FreelanceFlow

FreelanceFlow is a production-ready, full-stack SaaS application built as an AI-powered business management platform for freelancers.

Monorepo Project Structure

FreelanceFlow/
├── backend/            # Express.js + TypeScript API
│   ├── config/         # Mongoose & DB setup
│   ├── logs/           # Application log files (error.log, combined.log)
│   ├── middleware/     # Error handlers & rate limiters
│   ├── tests/          # Jest + Supertest suites
│   ├── utils/          # Winston loggers
│   ├── .env.example
│   ├── package.json
│   └── README.md
├── frontend/           # Next.js 15 App
│   ├── app/            # App router paths
│   ├── components/     # UI & Theme providers
│   ├── lib/            # Utilities (shadcn/ui setup)
│   ├── .env.example
│   ├── package.json
│   └── README.md
└── README.md           # Root Instructions

Quick Start Setup

1. Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18+)
• npm (v9+)
• MongoDB Atlas cluster (or local MongoDB server)
• SMTP Server details (Mailtrap, SendGrid, Gmail, etc.)
• OpenAI API Key

2. Environment Configurations

First, configure your environment files:

• Backend Setup:
  1. Navigate to /backend
  2. Copy .env.example to .env
  3. Fill in details (especially MONGODB_URI, JWT_SECRET, SMTP_*, and OPENAI_API_KEY)
• Frontend Setup:
  1. Navigate to /frontend
  2. Copy .env.example to .env.local
  3. Change the API base URL if hosting differently than http://localhost:5000/api

3. Installation

Install project dependencies in both folders:

# Install backend
cd backend
npm install

# Install frontend
cd ../frontend
npm install

4. Running the Applications

Run development servers for both workspaces:

• Backend Dev Server:

  cd backend
  npm run dev

  Runs at http://localhost:5000 (API endpoint at /api).
• Frontend Dev Server:

  cd frontend
  npm run dev

  Runs at http://localhost:3000.

5. Running Backend Tests

Execute the Jest testing pipeline:

cd backend
npm run test