Tutorials ASP.NET Core Complete Tutorial (ShopNest)
Build a Real-Time Chat App with SignalR and ASP.NET Core
Learn Build a Real-Time Chat App with SignalR and ASP.NET Core in our free ASP.NET Core Complete Tutorial (ShopNest) series. Step-by-step explanations, examples, and interview tips on Toolliyo Academy.
On this page
Introduction
Capstone #6: ShopNest Teams Chat — Identity auth, DMs, channels, message history, online status, typing indicator, read receipts, file sharing, Bootstrap UI.
After this article you will
- ChatHub with groups per channel
- Private messages user-to-user
- Persist messages in SQL Server
- Typing + read receipts + presence
- File upload in chat
Prerequisites
- Article 69 — Clean Architecture REST API
- Articles 1–64 ShopNest foundations (MVC, EF Core, API, auth, deploy)
Architecture & design
public class ChatHub : Hub
{
public async Task SendDirectMessage(string toUserId, string text) { ... }
public async Task SendChannelMessage(string channelId, string text) { ... }
public async Task Typing(string channelId) =>
Clients.OthersInGroup(channelId).SendAsync("UserTyping", Context.UserIdentifier);
}Hands-on build guide — ShopNest Team Collaboration Chat
- Entities: Channel, ChannelMember, Message, DirectMessage.
- Razor Pages chat UI + SignalR JS client.
- OnConnectedAsync sets user online in DB.
- Read receipt: mark Message.ReadAt when visible.
- File share: upload to blob; message contains URL.
Common pitfalls
- Clients.All for channel message — leaks to wrong users; use Groups.
- No message pagination — load last 50 on scroll up.
Interview & portfolio questions
Q: Scale chat?
A: Redis backplane (Article 43) + sticky sessions or Azure SignalR Service.
Summary
- Real-time capstone using SignalR + Identity
- DM + channels mirror Slack/Teams basics
- Portfolio demo impresses in live coding rounds
Previous: Clean Architecture REST API
Next: Blazor Complete Guide
FAQ
Azure SignalR Service?
Managed scale-out when self-hosted Redis insufficient.
End-to-end encryption?
TLS in transit; app-level E2E is separate advanced topic.
Interview prep for this lesson
Practice these questions aloud after reading—each links to a full structured answer.
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