Social Media Server

A RESTful API server for a social media platform, built with Node.js, Express, and PostgreSQL. It supports user authentication, posting, following, commenting, liking, and search functionalities.

Features

• User registration, login, and JWT authentication
• Password reset via email
• Create, read, update, and delete posts
• Like and comment on posts
• Follow/unfollow users
• User profiles with followers/following lists
• Search for users and posts
• Trending topics
• Rate limiting, input validation, and security best practices

Tech Stack

• Node.js, Express
• PostgreSQL
• JWT for authentication
• bcrypt for password hashing
• Helmet & CORS for security
• Nodemailer for email

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16+ recommended)
• PostgreSQL

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repo-url>
   cd social-media-server

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Set up your environment variables (see below).
4. Set up the database:
   • Create a PostgreSQL database.
   • Run the schema in database/schema.sql to create tables.

Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the root directory with the following:

PORT=5000
NODE_ENV=development
DATABASE_URL=postgres://<user>:<password>@<host>:<port>/<db>
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret
JWT_EXPIRE=30d
EMAIL_USER=your_email@example.com
EMAIL_PASS=your_email_password
EMAIL_HOST=smtp.example.com
EMAIL_PORT=587

Database Schema

See database/schema.sql for full details. Main tables:

• users: User accounts
• posts: Posts by users
• comments: Comments on posts
• likes: Likes on posts
• followers: Follower/following relationships

API Endpoints

Auth

• POST /api/auth/register — Register a new user
• POST /api/auth/login — Login
• GET /api/auth/me — Get current user
• POST /api/auth/forgot-password — Request password reset
• PUT /api/auth/reset-password/:token — Reset password
• PUT /api/auth/change-password — Change password

Posts

• POST /api/posts — Create post
• GET /api/posts — Get posts (feed)
• GET /api/posts/feed — Get feed posts (paginated)
• GET /api/posts/explore — Get explore posts (paginated)
• GET /api/posts/:id — Get single post
• PUT /api/posts/:id — Update post
• DELETE /api/posts/:id — Delete post
• PUT /api/posts/:id/like — Like/unlike post
• POST /api/posts/:id/comments — Add comment
• DELETE /api/posts/:id/comments/:comment_id — Delete comment

Profiles

• GET /api/profiles/:id — Get user profile
• PUT /api/profiles/:id/follow — Follow/unfollow user
• GET /api/profiles/:id/posts — Get user's posts
• GET /api/profiles/:id/followers — Get user's followers
• GET /api/profiles/:id/following — Get user's following
• GET /api/profiles/search — Search users
• GET /api/profiles/suggestions — Suggested users

Search

• GET /api/search/users — Search users
• GET /api/search/posts — Search posts
• GET /api/search/trending — Trending topics

Usage Examples

See api-tests.http for ready-to-run API request examples (compatible with VS Code REST Client extension).

Running the Server

npm start

The server will run on http://localhost:5000 by default.

License

ISC