🌐 CodeAlpha Social Media Platform - Backend

This repository contains the backend of the full-stack social media platform developed as part of the CodeAlpha Full Stack Development Internship (Task 2: Social Media Platform). It provides secure user authentication, Google Sign-In, JWT-based security, posts, comments, likes, follows, stories, and media upload support with MongoDB integration.

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📋 Table of Contents

• Project Overview
• Core Objectives
• Tech Stack
• Project Structure
• Configuration
• Installation
• API Documentation
• Contact
• License
• Acknowledgments
• Built with Love

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🎯 Project Overview

The CodeAlpha Social Media Platform Backend supports the frontend application by providing APIs for user authentication, Google Sign-In, creating and managing posts, comments, likes, follows, stories visible for 24 hours, and media uploads using Cloudinary. The backend uses Node.js, Express, and MongoDB, with JWT for secure authentication and role-based access control where necessary.

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🎯 Core Objectives

• Implement secure user authentication and Google Sign-In
• Enable creation, editing, and deletion of posts and comments
• Allow likes, follows, and story sharing (24-hour visibility)
• Provide media upload endpoints for avatars, cover images, and posts
• Support a scalable and maintainable backend architecture

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🛠️ Tech Stack

• Runtime & Framework: Node.js + Express.js
• Database: MongoDB with Mongoose ODM
• Authentication: JWT + Google OAuth
• Media Storage: Cloudinary integration
• Testing & API: Postman / Thunder Client
• Development Tools: Git + GitHub, ESLint, Prettier

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📁 Project Structure

CodeAlpha_SocialmediaApp_Backend/
│
├── src/
│ ├── config/
│ │ ├── db.js
│ │ └── cloudinary.js
│ │
│ ├── models/
│ │ ├── userModel.js
│ │ ├── postModel.js
│ │ ├── commentModel.js
│ │ └── StoryModel.js
│ │
│ ├── controllers/
│ │ ├── auth/
│ │ │ ├── auth.register.js
│ │ │ ├── auth.login.js
│ │ │ ├── auth.logout.js
│ │ │ └── auth.google.js
│ │ │
│ │ ├── users/
│ │ │ ├── userProfile.controller.js
│ │ │ ├── userSettings.controller.js
│ │ │ └── follow.controller.js
│ │ │
│ │ ├── posts/
│ │ │ ├── post.controller.js
│ │ │ ├── uploadMedia.controller.js
│ │ │ ├── comment.controller.js
│ │ │ └── like.controller.js
│ │
│ ├── services/
│ │ ├── authService.js
│ │ ├── googleAuthService.js
│ │ ├── userService.js
│ │ ├── postService.js
│ │ ├── commentService.js
│ │ ├── likeService.js
│ │ └── followService.js
│ │
│ ├── routes/
│ │ ├── authRoutes.js
│ │ ├── userRoutes.js
│ │ ├── postRoutes.js
│ │ ├── mediaRoutes.js
│ │ ├── followRoutes.js
│ │ ├── commentRoutes.js
│ │ └── likeRoutes.js
│ │
│ ├── middlewares/
│ │ ├── authMiddleware.js
│ │ ├── errorMiddleware.js
│ │ └── uploadMiddleware.js
│ │
│ ├── utils/
│ │ ├── generateToken.js
│ │ └── asyncHandler.js
│ │
│ ├── app.js
│ └── server.js
│
├── .env
├── .gitignore
├── package.json
├── package-lock.json
└── README.md

🗝️ Configuration & Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Leta-Kasahun/CodeAlpha_SocialmediaApp_Backend.git
cd CodeAlpha_SocialmediaApp_Backend

# Install backend dependencies
npm install express mongoose dotenv bcrypt jsonwebtoken nodemailer cloudinary multer cors cookie-parser google-auth-library

# Development tools
npm install --save-dev nodemon eslint prettier

# Start development server
npm run dev

📚 API Documentation

All endpoints are prefixed with /api. Base URL (local development): http://localhost:7000

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Authentication

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/auth/register	User registration
POST	/api/auth/login	User login
POST	/api/auth/logout	User logout
POST	/api/auth/forgot-password	Request password reset
POST	/api/auth/reset-password	Reset password
GET	/api/auth/google	Google OAuth login

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Users

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/users/:userId/follow	Follow or unfollow a user
GET	/api/users/:userId/followers	Get list of followers
GET	/api/users/:userId/following	Get list of following
GET	/api/users/profile/:userId	Get user profile
PUT	/api/users/profile	Update user profile info
POST	/api/users/avatar	Upload user avatar
POST	/api/users/cover	Upload cover image
POST	/api/users/story	Upload 24-hour story

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Posts

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/posts	Create a new post
GET	/api/posts	Get all posts
GET	/api/posts/:id	Get a single post
PUT	/api/posts/:id	Update a post
DELETE	/api/posts/:id	Delete a post

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Comments

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/comments/:postId	Add comment to a post
GET	/api/comments/post/:postId	Get all comments for a post
GET	/api/comments/:commentId/replies	Get replies to a comment
DELETE	/api/comments/:commentId	Delete a comment

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Likes

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/likes/post/:postId	Like or unlike a post
POST	/api/likes/comment/:commentId	Like or unlike a comment
GET	/api/likes/post/:postId	Get all likes for a post
GET	/api/likes/comment/:commentId	Get all likes for a comment

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Media

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/media/upload	Upload media file (image/video)

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All endpoints support JSON request/response format.
Use Postman, Thunder Client, or similar API tools to test endpoints locally at http://localhost:7000/api.

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📞 Contact

Project Developer

Leta Kasahun
💌 Email: letakasahun77@gmail.com
🐦 Twitter: @LKashun

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🙏 Acknowledgments

• CodeAlpha for the internship opportunity and guidance
• Mentors and peers for continuous support
• Open-source community for libraries and tools used in this project
• Cloudinary for media handling
• MongoDB Atlas for database services

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💝 Built with Love

Crafted with ❤️ by Leta Kasahun for the CodeAlpha Full Stack Development Internship.
This project demonstrates practical full-stack development skills in a social media platform.