Scalable REST API & Frontend Dashboard - PrimeTrade.ai Internship Task

Backend Developer Intern Assignment
A secure, scalable MERN stack application featuring Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), JWT Authentication, and a premium frontend dashboard.

🚀 Live Demo

• Frontend: https://scalable-rest-api-frontend.vercel.app/
• Backend API: https://scalable-rest-api-backend.vercel.app/
• API Documentation: https://scalable-rest-api-backend.vercel.app/api-docs

🔑 Test Credentials

• User: test@gmail.com / test123
• Admin: admin@gmail.com / admin123

📌 Project Overview

This project was built to demonstrate backend architectural best practices, security, and scalability. It implements a complete User management system with Admin privileges, Task CRUD operations, and a modern, responsive React frontend.

The core focus is on writing clean, modular, and testable code that is ready for deployment.

🚀 Key Features

• 🔐 Advanced Authentication:

  • Secure JWT (JSON Web Token) implementation for stateless authentication.
  • Bcrypt password hashing for security.
  • Protected Routes for both API and Frontend.

• 🛡️ Role-Based Access Control (RBAC):

  • Admin: distinct dashboard, ability to manage users, view all system tasks, and delete any resource.
  • User: Individual dashboard, CRUD operations limited to own data.

• ⚡ Scalable Backend Architecture:

  • Modular Pattern: distinct controllers, routes, and models.
  • RESTful API Standards: Proper HTTP status codes (200, 201, 400, 401, 403, 404, 500) and conventions.
  • Middleware Chains: For error handling, validation, and auth verification.

• 🎨 Premium Frontend UI:

  • Built with React + Vite for high performance.
  • Custom Glassmorphism Design System (no heavy UI libraries).
  • Responsive Grid Layouts and interactive animations.

• 📄 API Documentation:

  • Integrated Swagger UI for interactive API testing and documentation.

Admin Portal

The secure admin dashboard with role based restrictions allowing the admins to only view and delete taks but not mark them as complete for the user.

🛠️ Tech Stack

• Backend: Node.js, Express.js
• Database: MongoDB (Mongoose ODM)
• Frontend: React.js, Vite, Vanilla CSS 3 (CSS Variables, Flexbox/Grid)
• Security: Helmet (HTTP Headers), CORS, Express-Validator, BCrypt, JWT
• Tools: Postman, Swagger UI, Git

⚙️ Installation & Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• MongoDB (Local or Atlas Connection String)

1. Backend Setup

cd server
npm install

# Create a .env file
echo "PORT=5000" > .env
echo "MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string" >> .env
echo "JWT_SECRET=your_super_secret_key" >> .env

# Run in Development Mode
npm run dev

2. Frontend Setup

cd client
npm install

# Run the Vite Dev Server
npm run dev

The application will be available at:

• Frontend: http://localhost:5173
• Backend API: http://localhost:5000
• Swagger Docs: http://localhost:5000/api-docs

📖 API Documentation

The API is fully documented using Swagger/OpenAPI. Access the interactive documentation at: http://localhost:5000/api-docs

Key Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description	Access
POST	/api/auth/register	Register a new user	Public
POST	/api/auth/login	Login and receive JWT	Public
GET	/api/tasks	Get all tasks (User specific / Admin all)	Private
POST	/api/tasks	Create a new task	Private

🏗️ Scalability & Design Decisions

See scalability.md for a deeper dive into the architectural choices.

1. Stateless Authentication: Using JWTs allows the backend to be horizontally scaled across multiple servers without needing sticky sessions.
2. Database Indexing: Schemas are optimized with indexes on frequently queried fields like email and user_id to ensure O(1) or O(log n) lookup times.
3. Modular Monolith: The codebase is structured to be easily decomposed into microservices (e.g., separating the Auth module) if traffic spikes.
4. Error Handling: Centralized error responses ensure consistent debugging and client-side handling.

📂 Project Structure

PrimeTrade.ai/
├── client/                 # React Frontend
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── context/        # Auth Context (Global State)
│   │   ├── pages/          # Dashboard, Login, Admin Panels
│   │   └── ...
├── server/                 # Node.js Backend
│   ├── controllers/        # Business Logic
│   ├── models/             # Database Schemas
│   ├── routes/             # API Endpoints
│   ├── middleware/         # Auth & Validation
│   └── ...
└── scalability.md          # Architecture Notes

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Developed by Manan Chahal for PrimeTrade.ai internship screening task