A real-time, synchronized media viewing application to watch videos together with friends.

Moddie View Backend

This backend powers the Moddie View application, handling real-time synchronization via WebSockets, interacting with the YouTube API for video search, and managing room states.

Technologies Used

• Node.js & Express: For the core server and REST API.
• Socket.io: For real-time bidirectional event-based communication.
• TypeScript: For static typing and better developer experience.
• Redis: For caching and state management.

Prerequisites

Before running the project, ensure you have the following installed:

• Node.js (v16.0.0 or higher)
• npm
• Redis

Environment Variables

The project uses .env files located in the config directory. To run the project locally, modify config/.env.development with the required variables. Here is an example of what it looks like:

## Environment ##
NODE_ENV=development

## Server ##
PORT=3000
HOST=localhost

## Setup jet-logger ##
JET_LOGGER_MODE=console
JET_LOGGER_FILEPATH=jet-logger.log
JET_LOGGER_TIMESTAMP=true
JET_LOGGER_FORMAT=line

## Redis ##
REDIS_HOST=localhost
REDIS_PORT=6379
# REDIS_USERNAME=default
# REDIS_PASSWORD=

## External APIs ##
YOUTUBE_API_KEY=your_youtube_api_key_here

## Security / Auth ##
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_here

Getting Started

Follow these steps to get the backend up and running locally.

1. Install Dependencies

npm install

(Or use npm run clean-install for a fresh installation)

2. Configure Environment Variables

Navigate to the config folder and ensure .env.development is set up correctly with your database credentials and API keys.

3. Start Database and Redis

Make sure that your Redis and PostgreSQL instances are running and accessible on the ports specified in your .env.development file.

4. Run the Application

Development Mode: To run the server with hot-reloading for development:

npm run dev:watch

Production Mode: To build and run the server in a production-like environment:

npm run build
npm start

Available Scripts

• npm run dev: Runs the application in development mode using ts-node.
• npm run dev:watch: Runs the application in development mode using nodemon for auto-restarts on file changes.
• npm run build: Lints the code and compiles TypeScript to JavaScript in the dist folder.
• npm start: Runs the compiled application in production mode.
• npm run lint: Runs ESLint on the project.
• npm run format: Formats the code using Prettier.
• npm test: Runs the test suite using Vitest.
• npm run clean-install: Removes node_modules and package-lock.json, then performs a fresh install.

API & WebSockets

The backend exposes an Express API and a Socket.io server.

Express Routes

• GET /api/youtube/search: Searches for YouTube videos (requires YOUTUBE_API_KEY).
• POST /api/room: Creates a new room and returns the room details.

Socket.io

• The WebSocket server runs on the same port as the HTTP server.
• Used to handle room state, synchronize media playback, and process real-time events between users in a room.