Dreamize Backend

Express + TypeScript API for the Dreamize LMS. This repository is standalone — clone, configure, and run it on its own. The frontend lives in a separate repo and talks to this API over HTTP.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or newer
• pnpm (recommended) or npm
• MongoDB — local instance or MongoDB Atlas connection string

Quick start

# 1. Install dependencies
pnpm install

# 2. Copy environment template and fill in values
cp .env.example .env

# 3. Start development server (with hot reload)
pnpm run dev

The API runs at http://localhost:5000 by default.

Health check: http://localhost:5000/health

API documentation (Swagger UI): http://localhost:5000/api/docs

Raw OpenAPI JSON: http://localhost:5000/api/docs.json

Environment variables

Copy .env.example to .env and set the required values:

Variable	Required	Description
MONGODB_URI	Yes	MongoDB connection string
JWT_SECRET	Yes	Secret for signing auth tokens
FRONTEND_URL	Yes	Frontend origin for CORS and email links (e.g. http://localhost:3000)
EMAILJS_SERVICE_ID	Yes*	EmailJS service ID
EMAILJS_TEMPLATE_ID	Yes*	EmailJS template ID (unified template)
EMAILJS_PUBLIC_KEY	Yes*	EmailJS public key
EMAILJS_PRIVATE_KEY	Yes*	EmailJS private key
ADMIN_EMAIL	No	Admin account seeded on startup
ADMIN_PASSWORD	No	Admin password for seed
ZOOM_ACCOUNT_ID	No	Zoom Server-to-Server OAuth (online bookings)
ZOOM_CLIENT_ID	No	Zoom client ID
ZOOM_CLIENT_SECRET	No	Zoom client secret
EMAIL_MAX_RETRIES	No	Email retry attempts (default: 3)
EMAIL_RETRY_DELAY_MS	No	Base delay between retries in ms (default: 1000)
EMAIL_DEBUG	No	Log OTP codes to console in local dev
PORT	No	Server port (default: 5000)

*Required for OTP, password reset, guardian invites, and other transactional emails.

EmailJS template

The unified template should accept these variables:

• {{to_email}}
• {{to_name}}
• {{subject}}
• {{message}}

Scripts

Command	Description
pnpm run dev	Start dev server with nodemon + ts-node
pnpm run build	Compile TypeScript to dist/
pnpm start	Run production build (node dist/index.js)
pnpm test	Run Jest tests
pnpm run seed:owner	Seed admin user manually

Running with the frontend locally

1. Start this backend on port 5000.
2. In .env, set FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:3000.
3. Start the frontend repo (see its README) on port 3000.

The frontend uses http://localhost:5000 as the API base URL in development.

Production build

pnpm install
pnpm run build
pnpm start

Docker

docker build -t dreamize-backend .
docker run -p 5000:3000 --env-file .env dreamize-backend

The Docker image listens on port 3000 inside the container. Map it to your host port as needed. Set all env vars via --env-file or your platform’s environment settings (do not rely on .env being copied into the image).

Deploying (Render example)

1. Connect this repo to Render as a Web Service.
2. Set build command: pnpm install && pnpm run build
3. Set start command: pnpm start
4. Add all environment variables from .env.example in the Render dashboard.
5. Set FRONTEND_URL to your deployed frontend URL (e.g. Vercel).

Email is sent via EmailJS over HTTPS, which works on Render’s free tier (unlike raw SMTP).

Project structure

src/
├── index.ts          # App entry, routes, server startup
├── config/           # Database connection
├── controllers/      # Route handlers
├── middleware/       # Auth, validation
├── models/           # Mongoose schemas
├── routes/           # Express routers
├── services/         # Business logic (auth, email, chat, etc.)
└── seed/             # Admin seed on startup

Troubleshooting

Cannot find module '@emailjs/nodejs'
Run pnpm install in the backend folder.

MongoDB connection failed
Check MONGODB_URI and that MongoDB is running or Atlas allows your IP.

Emails not sending
Confirm all EMAILJS_* vars are set. Check server logs for [email] messages. Failed sends retry automatically up to 3 times.

CORS errors from frontend
Ensure FRONTEND_URL matches the exact URL the browser uses (including port).

Contact

hello@dreamize.rw