GitHub.
2. In Render, choose New > Blueprint and select this repository.
3. Render will use render.yaml and the included Dockerfile.
4. After deployment, open the generated https://*.onrender.com URL and register a user.

The included configuration creates a Render Redis Key Value service and uses it for WebSocket channel communication. SQLite data is still suitable only for a portfolio demo; use PostgreSQL for persistent production data.