Postchat API

API-driven chat for an API-driven world.

You won't find any message input boxes here... make a POST request to send a message!

Messages can be viewd in real time from https://postchat.netlify.app/rooms/:roomId when using prod configuration.

Built with Node/Express/Typescript/MongoDB

Docs

Base url: https://postchat-api.herokuapp.com/api/v1

Create a room

POST /rooms

Create a new room with a given title

Example request body

{
  "title": "Fauxtech Institute"
}

Example response

{
  "_id": "608f50f1a100f1eea3e01b01",
  "title": "Fauxtech Institute",
  "messages": []
}

Get a room

GET /rooms/:roomId

Returns messages and info for room with given id

Example response

{
  "_id": "608f50f1a100f1eea3e01b01",
  "title": "Fauxtech Institute",
  "messages": [
    {
      "_id": "608f50f1a100f1eea3e01b01",
      "text": "laboris esse nulla cillum",
      "username": "fugiat"
    },
    {
      "_id": "608f5a7b39abc8f2152d67a6",
      "text": "aliqua incididunt culpa Excepteur Duis",
      "username": "dolore"
    }
  ]
}

Send a message to a room

POST /rooms/:roomId/message

Sends a message to room with given id in path

Example request body

{
  "text": "Look ma', no UI!",
  "username": "postmanaut"
}

Example response

{
  "_id": "208f50f1a100f1eea3e01b01",
  "text": "Look ma', no UI!",
  "username": "postmanaut"
}

Development

Pre-reqs

• node
• yarn (1.x)
• git

Use a node version manager such as n to switch node versions to 16.x. For example:

n 16.0.0

Install

yarn install

Copy env vars

Copy the env defaults

cp .env.default .env

Then fill in the MONGO_URI value with a valid URI. (see Data)

Start dev server

yarn dev

The dev server serves typescript files directly via ts-node, and automatically reloads when any file changes are made in src.

Data

This API uses a free MongoDB cluster via MongoDB Atlas to persist data.

Use exisiting dev db

If you would like to use the existing production database, contact @clairefro for the credentials.

Create your own cluster

If you would like to create your own database for local testing or a fork of this API, create an account and create a new cluster using the defaults.

Once your cluster is created, click the CONNECT button and follow the instructions for connecting a db instance to an application. Be sure to whitelist your IP address. You will be asked to create a user with a password - jot this down. You will need to supply these credentials in the url for MONGO_URI variable in this project's .env file.

Deployment

To deploy to Heroku

1. Request access as a collaborator on the postchat-api github project (contact @clairefro)
2. Request access as a collaborator on the postchat-api heroku project (contact @clairefro)
3. Ensure your latest changes are merged into main and you've pulled the latest changes
4. yarn deploy

This app uses build packs:

1. heroku/nodejs