ReDi Events - Full Stack Project

Welcome to the ReDi Events project! This is a full-stack web application where users can create, join, and manage events.

The project has three parts:

• Frontend -- a Next.js + React app (what users see in the browser)
• Backend -- an Express + Prisma API (handles data and talks to the database)
• Database -- a PostgreSQL database running in Docker

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have these two things installed:

1. Node.js (version 22 or higher)

Check if you already have it by running node -v in your terminal.

If you need to install it, we recommend using nvm (Node Version Manager):

macOS / Linux:

# Install nvm
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.3/install.sh | bash

# Close and reopen your terminal, then run:
nvm install 22
nvm use 22

Windows:

Download and install nvm-windows (click on nvm-setup.exe in the latest release). Then open a new terminal and run:

nvm install 22
nvm use 22

2. Docker (to run the database)

We use Docker to run the PostgreSQL database. This way you don't have to install PostgreSQL directly on your machine.

macOS (using Colima -- recommended)

Colima is a lightweight way to run Docker on macOS. It is free and works well.

Step 1: Install Homebrew (if you don't have it already)

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Step 2: Install Docker and Colima

brew install docker docker-compose colima

Step 3: Start Colima

colima start

You need to run colima start once every time you restart your computer. After that, all docker commands will work normally.

Tip: If you want Colima to start automatically when you log in, run: brew services start colima

To verify it's working:

docker ps

You should see an empty table (no error). That means Docker is ready.

Windows (using Docker Desktop)

Step 1: Enable WSL 2

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

wsl --install

Restart your computer when prompted.

Step 2: Install Docker Desktop

1. Download Docker Desktop for Windows
2. Run the installer
3. Make sure "Use WSL 2 instead of Hyper-V" is checked during installation
4. Restart your computer if asked

Step 3: Start Docker Desktop

Open Docker Desktop from the Start menu. Wait until the whale icon in the taskbar shows "Docker Desktop is running".

To verify it's working, open a terminal and run:

docker ps

You should see an empty table (no error). That means Docker is ready.

Linux (Ubuntu / Debian)

Step 1: Install Docker

# Update packages
sudo apt update

# Install Docker
sudo apt install -y docker.io docker-compose-v2

# Add your user to the docker group (so you don't need sudo every time)
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Step 2: Log out and log back in (this is needed for the group change to take effect).

Step 3: Start Docker

sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

To verify it's working:

docker ps

You should see an empty table (no error). That means Docker is ready.

Quick start

0. Use the correct Node.js version

This project includes a .nvmrc file that specifies which Node.js version to use. Run this from the project root:

nvm use

This reads the .nvmrc file and switches to the correct version (v22). If you see an error saying the version is not installed, run nvm install first.

What is .nvmrc? It's a small file that just contains a Node.js version number (like v22). When you run nvm use in a folder that has this file, nvm automatically switches to that version. This way everyone on the team uses the same version.

1. Start the database

npm run db:up

This starts a PostgreSQL database inside a Docker container. You only need to do this once per coding session.

How do I know it's working? Run docker compose ps -- you should see a container with status "Up".

2. Set up the backend environment

cd backend
cp .env.example .env
cd ..

This creates your .env file (with the database connection). You need this before installing dependencies because the backend uses Prisma, which requires the .env file during installation.

3. Install all dependencies

npm run install:all

4. Set up the database tables

cd backend
npm run prisma:push
cd ..

This creates the database tables based on the Prisma schema.

5. Start both servers

Open two separate terminal windows:

# Terminal 1 - Backend (http://localhost:4000)
npm run start:backend

# Terminal 2 - Frontend (http://localhost:3000)
npm run start:frontend

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser to see the app.

When you're done

Stop the database container:

npm run db:down

Project structure

S26-Full-Stack-Circle/
├── frontend/              # Next.js + React application
├── backend/               # Express + Prisma REST API
├── docker-compose.yml     # PostgreSQL database container
├── .nvmrc                 # Node.js version for nvm (v22)
└── package.json           # Root scripts (install, start, db)

Available scripts (from project root)

Command	What it does
npm run db:up	Start the PostgreSQL database
npm run db:down	Stop the PostgreSQL database
npm run install:all	Install dependencies for both frontend and backend
npm run start:backend	Start the backend server
npm run start:frontend	Start the frontend server

More details

• Frontend README -- how the React app works
• Backend README -- how the API and database work