Social Media App – MERN stack client/server with basic auth, posts, and media upload

• A React (Vite) client with routing and MUI, and an Express/MongoDB API for authentication, users, posts, and file uploads.

Table of Contents

• Badges
• Features
• Getting Started
  • Prerequisites
  • Installation
  • Environment Variables
  • Run Locally
• Usage / Examples
• Build & Deployment
• Project Structure
• API Reference
• Environment / Configuration
• Contributing
• License
• Troubleshooting & FAQ
• Changelog / Versioning
• Contact / Maintainers
• MISSING INFO

Badges

• License: ISC

Features

• Express API with routes:
  • Auth: POST /api/auth/register, POST /api/auth/login
  • Users: PUT /api/users/:id, DELETE /api/users/:id, GET /api/users?userId=...|username=..., GET /api/users/friends/:userId, PUT /api/users/:id/follow, PUT /api/users/:id/unfollow
  • Posts: POST /api/posts, PUT /api/posts/:id, DELETE /api/posts/:id, PUT /api/posts/:id/like, GET /api/posts/:id, GET /api/posts/timeline/:userId, GET /api/posts/profile/:username
  • Uploads: POST /api/upload (multipart, field name: file), static files served under /images/...
• MongoDB models: User, Post
• Client app:
  • React (Vite) with React Router and MUI
  • Dev server proxy for API requests to http://localhost:8800 via /api
  • Scripts for dev, build, preview, and linting

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (modern version supporting ES Modules; exact version not specified)
• MongoDB instance/connection string

Installation

From the repository root, install client and server dependencies:

# client
cd client
npm install

# server
cd ../server
npm install

Environment Variables

Create a .env file in server/ with:

# Required by server/index.js
MONGO_URL="mongodb://localhost:27017/your-db-name"

Optional: the server currently listens on port 8800 (hardcoded).

Run Locally

Start the API server and the client in separate terminals:

# terminal 1 - API server
cd server
npm start  # uses nodemon index.js

# terminal 2 - client
cd client
npm run dev

Client dev server proxies /api to http://localhost:8800.

Usage / Examples

• Register

curl -X POST http://localhost:8800/api/auth/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"username":"alice","email":"[email protected]","password":"secret"}'

• Login

curl -X POST http://localhost:8800/api/auth/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"[email protected]","password":"secret"}'

• Get user by ID or username

# by id
curl "http://localhost:8800/api/users?userId=USER_ID"

# by username
curl "http://localhost:8800/api/users?username=alice"

• Follow / Unfollow

curl -X PUT http://localhost:8800/api/users/TARGET_USER_ID/follow \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"userId":"CURRENT_USER_ID"}'

curl -X PUT http://localhost:8800/api/users/TARGET_USER_ID/unfollow \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"userId":"CURRENT_USER_ID"}'

• Create post

curl -X POST http://localhost:8800/api/posts \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"userId":"CURRENT_USER_ID","desc":"hello world"}'

• Like/Dislike post

curl -X PUT http://localhost:8800/api/posts/POST_ID/like \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"userId":"CURRENT_USER_ID"}'

• Upload image (saved under server/public/images/ and served at /images/<filename>)

curl -X POST http://localhost:8800/api/upload \
  -F "file=@/path/to/local/image.jpg"

Build & Deployment

Client build

cd client
npm run build
npm run preview  # locally preview build

Server

• No build step; run with Node (script uses nodemon index.js during development).

CI

• No CI configuration found.

Project Structure

social-media-app/
  client/
    src/            # React app (components, pages, context)
    vite.config.js  # Dev server proxy for /api -> http://localhost:8800
    package.json    # dev, build, preview, lint scripts
  server/
    index.js        # Express app, routes, MongoDB connection, upload handling
    routes/         # auth.js, users.js, posts.js
    models/         # User.js, Post.js (Mongoose schemas)
    public/images/  # Uploaded files (served at /images)
  .gitignore
  README.md

API Reference

• Base URL: http://localhost:8800/api

Auth

• POST /auth/register — create a user
• POST /auth/login — authenticate user

Users

• PUT /users/:id — update user (requires userId in body matching :id or isAdmin)
• DELETE /users/:id — delete user (requires userId or isAdmin)
• GET /users?userId=...|username=... — fetch user (excludes sensitive fields)
• GET /users/friends/:userId — list friend summaries
• PUT /users/:id/follow — follow a user (requires userId in body)
• PUT /users/:id/unfollow — unfollow a user (requires userId in body)

Posts

• POST /posts — create post
• PUT /posts/:id — update post (must be owner)
• DELETE /posts/:id — delete post (must be owner)
• PUT /posts/:id/like — like/dislike post
• GET /posts/:id — fetch post by id
• GET /posts/timeline/:userId — user timeline + followings
• GET /posts/profile/:username — posts by username

Uploads

• POST /upload — multipart upload; returns { filename }
• Static: GET /images/<filename>

All endpoints return JSON. Some checks rely on body fields such as userId and isAdmin. Authentication/authorization tokens are not present in the provided code.

Environment / Configuration

• MONGO_URL (required): MongoDB connection string, e.g. mongodb://localhost:27017/social_media
• Port: API listens on 8800 (hardcoded).
• Upload directory: server/public/images (created automatically if present on disk; ensure it exists in production).

Contributing

• Fork and create a feature branch
• Keep changes focused and documented
• Run linters and builds where applicable
• Open a PR with:
  • Clear description and rationale
  • Screenshots or curl examples if touching API/UX
  • Notes on any migrations or env changes
  • Checklist: builds pass, lint passes, README updated if needed

License

ISC

Troubleshooting & FAQ

• MongoDB connection fails: verify MONGO_URL in server/.env and that MongoDB is reachable.
• 404/Proxy issues in client dev: ensure client requests use /api/... so Vite proxy forwards to http://localhost:8800.
• Uploads not accessible: confirm files are saved to server/public/images and accessed via /images/<filename>.

Changelog / Versioning

• Recommended: Semantic Versioning (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH).
• Start CHANGELOG entries with date, version, and brief notes.

Contact / Maintainers

• Author: Newton Yetsedaw
• Contact: [email protected]

MISSING INFO

• Node.js version(s) supported — add exact version (e.g., “>=18.0”).
• Production start command for server — script uses nodemon (dev). Suggest adding "start": "node index.js" and a separate "dev": "nodemon index.js".
• Authentication strategy beyond bcrypt checks — no tokens/sessions present. Specify if/when added.
• CORS policy — not present; add details if needed for non-proxied clients.
• Deployment steps (Dockerfile, hosting, envs) — none provided; add instructions.
• Tests — none detected; add test framework and commands if applicable.
• Contact details and repository links for badges — https://github.com/NewtonY-dev and [email protected].

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