Products:
Redis
Stack:
Next.js, WebSocket
Use Case:
State Store, Caching
Languages:
TypeScript
Platforms:
fly.io
Publisher:

Chat Application with Next.js and Upstash Kafka

Welcome! This example showcases an interactive messaging platform that harnesses the power of Upstash Kafka, Upstash Redis, and Next.js. Through this example, you will gain hands-on experience in utilizing Upstash Redis and Upstash Kafka for a robust real-time communication system and learn to integrate various technologies with Upstash.

Demo

To see the demo version of this project, please navigate to here.

You can also build your own demo following the blogpost of this project. It describes the development and deployment process in detail.

Project Overview

The goal of this example is to develop a real-time chat application that allows users to communicate through multiple clients, each with a unique username. The application consists of two main pages: client registration and chat room.

Client Registration

The client registration page allows users to create multiple clients, each with a unique username. Upon clicking a client's username, users are directed to a dedicated chat room associated with that specific client.

Chat Room

The chat room page enables real-time communication between clients. When users click on a client's username and enter a chat room, they can send and receive messages in real time. Users can also access the history of the chatroom.

Application Logic

The chat application's logic is as follows:

  • Users create multiple clients on the index page, each with a unique username.
  • Clicking on a client's username opens a new tab with a separate client and a unique path.
  • Each client establishes a WebSocket connection to a message server.
  • Messages sent from a client are directed to the associated message server via WebSocket.
  • Message servers handle the message traffic by routing messages to a Kafka Broker.
  • Each message server runs a Node.js thread to manage incoming messages.
  • Consumed messages from Kafka are sent to clients through WebSocket connections.
  • The react-use-websocket library is used to consume incoming messages on the client side.

Data Storage

Upstash Redis: The application utilizes Upstash Redis to store message history. Messages produced to Kafka are also persisted in the Redis database. Old messages are retrieved from Upstash Redis upon creating a new client and are displayed in the chat interface.

Deployment

The current version of this example is deployed to Fly.io. You can check out the blogpost to learn about the deployment process.

Learn More

To learn more about Upstash and its services, check out the following resources: