Go-Chat - Chat application

About

go-chat is a chat application that includes text and audio messaging.

Read the blog post where I talk about the building process.

The goal was to learn how to use websockets and make a functional real-time application.

Requirements

• Go version 1.24.6+
• PostgreSQL

Installation

Clone the repo:

git clone https://github.com/MudassirDev/go-chat.git
cd go-chat

Install dependencies:

go mod tidy

Copy the env file:

cp .env.example .env # Setup a postgres DB and update the url

Run the application:

make build && make run

Features

• Real-time text messaging
• Voice message recording and playback
• User authentication (token-based)
• Message persistence
• WebSocket-based communication

Libraries Used

• Gorilla Websockets — WebSocket implementation for Go
• PostgreSQL — Database for storing messages and user data

Architecture

• Backend: Go with Gorilla WebSockets
• Frontend: HTML, CSS, JavaScript with MediaRecorder API
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Storage: Local file system for audio files

Future Improvements

• Message read/unread states
• S3 integration for audio file storage
• Group chat functionality
• Typing indicators