Blogging Platform API This repository contains the backend code for a simple Blogging Platform API built with Node.js, Express.js, and MongoDB. The API allows users to register, login, create, and retrieve blogs.
Features User Authentication: Users can register and login securely using bcrypt for password hashing and JWT for token-based authentication.
Create Blogs: Authenticated users can create blogs by providing a title, content, and specifying the author ID.
Retrieve Blogs: Users can retrieve blogs by providing the author ID. This endpoint is protected, and only authenticated users can access it.
Procedure Clone the Repository: Clone this repository to your local machine using git clone.
Install Dependencies: Run npm install to install all the required dependencies listed in package.json.
Set Up Environment Variables: Create a .env file in the root directory and define the following variables:
makefile Copy code MONGODB_URI=<your_mongodb_uri> ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET=<your_access_token_secret> PORT=<port_number> Start the Server: Run npm start to start the server. By default, it will run on port 3000 unless specified otherwise in the .env file.
API Endpoints POST /api/register: Register a new user by providing a username and password in the request body.
POST /api/login: Login with an existing username and password. Upon successful login, it returns a JWT access token.
POST /api/blogs: Create a new blog by providing a blog title, content. The author ID is stored as a foreign key in the blog schema. It gets authorId from the current JWT token of the user
GET /api/blogs/:authorId: Retrieve blogs written by a specific author by providing the author ID.
GET /api/blogs: Retrieve all blogs.
Authentication Authentication is done using JWT tokens. Upon successful login, a token is generated, which should be included in the headers of subsequent requests as Authorization:
To access protected endpoints such as creating or retrieving blogs, clients need to include the JWT token obtained during login.
Middleware Application Level Middleware:
Error handling middleware and JSON body parsing middleware are implemented at the application level. Router Level Middleware:
Authentication middleware is implemented at the router level for protecting routes that require authentication.
Dependencies Express.js: Fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework for Node.js. Mongoose: MongoDB object modeling tool designed to work in an asynchronous environment. Bcrypt: Library for hashing passwords. JSONWebToken: Implementation of JSON Web Tokens for authentication. dotenv: Loads environment variables from a .env file into process.env.