CALLU

CALLU is a private, invite-only community platform for professionals, creators, and visionaries. It provides high-fidelity voice and video calls, collaborative rooms with real-time chat and a synchronized music player, and a curated member directory — all within an exclusive, manually-reviewed network.

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Repositories & Sync

• This repo (sanks011/callu) is the web + server version.
• Desktop app (Electron) lives at: https://github.com/Sahnik0/callu

To keep both apps in sync, we recommend a shared root folder like:

Callu/
├── callu/          # Web + server (this repo)
└── callu-desktop/  # Electron app (Sahnik0/callu)

Desktop app API URL

In the Electron app, set:

VITE_API_URL=https://callu.up.railway.app

For local development, run this server locally and change VITE_API_URL to your local URL (for example http://localhost:3000).

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Features

• Curated Access — Applications are reviewed manually; fewer than 1% of applicants are accepted, ensuring a high-trust environment.
• OTP Authentication — Members log in with a one-time code sent to their verified email address. No passwords to remember or leak.
• 1-on-1 Voice & Video Calls — Peer-to-peer calls powered by WebRTC (SimplePeer) with real-time signaling over Socket.IO.
• Community Rooms — Multi-participant voice/video rooms featuring:
  • Screen sharing
  • Real-time text chat with file attachments (stored via ImageKit, auto-expired)
  • Synchronized music player (YouTube-sourced, queue-based, host-controlled)
• Live Presence — See which members are currently online, updated in real time.
• Admin Dashboard — Manage applicants (approve / reject), view members, and oversee the community.
• Settings & Wallet — Member profile customization and wallet management.

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Framework	Next.js 16 (App Router) + TypeScript
UI	React 19, Tailwind CSS v4, Framer Motion, Lenis
Real-time	Socket.IO (server + client)
Video/Voice	SimplePeer (WebRTC)
Database	MongoDB via Mongoose
Email / OTP	Nodemailer (SMTP / Gmail)
File Storage	ImageKit
Music	YouTube IFrame API via react-youtube
Deployment	Render

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Prerequisites

• Node.js ≥ 18
• npm ≥ 9
• A running MongoDB instance (local or Atlas)
• A Gmail account with an App Password (or any SMTP provider)
• (Optional) An ImageKit account for room chat file attachments

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Local Setup

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/sanks011/callu.git
   cd callu

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Configure environment variables

   Create a .env file in the project root (see Environment Variables below):

   cp .env.example .env   # if an example file exists, otherwise create it manually

4. Seed the database (optional — creates sample data)

   npm run seed

5. Start the development server

   npm run dev

   Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

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Environment Variables

Create a .env file at the root of the project (copy .env.example), with the following required variables:

IMAGEKIT_PRIVATE_KEY=
IMAGEKIT_PUBLIC_KEY=
IMAGEKIT_URL_ENDPOINT=
MONGODB_URI=
NEXT_PUBLIC_URL=https://callu.up.railway.app
OTP_BCC_EMAIL=
PORT=
SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=your@gmail.com
SMTP_PASS=your_app_password
SMTP_FROM_NAME=CALLU

Note: You can replace NEXT_PUBLIC_URL with your local URL (for example http://localhost:3000) for local development.
Note: ImageKit variables are optional. If omitted, room chat file attachments and automatic cleanup of expired uploads are disabled.

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Available Scripts

Command	Description
npm run dev	Start the development server with hot-reload (via nodemon + ts-node)
npm run build	Build the Next.js app and compile the custom server for production
npm start	Run the production server (requires npm run build first)
npm run lint	Lint the codebase with ESLint
npm run seed	Seed the MongoDB database with initial data

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Project Structure

callu/
├── app/                  # Next.js App Router pages and API routes
│   ├── admin/            # Admin dashboard
│   ├── api/              # REST API routes (auth, apply, calls, rooms, …)
│   ├── dashboard/        # Member dashboard (members, calls, rooms, settings, wallet)
│   └── page.tsx          # Landing page
├── components/           # Shared React components
├── context/              # React context providers (auth, …)
├── lib/                  # Server-side utilities (DB, email, config validation)
├── models/               # Mongoose models (User, Room, CallLog, …)
├── public/               # Static assets
├── server.ts             # Custom Node.js + Socket.IO server entry point
├── seed.ts               # Database seeding script
├── render.yaml           # Render deployment configuration
└── next.config.ts        # Next.js configuration

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Deployment

The project ships with a render.yaml for one-click deployment on Render.

1. Push your code to GitHub.
2. Create a new Web Service on Render and connect your repository.
3. Render will automatically detect render.yaml and use the configured build (npm install && npm run build) and start (npm start) commands.
4. Add all required Environment Variables in the Render dashboard under Environment.

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! For large features, please start a discussion first to gather feedback from maintainers and clarify scope before proceeding. For smaller fixes, open an issue or pull request directly. Make sure npm run lint passes before submitting.

Pull requests should follow the template in .github/pull_request_template.md, include a Fixes #<issue-number> reference, and use a conventional PR title such as fix: short summary.