🦈 Shark Sphere - NST E-Cell Platform

A modern, full-stack platform for NST students to turn ideas into real companies. Built with structured validation, mentorship, and eligibility for StartX seed funding up to ₹1 Cr.

✨ Features

• Idea Management: Post, browse, and vote on startup ideas
• User Authentication: Secure JWT-based authentication with email verification
• Voting System: Upvote ideas to help the best ones rise
• User Profiles: Track your ideas and engagement
• Modern UI: Premium dark theme with purple accents, built with React + TailwindCSS
• Responsive Design: Works seamlessly on desktop and mobile devices
• Real-time Updates: Smooth animations and transitions with Framer Motion

🛠️ Tech Stack

Frontend

• React 19 - UI library
• Vite - Build tool and dev server
• React Router v6 - Client-side routing
• TailwindCSS - Utility-first CSS framework
• Framer Motion - Animation library
• Axios - HTTP client
• Lucide React - Icon library

Backend

• Node.js - Runtime environment
• Express 5 - Web framework
• Prisma - ORM for database management
• MySQL - Database (via Railway)
• JWT - Authentication tokens
• Bcrypt - Password hashing
• Nodemailer - Email service
• Joi - Input validation
• CORS - Cross-origin resource sharing

📁 Project Structure

Ecell3/
├── src/                    # Frontend source code
│   ├── api/               # API client functions
│   ├── components/        # Reusable React components
│   ├── context/           # React Context providers
│   ├── pages/             # Page components
│   ├── router/            # Route configuration
│   └── utils/             # Utility functions
├── server/                 # Backend source code
│   ├── controllers/       # Route controllers
│   ├── middleware/        # Express middleware
│   ├── routes/            # API routes
│   ├── utils/             # Backend utilities
│   ├── config/            # Configuration files
│   └── prisma/            # Prisma schema and migrations
├── public/                # Static assets
└── package.json           # Dependencies and scripts

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18 or higher)
• npm or yarn
• MySQL database (or use Railway/cloud database)

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd Ecell3

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Set up environment variables

   Create a .env file in the root directory:

   # Server Configuration
   PORT=3000
   NODE_ENV=development
   
   # Frontend URL
   VITE_API_URL=https://sharkssphere-backend.onrender.com
   FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:5173
   
   # Database Configuration
   DATABASE_URL="mysql://user:password@host:port/database"
   
   # JWT Configuration
   JWT_SECRET="your-secret-key-here"
   JWT_EXPIRE="7d"
   
   # Email Configuration (Gmail with App Password)
   EMAIL_HOST="smtp.gmail.com"
   EMAIL_PORT=587
   EMAIL_USER="your-email@gmail.com"
   EMAIL_PASSWORD="your-app-password"

4. Set up the database

   cd server
   npx prisma generate
   npx prisma migrate dev

5. Start the development servers

   Backend (in one terminal):

   npm run server:start

   Frontend (in another terminal):

   npm run dev

6. Open your browser

   • Frontend: http://localhost:5173
   • Backend API: https://sharksphere.onrender.com

📝 Available Scripts

• npm run dev - Start frontend development server
• npm run build - Build frontend for production
• npm run preview - Preview production build
• npm run server:start - Start backend server
• npm run lint - Run ESLint

🌐 API Endpoints

Authentication

• POST /api/auth/register - Register new user
• POST /api/auth/login - User login
• GET /api/auth/me - Get current user (protected)

Ideas

• GET /api/ideas - Get all ideas
• GET /api/ideas/:id - Get idea by ID
• POST /api/ideas - Create new idea (protected)
• PUT /api/ideas/:id - Update idea (protected, author only)
• DELETE /api/ideas/:id - Delete idea (protected, author only)

Votes

• POST /api/ideas/:id/vote - Toggle vote on idea (protected)

🎨 Design System

The platform uses a strict dark theme design system:

• Primary Background: #0D0D0D
• Card Background: #151515
• Borders: #262626
• Heading Text: #FFFFFF
• Body Text: #CCCCCC
• Muted Text: #8A8A8A
• Accent Color: #7B5FFF (Purple)

🚢 Deployment

Frontend (Vercel/Render)

1. Push code to GitHub
2. Connect repository to Vercel or Render
3. Set environment variable: VITE_API_URL=https://sharkssphere-backend.onrender.com
4. Deploy!

Backend (Render)

1. Create a new Web Service on Render
2. Connect your GitHub repository
3. Set build command: cd server && npm install && npx prisma generate
4. Set start command: cd server && node app.js
5. Add all environment variables from .env
6. Deploy!

Important: Make sure to update CORS settings in server/app.js to allow your frontend domain.

🔒 Security Features

• JWT-based authentication
• Password hashing with bcrypt
• Email verification
• Protected routes
• Input validation with Joi
• CORS configuration
• Environment variable protection

📱 Pages

• Landing Page (/) - Homepage with platform overview
• Login (/login) - User authentication
• Signup (/signup) - User registration
• Ideas (/dashboard) - Browse and vote on ideas
• Create Idea (/create-idea) - Submit new startup ideas
• Profile (/profile) - User profile and submitted ideas

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📄 License

This project is proprietary and belongs to NST E-Cell.

👥 Contact

For questions or support, contact: ecell@nst.edu.in

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Built with ❤️ for NST E-Cell - Shark Sphere