LinkUp

LinkUp is a real-time messaging web application with:

• FastAPI backend (server)
• React + Vite frontend (client)
• Redis for pub/sub + presence
• SQL database via SQLAlchemy

1. Prerequisites

Install these first:

• Node.js 18+ (20+ recommended)
• Python 3.10+
• Redis (running locally)
• A SQL database (PostgreSQL recommended, SQLite also works for local testing)

2. Clone and open project

git clone <your-repo-url>
cd LinkUp

3. Backend setup (server)

From the project root:

cd server
python -m venv .venv

Activate the virtual environment:

• Windows (PowerShell)

  .\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

• macOS/Linux

  source .venv/bin/activate

Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Create a .env file inside server/ with:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://USER:PASSWORD@localhost:5432/linkup
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379/0
SECRET_KEY=replace-with-a-long-random-secret
ALGORITHM=HS256

Notes:

• For SQLite (quick local setup), you can use: DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///./linkup.db
• SECRET_KEY should be a long random string in real deployments.

Run backend API:

uvicorn main:app --reload --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000

Backend should now be available at http://127.0.0.1:8000.

4. Frontend setup (client)

Open a second terminal from project root:

cd client
npm install
npm run dev

Frontend should now be available at http://localhost:5173.

5. Running the app

Keep both services running:

• Backend: http://127.0.0.1:8000
• Frontend: http://localhost:5173

Open the frontend URL, register a user, and start chatting.

6. Useful commands

• Frontend lint:

  cd client && npm run lint

• Stop backend/frontend:
  • Use Ctrl + C in each terminal.