[HIGH] Server starts without database connection and runs with degraded functionality

[saidai-bhuvanesh]

Description

The server continues to start even when MongoDB connection fails, leading to degraded functionality without proper error handling.

Location

File: backend/server.js:78-88

connectDB()
  .then((success) => {
    if (success) {
      console.log("MongoDB connected successfully");
    } else {
      console.warn("⚠️ Failed to connect to MongoDB - server will run without database connection");
    }
  })
  .catch((err) => {
    console.error("Database connection error:", err.message);
  });

// Server starts here even if DB failed...
const server = app.listen(PORT, "0.0.0.0", () => {
  // Server runs without database
});

Root Cause

1. Server starts regardless of MongoDB connection status
2. No health check for database availability
3. API endpoints return confusing errors when DB is down

Impact

• Users get cryptic errors instead of clear service unavailable message
• Background jobs may fail silently
• Data inconsistency if writes are attempted
• Difficult debugging in production

Recommended Fix

// Block server startup until DB is ready (or timeout)
async function startServer() {
  try {
    await connectDB();
    console.log("MongoDB connected successfully");
  } catch (err) {
    console.error("FATAL: Cannot connect to MongoDB:", err.message);
    console.error("Exiting - database is required for this service");
    process.exit(1);
  }

  app.listen(PORT, "0.0.0.0", () => {
    console.log(`Server running on port ${PORT}`);
  });
}

startServer();

Severity

HIGH - Operational reliability issue

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