Pocket Coach — Student Management Portal

A web portal for coaching institutes to manage students, batches, branches, admins, and payments.

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Before You Start

You need three things installed on your computer. Do these first.

1. Git

Download and install from: https://git-scm.com/downloads

Verify:

git --version

2. Node.js (v18 or higher)

Download and install from: https://nodejs.org — choose the LTS version.

Verify:

node --version
npm --version

3. PostgreSQL (v14 or higher)

Download and install from: https://www.postgresql.org/download

During installation:

• When it asks for a password for the postgres user — set one and write it down. You will need it.
• Leave the port as 5432.

Verify PostgreSQL is running after installation:

pg_isready

Expected: localhost:5432 - accepting connections

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Step 1 — Clone the Project

git clone https://github.com/mahbub-alam-prithibi/sms-pocketcoach.git
cd sms-pocketcoach

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Step 2 — Create the PostgreSQL User Password in the .env File

Go into the backend folder and copy the example environment file:

# Mac / Linux
cp backend/.env.example backend/.env

# Windows (Command Prompt)
copy backend\.env.example backend\.env

# Windows (PowerShell)
Copy-Item backend/.env.example backend/.env

Open backend/.env in any text editor and find this line:

DB_PASSWORD=postgres

Replace postgres with the password you set when you installed PostgreSQL.

Also change the JWT_SECRET to any long random string of your choice:

JWT_SECRET=change-this-to-something-long-and-random

Save the file.

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Step 3 — Create the Database

Open your terminal and connect to PostgreSQL:

psql -U postgres -h localhost

Enter your PostgreSQL password when prompted.

Once inside, run:

CREATE DATABASE pocket_coach_portal;

Then exit:

\q

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Step 4 — Run the Setup Script

From the project root folder, run:

bash setup.sh

Windows users: If bash is not available, install Git for Windows — it comes with Git Bash. Open Git Bash and run the command above.

This script will automatically:

• Install all backend dependencies
• Start the backend server (which creates all database tables)
• Create your Super Admin account
• Install all frontend dependencies

When it finishes you will see:

============================================================
  Setup complete!
  Backend  ->  http://localhost:3000
  Frontend ->  http://localhost:5173

  Log in with:
  Mobile:   01700000000
  Password: yourpassword
============================================================

Before running the script, open setup.sh in a text editor and update the Super Admin credentials at the top of the file to your preferred phone number and password:

ADMIN_MOBILE="01700000000"
ADMIN_PASSWORD="yourpassword"

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Step 5 — Start the Servers

After setup is done, every time you want to run the project again open two terminal windows:

Terminal 1 — Backend:

cd backend
npm run dev

You should see:

🚀 Server running on port 3000
✅ Database connected & synced

Terminal 2 — Frontend:

cd frontend
npm run dev

You should see:

➜  Local:   http://localhost:5173/

Open your browser and go to http://localhost:5173

Log in with the mobile number and password you set in setup.sh.

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Resetting Everything

If you want to wipe all data and start completely fresh:

psql -U postgres -h localhost -d pocket_coach_portal -c "TRUNCATE TABLE student_payments, \"StudentBatches\", \"BatchBranches\", students, batches, categories, branches, users RESTART IDENTITY CASCADE;"

Then create a new Super Admin:

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/users/superadmin \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"fullName":"Super Admin","mobile":"01700000000","password":"yourpassword"}'

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Troubleshooting

pg_isready says "No such file or directory" PostgreSQL is not installed or not added to your PATH. Re-install it and make sure to check "Add to PATH" during installation.

psql: error: connection to server failed PostgreSQL is not running. On Windows, open Services and start "postgresql-x64-xx". On Mac, run brew services start postgresql.

CREATE DATABASE fails with "already exists" The database was already created. You can skip Step 3.

Backend crashes with "password authentication failed" The DB_PASSWORD in backend/.env does not match your PostgreSQL password. Open the file and correct it.

curl: Super admin already exists A Super Admin was already created. Skip the curl command. If you want a different account, reset the data first (see Resetting Everything above).

Port 3000 or 5173 already in use Another process is using that port. Run:

npx kill-port 3000 5173

Then start the servers again.