page_type	languages	products
sample	javascript nodejs	azure azure-communication-services

Group Chat Sample

Overview

This is a sample application to show how we can use the @azure/communication-react package to build a chat experience. Learn more about the Azure Communication Services UI Library. The client-side application is a React based user interface. Alongside this front-end is a NodeJS web application powered by ExpressJS that performs functionality like minting new user tokens for each chat participant.

Additional documentation for this sample can be found on Microsoft Docs.

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Prerequisites

• Visual Studio Code (Stable Build)
• Node.js (LTS version)
• Create an Azure account with an active subscription. For details, see Create an account for free.
• Create an Azure Communication Services resource. For details, see Create an Azure Communication Resource. You'll need to record your resource connection string for this quickstart.

Code structure

• ./Chat/src/app: Where the client code lives
• ./Chat/src/app/App.tsx: Entry point into the chat sample
• ./Chat/src/app/HomeScreen.tsx: The first screen in the chat sample
• ./Chat/src/app/ConfigurationScreen.tsx: Where to set your name and avatar for the chat
• ./Chat/src/app/ChatScreen.tsx: The main chat thread screen
• ./Chat/src/app/EndScreen.tsx: The screen the user will see when they are no longer in the chat thread
• ./Chat/src/app/ErrorScreen.tsx: The screen when an error occurs in the chat thread
• ./Server: server code
• ./Server/appsettings.json: Where to put your azure communication services connection string

Before running the sample for the first time

1. Open an instance of PowerShell, Windows Terminal, Command Prompt or equivalent and navigate to the directory that you'd like to clone the sample to.
2. git clone https://github.com/Azure-Samples/communication-services-web-chat-hero.git
3. Get the Connection String from the Azure portal. For more information on connection strings, see Create an Azure Communication Resources
4. Once you get the Connection String, Add the connection string to the Server/appsettings.json file found under the Chat folder. Input your connection string in the variable: ResourceConnectionString.
5. Once you get the Endpoint, add the endpoint string to the Server/appsetting.json file. Input your endpoint in the variable: EndpointUrl.
6. Get the identity from the Azure portal. Click on Identities & User Access Tokens in Azure portal. Generate a user with Chat scope.
7. Once you get the identity string, add the identity string to the Server/appsetting.json file. Input your identity string in the variable: AdminUserId. This is the server user to add new users to the chat thread.

Local run

1. Set your connection string in Server/appsettings.json
2. Set your endpoint URL string in Server/appsettings.json
3. Set your adminUserId string in Server/appsettings.json
4. npm run setup from the root directory
5. npm run start from the root directory

Publish to Azure

1. npm run setup
2. npm run build
3. npm run package
4. Use the Azure extension and deploy the Chat/dist directory to your app service

Additional Reading

• Azure Communication Services - UI Library - To learn more about what the @azure/communication-react package offers.
• Azure Communication Chat SDK - To learn more about the chat web sdk
• FluentUI - Microsoft powered UI library
• React - Library for building user interfaces