Chat-Knot: Real-Time Communication Platform

⚠️ PROJECT STATUS: UNDER CONSTRUCTION
This project is actively being developed and is not yet production-ready. Some components may be incomplete or subject to change.

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📖 Overview

Chat-Knot is a real-time communication platform built with ASP.NET Core and SignalR, leveraging Domain-Driven Design (DDD) and modular monolith architecture principles. It provides a scalable foundation for event-driven chat applications with well-defined bounded contexts, supporting user messaging, presence tracking, and distributed communication flows.

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🧩 Key Architectural Features

• Real-Time Messaging via SignalR
• Modular Monolith Architecture with independent bounded contexts
• Domain-Driven Design (DDD) for modular and maintainable domain logic
• Event-Driven Communication using in-process events (MediatR)
• Clean Architecture with clear separation of concerns per module
• Simple Deployment as a single application (easily extractable to microservices)

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⚙️ Technology Stack

• Backend: ASP.NET Core 9.0, SignalR
• Architecture: Modular Monolith, DDD, Clean Architecture
• Messaging: MediatR (in-process events)
• Data Storage: SQL Server / MongoDB (polyglot persistence)
• Deployment: Single application (Docker support)

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🏗️ Project Structure

Chat-Knot/
├── src/
│   └── Modules/                    # Bounded Contexts
│       ├── Users/                  # User Management Module
│       │   ├── User.Domain/        # Domain entities, value objects, events
│       │   ├── User.Application/   # Use cases, commands, queries (CQRS)
│       │   ├── User.Infrastructure/# Data access, EF Core configurations
│       │   └── User.Api/           # API endpoints for this module
│       ├── Chats/                  # Chat Module (planned)
│       └── Notifications/          # Notifications Module (planned)
├── ChatKnot.sln                    # Solution file
└── README.md

Each module follows Clean Architecture principles with clear separation:

• Domain: Pure business logic, entities, value objects
• Application: Use cases, CQRS handlers, domain event handlers
• Infrastructure: Database, external services, implementations
• Api: HTTP endpoints, controllers, DTOs

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📦 Project Goals

• Build a modular, scalable chat system using clean architecture and DDD
• Explore real-time event orchestration with SignalR
• Serve as a reference project for modular monolith with clear bounded contexts
• Design for easy extraction to microservices when needed

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👤 Author

Luis Piquin Rey

• GitHub: @luispiquinrey
• Email: piquin.rey@gmail.com

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⚠️ Note: This project is under active development. Some features are experimental and may evolve over time.
Use at your own risk in non-production environments.