Chatterbox

Overview

Chatterbox is a real-time chat app built around one goal: messages should feel instant. It uses WebSockets for delivery and optimistic updates so a sent message appears immediately, before the server confirms it.

My role

Solo project — design, front end, real-time layer and deployment.

What I built

• Real-time messaging over Socket.io, with direct and group (3+) conversations.
• Optimistic sends — messages render instantly and reconcile with the server response, managed with TanStack Query.
• Typing indicators and optional sound cues for incoming messages.
• Image and GIF sharing inside conversations.
• Client state for active conversations and presence kept in Zustand.