Twizzy Chat
Twizzy Chat is where my full stack journey officially began.
Born during a quiet afternoon at KJSCE Devopia which i was a part of organizing team, this project came to life not from a plan, but from sheer boredom and a bit of FOMO. Watching other participants code sparked something — so I rolled up my sleeves and dove in.
Context
Twizzy Chat is a real-time messaging web application built using the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js), with Socket.IO handling live communication and JWT for authentication. It’s lightweight, snappy, and has all the essentials for a smooth chatting experience.
Features & Stack
- Real-time Messaging with Socket.IO
- User Auth using JWT + bcryptjs for secure sessions
- MongoDB for storing users and messages
- TailwindCSS + DaisyUI for styling
- Zustand for global state management
Everything’s hosted on Render — both frontend and backend.
The Origin Story
Let’s be real — this wasn’t some grand vision. It started with a YouTube tutorial and a lot of trial and error. But Twizzy Chat ended up being a game-changer for me. It was the first time I truly built something end-to-end. No copy-pasting, just figuring things out and watching it all come together.
That afternoon project? It’s what got me hooked on full stack development.
What I Learned
- How the frontend talks to the backend in real time
- Why auth is tricky and how to make it secure (hello JWT & bcrypt)
- The rush of shipping a working product — live, functional, and mine
Twizzy Chat may have started as a bored dev’s side quest, but it became the spark that lit up my full stack dev journey.