📝 Collaborative Blogging Platform API

A robust, scalable, and secure RESTful API for a multi-user blogging platform, built with Node.js, Express, and PostgreSQL. This backend service supports user authentication, content management, tagging, and interactive features like commenting — all backed by a well-structured, production-ready architecture.

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🚀 Features

• 🔐 Secure User Authentication
  JWT-based authentication system for registration and login. Passwords are securely hashed using bcrypt.js.

• 📝 Full CRUD for Posts
  Authenticated users can create, read, update, and delete their blog posts.

• 💬 Commenting System
  Logged-in users can add comments to any post.

• 🏷️ Dynamic Tagging
  Posts can be tagged with multiple labels. Users can filter posts by tag.

• 🧩 Relational Data Integrity
  Built on PostgreSQL using Sequelize ORM for strong model relationships and data consistency.

• 🔒 Production-Ready Security
  Includes centralized error handling, HTTP headers via helmet, and API rate limiting using express-rate-limit.

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🛠️ Technology Stack

Layer	Tools/Packages
Backend	Node.js, Express.js
Database	PostgreSQL
ORM	Sequelize
Auth	JSON Web Tokens (JWT), bcrypt.js
Security	Helmet, Express Rate Limit
Dev Tools	nodemon

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⚙️ Getting Started

📌 Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or newer)
• PostgreSQL installed and running

📦 Installation & Setup

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone https://github.com/pratikverse/ScribeAPI.git
   cd ScribeAPI

2. Install Dependencies

   npm install

3. Environment Variables Create a .env file in the root directory:

   # Server Configuration
   PORT=3000
   
   # PostgreSQL Credentials
   DB_USER=your_postgres_username
   DB_PASSWORD=your_postgres_password
   DB_DATABASE=blog_api
   DB_HOST=localhost
   DB_PORT=5432
   
   # JWT Secret
   JWT_SECRET=generate-a-strong-random-secret-key

4. Create the PostgreSQL Database

   CREATE DATABASE ScribeAPI;

5. Synchronize Sequelize Models

   npm run db:sync

6. Run the Development Server

   npm run dev

   The API will be available at:
   👉 http://localhost:3000

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📡 API Endpoints

🔐 Authentication (/api/auth)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Body
POST	/register	Register a new user	{ username, email, password }
POST	/login	Log in a user	{ email, password }

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📝 Posts (/api/posts)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required
GET	/	Get all posts	❌ No
GET	/:id	Get post by ID	❌ No
POST	/	Create a new post	✅ Yes
PUT	/:id	Update existing post	✅ Yes
DELETE	/:id	Delete a post	✅ Yes

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💬 Comments (/api/posts/:postId/comments)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required
POST	/	Add a comment to a post	✅ Yes

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🏷️ Tags (/api/tags)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required
GET	/	Get all available tags	❌ No
GET	/:name/posts	Get posts by tag name	❌ No

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📂 Folder Structure

├── controllers/
├── models/
├── routes/
├── middlewares/
├── config/
├── utils/
├── .env
├── server.js
├── package.json

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🔐 Security Measures

• bcrypt.js – Password hashing
• JWT – Token-based authentication
• helmet – Secure HTTP headers
• express-rate-limit – Rate limiting to prevent API abuse
• Centralized Error Handling – Clean and consistent error responses