Introduction

Innue is a popular live chat software that allows developers to integrate a real-time chat functionality into their web applications. In this tutorial, we will be exploring how to use Innue with Laravel and React JS to create a live chat system. We will go through the steps of setting up Innue, creating a Laravel API to handle chat requests, and building a React JS frontend to display and send messages.

Prerequisites

Before starting this tutorial, make sure you have:

1. A basic understanding of Laravel and React JS
2. A Laravel project set up and running
3. A React JS project set up and running
4. A copy of Innue's code installed in your project

Setting up Innue

First, let's set up Innue in our Laravel project. Innue provides a simple installation process that involves creating a new file in our Laravel project and configuring it to use Innue.

1. Create a new file in your Laravel project's config directory called innue.php.
2. In this file, add the following code:

   
   <?php

return [ 'api_key' => env('INNUE_API_KEY'), 'api_secret' => env('INNUE_API_SECRET'), 'enabled' => true, ];

This file will store our Innue API key and secret, which we will use to authenticate with Innue's API.

**Configuring Innue API Keys**

Next, we need to configure our Innue API keys in our Laravel project's `.env` file.

1. In your `.env` file, add the following lines:

INNUE_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY INNUE_API_SECRET=YOUR_API_SECRET

Replace `YOUR_API_KEY` and `YOUR_API_SECRET` with your actual Innue API key and secret.

**Creating a Laravel API**

Now that we have Innue set up, let's create a Laravel API to handle chat requests.

1. Create a new controller in your Laravel project's `app/Http/Controllers` directory called `ChatController.php`.
2. In this controller, add the following code:
```php
<?php

namespace AppHttpControllers;

use IlluminateHttpRequest;
use InnueInnue;

class ChatController extends Controller
{
    public function sendMessage(Request $request)
    {
        $innue = new Innue();
        $innue->setApiKey(env('INNUE_API_KEY'));
        $innue->setApiSecret(env('INNUE_API_SECRET'));

        $message = $request->input('message');
        $innue->sendMessage($message);

        return response()->json(['message' => 'Message sent successfully']);
    }

    public function getMessages()
    {
        $innue = new Innue();
        $innue->setApiKey(env('INNUE_API_KEY'));
        $innue->setApiSecret(env('INNUE_API_SECRET'));

        $messages = $innue->getMessages();

        return response()->json(['messages' => $messages]);
    }
}

This controller has two methods: sendMessage and getMessages. The sendMessage method takes a message as input and sends it to Innue using the sendMessage method of the Innue API. The getMessages method retrieves a list of messages from Innue using the getMessages method of the Innue API.

Building the React JS Frontend

Now that we have our Laravel API set up, let's build the React JS frontend to display and send messages.

1. Create a new React component in your React project's src directory called Chat.js.
2. In this component, add the following code:

   
   import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
   import axios from 'axios';

function Chat() { const [messages, setMessages] = useState([]); const [newMessage, setNewMessage] = useState('');

useEffect(() => { axios.get('api/chat/getMessages') .then(response => { setMessages(response.data.messages); }) .catch(error => { console.error(error); }); }, []);

const handleSubmit = event => { event.preventDefault();

axios.post('api/chat/sendMessage', { message: newMessage })
 .then(response => {
    setNewMessage('');
    setMessages([...messages, response.data.message]);
  })
 .catch(error => {
    console.error(error);
  });

};

return (

); }

export default Chat;

This component displays a text input and a send button, as well as a list of messages. When the user types a message and clicks the send button, the component sends the message to the Laravel API using the `axios` library. The Laravel API then sends the message to Innue, and Innue returns the message back to the component, which updates the list of messages.

**Conclusion**

In this tutorial, we have learned how to use Innue with Laravel and React JS to create a live chat system. We have set up Innue in our Laravel project, created a Laravel API to handle chat requests, and built a React JS frontend to display and send messages. With this setup, we can now integrate a real-time chat functionality into our web application.

I hope this tutorial has been helpful! Let me know if you have any questions or need further assistance.