Users API

A full-stack user authentication project built with Node.js, Express, React, PostgreSQL, and JWT.

Overview

This project allows users to:

• register an account
• log in securely
• authenticate protected routes with JWT
• manage profile data through a dedicated frontend app

It is a study project focused on backend auth flows, PostgreSQL integration, and frontend interaction with a REST API.

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:

• Node.js 18+
• npm
• PostgreSQL running locally or in a container
• A database created for the app

Project structure

usersapi/
├── backend/
│   ├── .env.example
│   ├── src/
│   ├── package.json
│   └── ...
├── frontend/
│   ├── app/
│   ├── package.json
│   └── ...
├── README.md
└── .gitignore

Backend setup

1. Open a terminal in the backend folder.
2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Create a .env file in backend/ based on .env.example:

cp .env.example .env

4. Update the values in .env with your PostgreSQL and JWT credentials:

PORT=3000
DB_USER=your_database_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_database_password
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=5432
DB_DATABASE=userapi
ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET=your_access_token_secret
REFRESH_TOKEN_SECRET=your_refresh_token_secret

5. Create the database and the required table. The SQL structure is available in backend/src/config/schema.sql.

6. Start the backend server:

npm run dev

By default, the backend runs on:

• http://localhost:3000

Frontend setup

1. Open a terminal in the frontend folder.
2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Start the frontend app:

npm run dev

By default, the frontend runs on:

• http://localhost:5173

Running the app

To use the full application, both services must be running at the same time:

• PostgreSQL database
• backend API
• frontend app

Default ports

• Backend: 3000
• Frontend: 5173
• PostgreSQL: 5432

Notes

• The backend uses CORS configured for http://localhost:5173.
• JWT secrets should be long and unique in production.
• The project is intentionally designed as a learning-focused application and is meant to evolve over time.