HackClub VIT API (hc-api)

Backend REST API service for the HackClub VIT Chennai ecosystem.

Tech Stack

• Runtime: Node.js v20+
• Framework: Express.js (ES Modules)
• Database: PostgreSQL (Neon Serverless)
• ORM: Prisma v5
• Package Manager: pnpm
• Authentication: JWT + Email OTP (nodemailer)

Getting Started

1. Installation

Ensure you have pnpm installed:

pnpm install

2. Environment Configuration

Copy .env.example to .env and fill in your database and auth credentials:

cp .env.example .env

Required environment variables:

• DATABASE_URL: Neon PostgreSQL pooled connection string (?sslmode=require)
• JWT_SECRET: Secret token for signing member sessions
• SMTP_USER / SMTP_PASS: SMTP credentials for OTP mail delivery
• PORT: Server port (default 5000)
• FRONTEND_URL: Allowed frontend origin for CORS (e.g. http://localhost:5173)

3. Database Sync & Seed

# Push schema to database
pnpm run db:push

# (Optional) Seed demo accounts and starter data
pnpm run db:seed

# (Optional) Open Prisma Studio database viewer
pnpm run db:studio

4. Running the API Server

# Start the server
pnpm start

# Or with dev hot-reload
pnpm run dev

API will be running at http://localhost:5000.

API Endpoints

• Health Check: GET /api/health
• Auth: POST /api/login, POST /api/login/otp/request, POST /api/login/otp/verify, POST /api/signup, POST /api/logout
• Password Reset: POST /api/auth/forgot-password, POST /api/auth/reset-password
• User Portal: GET /api/profile, POST /api/projects, GET /api/projects, GET /api/events, GET /api/announcements
• Admin Portal: GET /api/admin/users, POST /api/admin/users, GET /api/admin/projects, POST /api/admin/projects/:id/approve, GET /api/allowlist
• Leaderboard: GET /api/leaderboard, GET /api/leaderboard/weekly, GET /api/leaderboard/monthly, GET /api/leaderboard/badges