YouTube Clone

A full-stack YouTube clone application built with React and Node.js, featuring user authentication, video upload, comments, and a modern responsive UI.

🎯 Features

Frontend

• Modern UI/UX: Responsive design with dark/light theme support
• Video Management: Upload, watch, and browse videos
• User Authentication: Sign up, sign in, and Google OAuth integration
• Interactive Features:
  • Like/dislike videos
  • Comment on videos
  • Subscribe to channels
  • Search functionality
  • Video recommendations
• State Management: Redux Toolkit for centralized state
• Real-time Updates: Dynamic video views and engagement metrics

Backend

• RESTful API: Express.js server with organized routes
• Authentication: JWT-based authentication with secure password hashing
• Database: MongoDB with Mongoose ODM
• User Management: User profiles with subscription system
• Video Operations: CRUD operations for videos
• Comments System: Full comment management with user association

🛠️ Tech Stack

Frontend

• React 19 - UI library
• Vite - Build tool and dev server
• Material-UI (MUI) - Component library
• Redux Toolkit - State management
• React Router - Navigation
• Firebase - Google authentication
• Styled Components - CSS-in-JS styling
• Axios - HTTP client

Backend

• Node.js - Runtime environment
• Express.js - Web framework
• MongoDB - Database
• Mongoose - ODM
• JWT - Authentication tokens
• bcryptjs - Password hashing
• Cookie Parser - Cookie handling
• CORS - Cross-origin resource sharing

📋 Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

• Node.js (v18.0.0 or higher)
• npm or yarn package manager
• MongoDB (local installation or MongoDB Atlas account)
• Firebase Account (for Google authentication)

🚀 Getting Started

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/NewtonY-dev/youtube-clone.git
cd youtube-clone

2. Install Dependencies

Frontend

cd frontend
npm install

Backend

cd server
npm install

3. Environment Variables

Backend (.env in /server directory)

Create a .env file in the server directory:

MONGO=your_mongodb_connection_string
JWT=your_jwt_secret_key

Example:

MONGO=mongodb://localhost:27017/youtube-clone
# or for MongoDB Atlas:
# MONGO=mongodb+srv://username:[email protected]/youtube-clone?retryWrites=true&w=majority
JWT=your_super_secret_jwt_key_here

Frontend (.env in /frontend directory)

Create a .env file in the frontend directory:

VITE_FIREBASE_API_KEY=your_firebase_api_key
VITE_FIREBASE_AUTH_DOMAIN=your_firebase_auth_domain
VITE_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID=your_firebase_project_id
VITE_FIREBASE_STORAGE_BUCKET=your_firebase_storage_bucket
VITE_FIREBASE_MESSAGING_SENDER_ID=your_firebase_messaging_sender_id
VITE_FIREBASE_APP_ID=your_firebase_app_id

4. Run the Application

Start the Backend Server

cd server
npm start

The server will run on http://localhost:8080

Start the Frontend Development Server

Open a new terminal:

cd frontend
npm run dev

The frontend will run on http://localhost:5173 (or the next available port)

📁 Project Structure

youtube-clone/
├── frontend/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/       # Reusable UI components
│   │   │   ├── Card.jsx      # Video card component
│   │   │   ├── Comment.jsx   # Comment component
│   │   │   ├── Comments.jsx  # Comments section
│   │   │   ├── Menu.jsx        # Sidebar menu
│   │   │   ├── Navbar.jsx     # Navigation bar
│   │   │   ├── Recommendation.jsx
│   │   │   └── Upload.jsx    # Video upload component
│   │   ├── pages/            # Page components
│   │   │   ├── Home.jsx      # Home page
│   │   │   ├── Video.jsx     # Video player page
│   │   │   ├── Search.jsx    # Search results page
│   │   │   └── SignIn.jsx    # Authentication page
│   │   ├── redux/            # Redux store and slices
│   │   │   ├── store.js
│   │   │   ├── userSlice.js
│   │   │   └── videoSlice.js
│   │   ├── utils/            # Utility functions
│   │   │   └── Theme.jsx     # Theme configuration
│   │   ├── firebase.js       # Firebase configuration
│   │   ├── App.jsx           # Main app component
│   │   └── main.jsx          # Entry point
│   ├── package.json
│   └── vite.config.js
│
├── server/
│   ├── controllers/          # Route controllers
│   │   ├── auth.js
│   │   ├── user.js
│   │   ├── video.js
│   │   └── comment.js
│   ├── models/               # Mongoose models
│   │   ├── User.js
│   │   ├── Video.js
│   │   └── Comment.js
│   ├── routes/               # Express routes
│   │   ├── auth.js
│   │   ├── users.js
│   │   ├── videos.js
│   │   └── comments.js
│   ├── verifyToken.js        # JWT verification middleware
│   ├── error.js              # Error handling
│   ├── index.js              # Server entry point
│   └── package.json
│
├── .gitignore
└── README.md

🔌 API Endpoints

Authentication

• POST /api/auth/signup - Register a new user
• POST /api/auth/signin - Sign in existing user
• POST /api/auth/google - Google OAuth authentication

Users

• GET /api/users/:id - Get user by ID
• PUT /api/users/:id - Update user
• DELETE /api/users/:id - Delete user
• PUT /api/users/sub/:id - Subscribe/Unsubscribe to user

Videos

• GET /api/videos - Get all videos
• GET /api/videos/:id - Get video by ID
• POST /api/videos - Create new video (requires auth)
• PUT /api/videos/:id - Update video (requires auth)
• DELETE /api/videos/:id - Delete video (requires auth)
• PUT /api/videos/view/:id - Increment video views
• GET /api/videos/trend - Get trending videos
• GET /api/videos/random - Get random videos
• GET /api/videos/sub - Get subscribed channels' videos (requires auth)
• GET /api/videos/tags - Get videos by tags
• GET /api/videos/search - Search videos

Comments

• GET /api/comments/:videoId - Get comments for a video
• POST /api/comments - Create a comment (requires auth)
• DELETE /api/comments/:id - Delete a comment (requires auth)

🎨 Features in Detail

User Authentication

• Secure password hashing with bcryptjs
• JWT token-based authentication
• Google OAuth integration via Firebase
• Cookie-based session management

Video Features

• Upload videos with metadata (title, description, tags)
• Video thumbnails and preview images
• View count tracking
• Like/dislike functionality
• Tag-based categorization
• Search and filter capabilities

Social Features

• User subscriptions
• Comment system with user association
• Channel subscriber counts
• Video recommendations based on tags

🧪 Development

Frontend Scripts

npm run dev      # Start development server
npm run build    # Build for production
npm run preview  # Preview production build
npm run lint     # Run ESLint

Backend Scripts

npm start        # Start server with nodemon (auto-reload)

📝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Contribution Guidelines

• Follow the existing code style
• Write clear commit messages
• Test your changes thoroughly
• Update documentation if needed
• Ensure ESLint passes without errors

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

MongoDB Connection Error

• Ensure MongoDB is running locally or your Atlas connection string is correct
• Check that your .env file has the correct MONGO variable

Port Already in Use

• Change the port in server/index.js (currently 8080)
• Or kill the process using the port: npx kill-port 8080

Firebase Authentication Not Working

• Verify all Firebase environment variables are set correctly
• Check Firebase console for API key and project configuration

CORS Errors

• Ensure backend CORS is properly configured
• Check that frontend proxy settings in vite.config.js are correct

Module Not Found

• Delete node_modules and package-lock.json
• Run npm install again in both frontend and server directories

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Copyright (c) 2025 Newton Yetsedaw

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

👤 Author

Newton Yetsedaw

• GitHub: @NewtonY-dev
• Repository: youtube-clone

🙏 Acknowledgments

• YouTube for design inspiration
• All open-source contributors and libraries used in this project

---

⭐ If you find this project helpful, please consider giving it a star!