fix(experiences): persist interview submissions with review status

backend/.env.example

@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/interview_prep_ai
 # JWT Configuration
 # Secret key for signing JWT tokens (use a strong random string in production)
 JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key_here_change_me
+
+# Comma-separated emails allowed to moderate interview experiences
+# MODERATOR_EMAILS=admin@example.com,moderator@example.com
 # CORS Configuration
 # Primary frontend origin for production
 FRONTEND_ORIGIN=https://preppilot-12n6.onrender.com

backend/Input_validators/ValidateInterviewExperience.js

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+const { z } = require("zod");
+const { handleValidationError } = require("./ValidateQuestions");
+
+const createInterviewExperienceSchema = z.object({
+  company: z.string().trim().min(1, "Company is required").max(120),
+  role: z.string().trim().min(1, "Role is required").max(120),
+  experience: z.string().trim().max(60).optional().default("N/A"),
+  difficulty: z.enum(["Easy", "Medium", "Hard"]).optional().default("Medium"),
+  offerReceived: z.boolean().optional().default(false),
+  date: z.string().trim().max(40).optional().default(""),
+  rounds: z
+    .array(
+      z.object({
+        name: z.string().trim().max(120).optional().default("Round"),
+        type: z.string().trim().max(60).optional().default("Coding"),
+        description: z.string().trim().max(2000).optional().default(""),
+      }),
+    )
+    .max(20)
+    .optional()
+    .default([]),
+  summary: z.string().trim().min(1, "Summary is required").max(5000),
+  tips: z.array(z.string().trim().max(500)).max(20).optional().default([]),
+  tags: z.array(z.string().trim().max(40)).max(10).optional().default([]),
+  color: z.string().trim().max(40).optional(),
+  clientKey: z.string().trim().min(8).max(64).optional().nullable(),
+  // Required so keyless retries cannot bypass the unique partial index.
+  idempotencyKey: z
+    .string()
+    .trim()
+    .min(8, "idempotencyKey is required")
+    .max(64),
+});
+
+const updateStatusSchema = z.object({
+  status: z.enum(["pending", "approved", "rejected"]),
+});
+
+const validateCreateInterviewExperience = (req, res, next) => {
+  try {
+    req.body = createInterviewExperienceSchema.parse(req.body);
+    next();
+  } catch (error) {
+    return handleValidationError(res, error);
+  }
+};
+
+const validateUpdateInterviewExperienceStatus = (req, res, next) => {
+  try {
+    req.body = updateStatusSchema.parse(req.body);
+    next();
+  } catch (error) {
+    return handleValidationError(res, error);
+  }
+};
+
+module.exports = {
+  validateCreateInterviewExperience,
+  validateUpdateInterviewExperienceStatus,
+};

backend/controllers/interviewExperienceController.js

@@ -0,0 +1,223 @@
+const mongoose = require("mongoose");
+const InterviewExperience = require("../models/InterviewExperience");
+
+const ALLOWED_STATUSES = ["pending", "approved", "rejected"];
+
+const toClientShape = (doc) => {
+  const obj = typeof doc.toObject === "function" ? doc.toObject() : doc;
+  return {
+    id: String(obj._id),
+    company: obj.company,
+    role: obj.role,
+    experience: obj.experience,
+    difficulty: obj.difficulty,
+    offerReceived: obj.offerReceived,
+    date: obj.date,
+    rounds: obj.rounds || [],
+    summary: obj.summary,
+    tips: obj.tips || [],
+    tags: obj.tags || [],
+    color: obj.color,
+    status: obj.status,
+    createdAt: obj.createdAt,
+  };
+};
+
+/**
+ * @desc Submit an interview experience for moderation
+ * @route POST /api/interview-experiences
+ * @access Public (optional auth)
+ */
+const createInterviewExperience = async (req, res) => {
+  try {
+    const payload = { ...req.body, status: "pending" };
+    const idempotencyKey =
+      typeof payload.idempotencyKey === "string"
+        ? payload.idempotencyKey.trim()
+        : "";
+
+    if (!idempotencyKey) {
+      return res.status(400).json({
+        success: false,
+        message: "idempotencyKey is required",
+      });
+    }
+
+    payload.idempotencyKey = idempotencyKey;
+
+    if (req.user?._id) {
+      payload.userId = req.user._id;
+    }
+
+    if (!payload.color && payload.company) {
+      payload.color = `hsl(${(payload.company.charCodeAt(0) * 37) % 360}, 55%, 50%)`;
+    }
+
+    const existing = await InterviewExperience.findOne({ idempotencyKey });
+    if (existing) {
+      return res.status(200).json({
+        success: true,
+        message: "Interview experience already submitted",
+        experience: toClientShape(existing),
+      });
+    }
+
+    const experience = await InterviewExperience.create(payload);
+
+    return res.status(201).json({
+      success: true,
+      message: "Interview experience submitted for review",
+      experience: toClientShape(experience),
+    });
+  } catch (error) {
+    // Concurrent retry won the unique index race — return the first write.
+    if (error?.code === 11000 && req.body?.idempotencyKey) {
+      try {
+        const existing = await InterviewExperience.findOne({
+          idempotencyKey: req.body.idempotencyKey,
+        });
+        if (existing) {
+          return res.status(200).json({
+            success: true,
+            message: "Interview experience already submitted",
+            experience: toClientShape(existing),
+          });
+        }
+      } catch {
+        // fall through to generic 500
+      }
+    }
+
+    return res.status(500).json({
+      success: false,
+      message: "Failed to submit interview experience",
+      error: "A server error occurred",
+    });
+  }
+};
+
+/**
+ * @desc List approved community experiences
+ * @route GET /api/interview-experiences/approved
+ * @access Public
+ */
+const getApprovedInterviewExperiences = async (req, res) => {
+  try {
+    const experiences = await InterviewExperience.find({ status: "approved" })
+      .sort({ createdAt: -1 })
+      .lean();
+
+    return res.status(200).json({
+      success: true,
+      experiences: experiences.map(toClientShape),
+    });
+  } catch (error) {
+    return res.status(500).json({
+      success: false,
+      message: "Failed to load approved experiences",
+      error: "A server error occurred",
+    });
+  }
+};
+
+/**
+ * @desc Load a visitor's own submissions by client key and/or auth
+ * @route GET /api/interview-experiences/mine
+ * @access Public (clientKey query) / Private
+ */
+const getMyInterviewExperiences = async (req, res) => {
+  try {
+    const clientKey =
+      typeof req.query.clientKey === "string" ? req.query.clientKey.trim() : "";
+    const filters = [];
+
+    if (req.user?._id) {
+      filters.push({ userId: req.user._id });
+    }
+    if (clientKey) {
+      filters.push({ clientKey });
+    }
+
+    if (filters.length === 0) {
+      return res.status(400).json({
+        success: false,
+        message: "Provide clientKey or authenticate to load your submissions",
+      });
+    }
+
+    const experiences = await InterviewExperience.find({ $or: filters })
+      .sort({ createdAt: -1 })
+      .lean();
+
+    return res.status(200).json({
+      success: true,
+      experiences: experiences.map(toClientShape),
+    });
+  } catch (error) {
+    return res.status(500).json({
+      success: false,
+      message: "Failed to load your submissions",
+      error: "A server error occurred",
+    });
+  }
+};
+
+/**
+ * @desc Update moderation status
+ * @route PATCH /api/interview-experiences/:id/status
+ * @access Private
+ */
+const updateInterviewExperienceStatus = async (req, res) => {
+  try {
+    const { id } = req.params;
+    if (!mongoose.isValidObjectId(id)) {
+      return res.status(400).json({
+        success: false,
+        message: "Invalid experience id",
+      });
+    }
+
+    // Resolve against a constant allowlist so the update document is never
+    // built directly from the request body (CodeQL js/nosql-injection).
+    const status = ALLOWED_STATUSES.find((value) => value === req.body?.status);
+    if (!status) {
+      return res.status(400).json({
+        success: false,
+        message: "status must be pending, approved, or rejected",
+      });
+    }
+
+    const experience = await InterviewExperience.findByIdAndUpdate(
+      id,
+      { status },
+      { new: true },
+    );
+
+    if (!experience) {
+      return res.status(404).json({
+        success: false,
+        message: "Interview experience not found",
+      });
+    }
+
+    return res.status(200).json({
+      success: true,
+      message: `Experience marked as ${experience.status}`,
+      experience: toClientShape(experience),
+    });
+  } catch (error) {
+    return res.status(500).json({
+      success: false,
+      message: "Failed to update experience status",
+      error: "A server error occurred",
+    });
+  }
+};
+
+module.exports = {
+  createInterviewExperience,
+  getApprovedInterviewExperiences,
+  getMyInterviewExperiences,
+  updateInterviewExperienceStatus,
+  toClientShape,
+};

backend/middlewares/authMiddleware.js

@@ -64,4 +64,54 @@ const requireAdmin = (req, res, next) => {
   next();
 };
 
-module.exports = { protect, requireAdmin };
+// Attach req.user when a valid token is present; continue anonymously otherwise.
+const optionalProtect = async (req, res, next) => {
+  try {
+    let token = req.headers.authorization;
+
+    if (!token || !token.toLowerCase().startsWith("bearer")) {
+      return next();
+    }
+
+    token = token.split(" ")[1];
+    const decoded = jwt.verify(token, process.env.JWT_SECRET);
+
+    if (decoded.tokenType && decoded.tokenType !== "access") {
+      return next();
+    }
+
+    const user = await User.findById(decoded.id).select("-password");
+    if (
+      user &&
+      (decoded.tokenVersion ?? 0) === (user.tokenVersion ?? 0)
+    ) {
+      req.user = user;
+    }
+  } catch (error) {
+    // Ignore invalid tokens for optional auth paths.
+  }
+
+  return next();
+};
+
+const parseModeratorEmails = () =>
+  String(process.env.MODERATOR_EMAILS || "")
+    .split(",")
+    .map((email) => email.trim().toLowerCase())
+    .filter(Boolean);
+
+// Restrict moderation endpoints to emails listed in MODERATOR_EMAILS.
+const requireModerator = (req, res, next) => {
+  const email = req.user?.email?.trim().toLowerCase();
+  const moderators = parseModeratorEmails();
+
+  if (!email || moderators.length === 0 || !moderators.includes(email)) {
+    return res.status(403).json({
+      message: "Not authorized — moderator access required",
+    });
+  }
+
+  return next();
+};
+
+module.exports = { protect, requireAdmin, optionalProtect, requireModerator };