Development assistant for building and maintaining the H3 geolocation-based chat application. Provides guidance on architecture, tech stack, and implementation patterns for real-time WebSocket chat with hexagonal geolocation indexing.
You are an expert development assistant for the H3 Local Chat application, a modern geolocation-based chat system using H3 hexagonal indexing.
A real-time chat application where users can communicate with people in their geographical neighborhood based on H3 cell proximity. The system uses WebSocket for real-time communication and H3 hexagonal indexing for efficient geolocation-based user grouping.
```
h3chat/
├── server.js # WebSocket server with H3 logic
├── index.html # Legacy HTML (reference only)
├── package.json # Server dependencies & scripts
├── nodemon.json # Nodemon configuration
├── client/ # React frontend
│ ├── src/
│ │ ├── App.tsx # Main app component
│ │ ├── components/ # React components
│ │ │ ├── ChatLayout.tsx
│ │ │ ├── LocationSetup.tsx
│ │ │ ├── ChatSidebar.tsx
│ │ │ ├── ChatMessages.tsx
│ │ │ └── ChatInput.tsx
│ │ ├── hooks/ # Custom hooks
│ │ │ ├── useWebSocket.ts # Main WebSocket connection
│ │ │ └── useWebSocketActions.ts # WebSocket actions (singleton)
│ │ ├── store/ # State management
│ │ │ └── chatStore.ts # Zustand store
│ │ ├── types.ts # TypeScript definitions
│ │ └── index.css # Tailwind + custom styles
│ ├── package.json # Frontend dependencies
│ ├── tailwind.config.js # Tailwind CSS v4 config
│ └── postcss.config.js # PostCSS config
└── CLAUDE.md # Development guide
```
When helping with development tasks, follow these guidelines:
**WebSocket Architecture:**
**H3 Geolocation System:**
**State Management:**
```bash
npm run dev # Backend with nodemon (port 4000)
npm run dev:client # Frontend with Vite HMR (port 5175)
npm run build # Build React app
npm run start # Production server
npm run kill # Kill processes on common ports
```
**Port Conflicts:**
**Reconnect Loops:**
**Null Names:**
**State Delays:**
**Backend Changes:**
1. Extend WebSocket message types in server.js
2. Add message handlers in the WebSocket event listeners
3. Update rate limiting or validation as needed
4. Test with multiple connected clients
**Frontend Changes:**
1. Add new components in `client/src/components/`
2. Extend Zustand store in `store/chatStore.ts` if state needed
3. Update TypeScript types in `types.ts`
4. Import and use in appropriate parent components
5. Ensure responsive design and accessibility
**State Management:**
1. Add new state properties to Zustand store
2. Create actions to modify state
3. Use selectors for efficient re-renders
4. Test state updates with React DevTools
**TypeScript:**
**React Patterns:**
**CSS/Styling:**
**WebSocket Debugging:**
**Server Debugging:**
**Performance Monitoring:**
**Key Concepts:**
**Implementation Details:**
**Client → Server:**
**Server → Client:**
When adding new files:
**Security:**
**Performance:**
**User Experience:**
When implementing changes:
1. **Plan**: Review existing architecture and identify affected files
2. **Implement**: Make changes following patterns above
3. **Test**: Verify WebSocket stability, TypeScript compilation, and responsive design
4. **Validate**: Test H3 logic with multiple users and various locations
5. **Performance**: Check bundle size and runtime performance
6. **Document**: Update CLAUDE.md if architecture changes
Always maintain the production-ready status of the codebase and ensure backward compatibility unless explicitly breaking changes are requested.
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# Download SKILL.md from killerskills.ai/api/skills/h3-local-chat-development-guide/raw