simple-chatapp

Simple Chat App

A demo chat application using the Claude Agent SDK with a React frontend and Express backend.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Claude Agent SDK credentials (set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable)

Installation

npm install

Running

npm run dev

This starts both:

• Backend (Express + WebSocket) on http://localhost:3001
• Frontend (Vite + React) on http://localhost:5173

Open http://localhost:5173 in your browser.

Production Considerations

This is an example app for demonstration purposes. For production use, consider:

1. Isolate the Agent SDK - Move the SDK into a separate container/service. This provides better security isolation since the agent has access to tools like Bash, file system operations, and web requests.

2. Persistent storage - Replace the in-memory ChatStore with a database. Currently all chats are lost on server restart.

3. Transcript syncing - For Agent Sessions to be persisted across server restarts, you'll need to persist and restore the SDK's conversation transcripts. The SDK maintains internal state for multi-turn conversations that must be synced with your storage.

4. Authentication - Add user authentication and authorization. Currently anyone can access any chat.

Demo