ECC Chat App

A real-time, end-to-end encrypted chat application built with Flask, Socket.IO, and React. This project aims to provide end to end encryption in order to create secure and private communication channels.

Features

• 🔒 End-to-End Encryption: Messages are encrypted using a custom ECC implementation.
• 💬 Real-Time Chat: Built with Flask-SocketIO and React for instant messaging.
• 👥 Private Rooms: Users can create and join private chat rooms.
• ⚡ Modern Frontend: Built with React, TypeScript, TailwindCSS, Shadcn, Socket.io and React Router.
• 🐍 Python Backend: Flask API with flask-socketio for real-time communication.

---

Project Structure

ECC_ChatApp/
│
├── backend/           # Flask backend with Socket.IO and ECC logic
│   ├── main.py        # Main Flask app and Socket.IO event handlers
│   ├── Message.py     # Message model/logic
│   ├── requirements.txt
│   └── .venv/         # Python virtual environment
│
├── frontend/          # React frontend
│   ├── app/           # Main app code (components, routes, etc.)
│   │   ├── components/
│   │   │   ├── PrivateMessaging/  # Chat room creation/joining
│   │   │   └── ui/                # Reusable UI components (Shadcn)
│   │   ├── routes/                # Route components (chat, home, etc.)
│   │   └── root.tsx               # App root
│   ├── public/
│   ├── package.json
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   └── README.md
│
├── README.md           # (You are here)
└── logs.md             # Project logs/notes

---

Getting Started

Backend

1. Install dependencies:

   cd backend
   python3 -m venv .venv
   source .venv/bin/activate
   pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Run the server:

   python3 main.py

   The backend will start on http://localhost:5001. (Note: please note backend URL for frontend)

Frontend

1. Install dependencies:

   cd frontend
   echo 'VITE_BACKEND_URL=<YOUR_BACKEND_URL>' > .env
   npm install

2. Start the development server:

   npm run dev

   The frontend will be available at http://localhost:5173 | <Your Specified URL>.

---

Technologies Used

Backend

• Python, Flask, Flask-SocketIO
• CORS for cross-origin requests
• (Planned) Custom ECC implementation for encryption

Frontend

• React, TypeScript, React Router
• TailwindCSS for styling
• socket.io-client for real-time communication

---

ECC Implementation

This project will feature a custom implementation of Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) for secure, end-to-end encrypted messaging. The ECC logic will be implemented from scratch in the backend and integrated into the chat workflow.

---

Contributing

1. Fork the repo
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/YourFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add some feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/YourFeature)
5. Open a pull request

Let me know if you want to add usage examples, API details, or more about the ECC implementation!