README

A simple, elegant Laravel package that adds real-time 1-to-1 chat functionality to your application using Laravel Reverb. Easy to install, easy to use, and follows Laravel best practices.

✨ Features

🚀 Real-time messaging using Laravel Reverb WebSockets
💬 1-to-1 conversations between users
✅ Read receipts to track message status
✍️ Typing indicators for better UX
🔒 Built-in authorization policies
️ Highly configurable with sensible defaults
🧪 Thoroughly tested with 100+ tests
📦 Easy to remove - clean uninstall with no residual code

🎨 Frontend Components Coming Soon! Complete React, Vue 3, and Livewire UI components are currently in development. For now, you can use the backend API to build your own custom frontend.

📋 Requirements

PHP 8.3+
Laravel 11.0+
Laravel Reverb (for real-time features)
Laravel Sanctum (for API authentication)

🚀 Quick Start

1. Install the Package

composer require muba00/laravel-live-chat

2. Run the Installer

php artisan live-chat:install

This interactive command will:

Check prerequisites
Publish configuration files
Publish and run migrations
Guide you through additional setup steps

3. Configure Broadcasting

Install Laravel Reverb:

composer require laravel/reverb
php artisan reverb:install

4. Configure Authentication

If not already done, install Laravel Sanctum:

composer require laravel/sanctum
php artisan install:api

5. Install Frontend Dependencies

npm install --save-dev laravel-echo pusher-js
npm run build

6. Start Using the Chat!

Backend - Create a conversation and send a message:

use muba00\LaravelLiveChat\Models\Conversation;
use muba00\LaravelLiveChat\Models\Message;

// Get or create a conversation between two users
$conversation = Conversation::between(auth()->user(), $otherUser);

// Send a message
$message = Message::create([
    'conversation_id' => $conversation->id,
    'sender_id' => auth()->id(),
    'message' => 'Hello! How are you?',
]);

Frontend - Build your own custom UI:

Use the provided API endpoints to build your custom chat interface. Complete frontend components for React, Vue 3, and Livewire are coming soon!

📖 Documentation

Installation

Manual Installation (Alternative)

If you prefer to install manually instead of using the installer command:

# Install package
composer require muba00/laravel-live-chat

# Publish config
php artisan vendor:publish --tag="laravel-live-chat-config"

# Publish migrations
php artisan vendor:publish --tag="laravel-live-chat-migrations"

# Run migrations
php artisan migrate

Configuration

The package configuration file is published to config/live-chat.php. Here are the key configuration options:

return [
    // User model configuration
    'user_model' => 'App\\Models\\User',

    // Customize table names
    'tables' => [
        'conversations' => 'live_chat_conversations',
        'messages' => 'live_chat_messages',
    ],

    // API routes configuration
    'routes' => [
        'enabled' => true,
        'prefix' => 'chat/api',
        'middleware' => ['api', 'auth:sanctum'],
    ],

    // Broadcasting settings
    'broadcasting' => [
        'enabled' => true,
        'channel_prefix' => 'chat',
    ],

    // Pagination
    'pagination' => [
        'messages_per_page' => 50,
        'conversations_per_page' => 20,
    ],

    // Message retention and storage
    'storage' => [
        'retention_days' => null, // null = keep forever
        'archive_enabled' => false,
        'max_message_length' => 5000,
    ],

    // Feature toggles
    'features' => [
        'read_receipts' => true,
        'typing_indicators' => true,
    ],

    // Security settings
    'security' => [
        'sanitize_messages' => true,
        'max_conversations_per_user' => 100,
    ],
];

Environment Variables

You can override configuration using environment variables:

CHAT_USER_MODEL="App\Models\User"
CHAT_MESSAGES_PER_PAGE=50
CHAT_CONVERSATIONS_PER_PAGE=20
CHAT_RETENTION_DAYS=90
CHAT_CACHE_ENABLED=true
CHAT_CACHE_TTL=3600

Usage

Backend API

The package automatically registers RESTful API routes:

POST   /chat/api/conversations                           # Create/get conversation
GET    /chat/api/conversations                           # List user's conversations
GET    /chat/api/conversations/{id}                      # Get conversation details
DELETE /chat/api/conversations/{id}                      # Delete conversation

GET    /chat/api/conversations/{id}/messages             # Get messages
POST   /chat/api/conversations/{id}/messages             # Send message
POST   /chat/api/conversations/{id}/messages/mark-read   # Mark messages as read
GET    /chat/api/conversations/{id}/messages/unread-count # Get unread count

POST   /chat/api/conversations/{id}/typing               # Broadcast typing indicator

Using Models

use muba00\LaravelLiveChat\Models\Conversation;
use muba00\LaravelLiveChat\Models\Message;

// Get or create a conversation
$conversation = Conversation::between($user1, $user2);

// Check if a user is part of a conversation
$conversation->includesUser($user);

// Get the other user in a conversation
$otherUser = $conversation->getOtherUser(auth()->user());

// Send a message
$message = Message::create([
    'conversation_id' => $conversation->id,
    'sender_id' => auth()->id(),
    'message' => 'Hello!',
]);

// Mark messages as read
$conversation->markAsReadBy(auth()->user());

// Get unread message count
$unreadCount = $conversation->unreadMessagesFor(auth()->user())->count();

Frontend Integration

The package provides a RESTful API for building custom chat interfaces. Complete frontend components for React, Vue 3, and Livewire are currently in development.

Example API Usage

// Fetch conversations
const response = await fetch("/chat/api/conversations", {
    headers: {
        Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
        Accept: "application/json",
    },
});
const conversations = await response.json();

// Send a message
await fetch(`/chat/api/conversations/${conversationId}/messages`, {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
        Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        Accept: "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ message: "Hello!" }),
});

// Listen for real-time messages
Echo.private(`chat.${conversationId}`).listen("MessageSent", (event) => {
    console.log("New message:", event.message);
});

Broadcasting Setup

Configure Laravel Reverb

Add to your .env:

BROADCAST_CONNECTION=reverb

REVERB_APP_ID=your-app-id
REVERB_APP_KEY=your-app-key
REVERB_APP_SECRET=your-app-secret
REVERB_HOST="localhost"
REVERB_PORT=8080
REVERB_SCHEME=http

Setup Laravel Echo

In your resources/js/bootstrap.js:

import Echo from "laravel-echo";
import Pusher from "pusher-js";

window.Pusher = Pusher;

window.Echo = new Echo({
    broadcaster: "reverb",
    key: import.meta.env.VITE_REVERB_APP_KEY,
    wsHost: import.meta.env.VITE_REVERB_HOST,
    wsPort: import.meta.env.VITE_REVERB_PORT ?? 80,
    wssPort: import.meta.env.VITE_REVERB_PORT ?? 443,
    forceTLS: (import.meta.env.VITE_REVERB_SCHEME ?? "https") === "https",
    enabledTransports: ["ws", "wss"],
});

Start Reverb Server

php artisan reverb:start

For production, use a process manager like Supervisor.

Artisan Commands

Install Command

php artisan live-chat:install [options]

Options:
  --force            Overwrite existing files
  --skip-migrations  Skip publishing migrations
  --skip-config      Skip publishing config

Cleanup Command

php artisan live-chat:cleanup [options]

Options:
  --days=X          Number of days to retain (overrides config)
  --archive         Archive messages instead of deleting
  --dry-run         Show what would be deleted without deleting
  --force           Skip confirmation prompt

Schedule cleanup automatically:

// In app/Console/Kernel.php
protected function schedule(Schedule $schedule)
{
    // Clean up messages older than 90 days, daily at 2 AM
    $schedule->command('live-chat:cleanup --days=90 --force')
        ->dailyAt('02:00');
}

Security

The package includes built-in authorization:

Users can only access conversations they're part of
Messages are validated before storage
XSS protection via message sanitization
Rate limiting support
Private broadcast channels with authorization

Customization

Customize Models

You can extend the package models in your application:

namespace App\Models;

use muba00\LaravelLiveChat\Models\Conversation as BaseConversation;

class Conversation extends BaseConversation
{
    // Add your custom methods and properties
}

Then update your config to use your custom model.

Disable Auto-registered Routes

// In config/live-chat.php
'routes' => [
    'enabled' => false,
],

Then register routes manually in your routes/api.php.

🧪 Testing

composer test
composer test-coverage
composer analyse
composer format

🗑️ Uninstalling

# Rollback migrations
php artisan migrate:rollback

# Remove published assets (optional)
rm config/live-chat.php

# Remove package
composer remove muba00/laravel-live-chat

📚 Additional Resources

API Reference

🐛 Troubleshooting

Messages not appearing in real-time

Check Reverb is running: php artisan reverb:start
Verify .env configuration for Reverb
Check browser console for WebSocket errors
Ensure Laravel Echo is properly initialized

Authorization errors

Verify Sanctum is installed and configured
Check API token is being sent in requests
Ensure user is part of the conversation

Database errors

Run migrations: php artisan migrate
Check table names in config match your setup
Verify user model configuration

🤝 Contributing

Please see CONTRIBUTING for details.

🔒 Security Vulnerabilities

Please review our security policy on how to report security vulnerabilities.

📝 Changelog

Please see CHANGELOG for more information on what has changed recently.

👏 Credits

📄 License

The MIT License (MIT). Please see License File for more information.

muba00 / laravel-live-chat

Maintainers

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