🚀 MERN Stack RESTful API with Authentication

📋 Project Overview

A comprehensive RESTful API built with the MERN stack, offering robust authentication and user management features.

✨ Key Features

• 🔐 Secure Authentication

  • User registration and login
  • JWT-based token authentication
  • Secure password encryption
  • Protected routes

• 🛡️ User Management

  • Create, Read, Update, and Delete (CRUD) user operations
  • User profile management
  • Role-based access control

• 💬 Comment System

  • Add comments to posts
  • Update and delete own comments
  • View all comments on posts
  • Author-based comment authorization

• 🔒 Security Measures

  • JWT token authentication
  • Bcrypt password hashing
  • Middleware route protection
  • Comprehensive error handling

🛠️ Technology Stack

Frontend:

• React.js with modern hooks
• React Router for navigation
• Axios for API communication
• Responsive CSS design

Backend:

• Node.js, Express.js
• Database: MongoDB
• Authentication: JWT (JSON Web Tokens)
• Password Encryption: Bcrypt

🔧 Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or later)
• MongoDB
• npm or yarn

📦 Installation

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/Zilean12/RESTful-API.git
cd RESTful-API

2. Install Dependencies

# Install backend dependencies
npm install

# Install frontend dependencies
cd client && npm install
cd ..

3. Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the root directory:

# Server Configuration
PORT=3000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/mern-api
JWT_SECRET=your_very_secret_and_long_random_string
NODE_ENV=development

# Google OAuth Configuration
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your_google_oauth_client_id
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_google_oauth_client_secret
GOOGLE_CALLBACK_URL=http://localhost:5000/api/auth/google/callback

Google OAuth Setup

1. Go to the Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project or select an existing one
3. Navigate to "APIs & Services" > "Credentials"
4. Create a new OAuth 2.0 Client ID
5. Set up the authorized redirect URIs
6. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret into your .env file

4. Run the Application

4. Run the Application

Development (with both frontend and backend):

# Run both frontend and backend concurrently
npm run dev:full

Backend only:

npm run dev

Frontend only:

npm run client

Production:

# Build frontend
npm run build

# Start production server
npm start

The frontend will be available at http://localhost:3001 and backend at http://localhost:3000 in development.

🎨 Frontend Features

• Modern React App with functional components and hooks
• Responsive Design that works on all devices
• Authentication UI with login and registration forms
• Protected Routes with automatic redirects
• User Dashboard showing user management features
• Profile Management with update and delete functionality
• Google OAuth Integration (configure in .env)
• Error Handling with user-friendly messages

🌐 API Endpoints

Authentication Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/auth/register	Register a new user
POST	/api/auth/login	User login
POST	/api/auth/logout	User logout
GET	/api/auth/me	Get user profile

User Management Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/users/	Get all users (protected)
GET	/api/users/:id	Get user by ID (protected)
PUT	/api/users/:id	Update user (protected)
DELETE	/api/users/:id	Delete user (protected)

Comment Management Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/posts/:postId/comments	Get all comments for a post (protected)
POST	/api/posts/:postId/comments	Create a new comment on a post (protected)
PUT	/api/posts/:postId/comments/:id	Update a comment (protected)
DELETE	/api/posts/:postId/comments/:id	Delete a comment (protected)

Note: All comment endpoints require authentication. Users can only update or delete their own comments.

🧪 Postman Testing

1. Register a new user
2. Login and receive JWT token
3. Use token in Authorization header for protected routes
   • Header Key: Authorization
   • Header Value: Bearer your_jwt_token

Testing Comments System

1. Create a post first using POST /api/posts
2. Add comments to the post using POST /api/posts/:postId/comments
3. View comments using GET /api/posts/:postId/comments
4. Update your comments using PUT /api/posts/:postId/comments/:id
5. Delete your comments using DELETE /api/posts/:postId/comments/:id

🛡️ Security Features

• JWT-based authentication
• Password hashing with bcrypt
• Protected routes
• Token-based logout
• Comprehensive error handling middleware

🚨 Troubleshooting

• Ensure MongoDB is running
• Verify .env file configuration
• Check Node.js and npm versions

📜 License

This project is open-source and available under the MIT License.

🌟 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please check the GitHub repository for contribution guidelines.

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Happy Coding! 👨‍💻👩‍💻