📦 DevLink Backend

DevLink is a freelance job marketplace built with the MERN stack. This repository contains the backend (server) side of the application, including APIs, authentication, job management, real-time chat, and user role management.

🔧 Tech Stack

Node.js

Express.js

MongoDB & Mongoose

JWT Authentication

Socket.IO (for real-time chat)

Cloudinary (for file/image uploads)

Docker (for containerization)

dotenv (for environment configs)

CORS

Winston (logger)

📁 Folder Structure

/devlink-backend

├── .github/
│   └── workflows/            
│
└── src/                      
    │
    ├── application/          
    │   └── usecases/         
    │
    ├── domain/               
    ├── helper/               
    ├── infrastructure/       
    ├── logger/              
    ├── presentation/        
    ├── types/                
    ├── utils/                 
    │
    ├── app.ts               
    └── server.ts             
│
├── .dockerignore            
├── .gitignore                
├── Dockerfile                
├── ReadMe.md                
├── package.json              
├── tsconfig.json            
├── yarn.lock                 
│

This layout follows Clean Architecture principles, making your backend modular, testable, and scalable.

🔑 Features

• 🔐 JWT-based Role Authentication (User, Client, Admin)
• 📤 Job Posting & Bidding System
• 🧑‍💼 User Profile Management (with verification)
• 📩 Real-Time Chat (Socket.IO)
• 📊 Admin Dashboard & Analytics (API only)
• 🌐 Secure REST API with rate limiting, CORS
• 📦 File upload using Cloudinary
• 🐳 Docker support for simplified development & deployment

---

🚀 Getting Started

📋 Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18+)
• MongoDB Atlas or Local MongoDB
• Cloudinary Account
• Docker (for containerized setup, optional but recommended)

📥 1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/devlink-backend.git
cd devlink-backend

📦 2. Install Dependencies

yarn install

⚙️ 3. Create .env File

touch .env

Add the following variables:

PORT=3000 
MONGO_URI=your_mongo_db_connection_string
FRONTEND_ORIGIN=https://your-frontend-url.com
BACKEND_ORIGIN=http://localhost:3000
STRIPE_CUSTOMER_EMAIL=your_stripe_customer_email
GMAIL_USER=your_gmail_address
GMAIL_APP_PASSWORD=your_gmail_app_password
GROQ_API_KEY=your_groq_api_key
ADMIN_OBJECT_ID=your_admin_mongodb_object_id
ADMIN_USERNAME=admin@example.com
ADMIN_PASSWORD=your_admin_password
BCRYPT_SALT=10
REFRESH_TOKEN_SECRET=your_refresh_token_secret
ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET=your_access_token_secret

▶️ 4. Run the Development Server (Non-Docker)

yarn dev

---

🐳 Running with Docker

Make sure your .env file is correctly set up.

1. Build the Docker Image

docker build -t devlink-backend .

2. Run the Container

docker run -d -p 5000:5000 --env-file .env devlink-backend

⚙️ Optional: Using Docker Compose

Add this docker-compose.yml:

version: '3.8'

services:
  devlink-backend:
    build: .
    ports:
      - '5000:5000'
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - .:/app
    restart: unless-stopped

Then run:

docker-compose up --build

Note: Make sure MongoDB is hosted on Atlas or accessible via MONGO_URI in your .env file.

Licence

MIT Licence