CultureConnect: AI-Powered Cultural & Tourism Platform (Backend)

Welcome to CultureConnect-Server! 🎉
This repository contains the backend API for the CultureConnect platform, managing user data, tourist destinations, and AI-based features.

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🚀 Technologies Used

• Node.js – JavaScript runtime for server-side development
• Express.js – Backend framework for building REST APIs
• Prisma ORM – Efficient database management
• PostgreSQL – Relational database
• JWT (JSON Web Token) – User authentication and authorization
• Middleware – Used for authentication and API security

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📂 Folder Structure

server/
│-- controllers/          # Handles business logic for each feature
│   │-- authController.js      # User authentication (Login, Register)
│   │-- dashboardController.js # Main data for the dashboard
│   │-- destinationController.js # Destination management
│
│-- middleware/           # Middleware for security and validation
│   │-- auth.js               # Middleware for JWT authentication
│
│-- prisma/               # Database configuration using Prisma
│   │-- migrations/         # Database migration files
│   │   │-- 20250307161813_init/               # Initial database setup
│   │   │   ├── migration.sql
│   │   │-- 20250308040925_add_token_to_user/  # Add token field to users
│   │   │   ├── migration.sql
│   │   ├── migration_lock.toml
│   │-- schema.prisma       # Prisma database schema
│
│-- routes/               # API routing
│   │-- authRoutes.js          # Authentication routes
│   │-- dashboardRoutes.js     # Dashboard routes
│   │-- destinationRoutes.js   # Destination routes
│
│-- .env                   # Environment configuration file (Add to .gitignore)
│-- .gitignore             # Ignore unnecessary files in Git
│-- index.js               # Main entry point of the application
│-- package.json           # Dependencies and npm scripts
│-- package-lock.json      # Dependency lock file

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📥 How to Run the Project

1️⃣ Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/CultureConnect-team/CultureConnect-Server.git

2️⃣ Install Dependencies

Navigate to the server directory and run:

cd CultureConnect-Server
npm install

3️⃣ Configure the Database

• Ensure PostgreSQL is installed.
• Create a .env file with the following content:

  DATABASE_URL=postgresql://username:password@localhost:5432/database_name
  JWT_SECRET=your-secret-key
  

• Run the Prisma migration to set up the database:

  npx prisma migrate dev --name init

4️⃣ Start the Server

npm run dev

The server will be running at http://localhost:5000 (or the configured port).

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🛠 API Routes

Here are the available endpoints:

🔑 Authentication (Auth)

METHOD	ENDPOINT	DESCRIPTION
POST	/auth/register	Register a new user
POST	/auth/login	User login (returns JWT)

📊 Dashboard

METHOD	ENDPOINT	DESCRIPTION
GET	/dashboard	Get dashboard data

🏝 Destinations

METHOD	ENDPOINT	DESCRIPTION
GET	/destinations	Retrieve all destinations
GET	/destinations/:id	Retrieve destination by ID
POST	/destinations	Add a new destination
PUT	/destinations/:id	Update destination details
DELETE	/destinations/:id	Delete a destination

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🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Follow these steps:

1. Fork this repository.
2. Create a new branch (feature/your-feature-name).
3. Make changes and commit with a clear message.
4. Push to your branch and create a Pull Request (PR).

Please follow coding standards and commit conventions.

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🛠 Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

• Ensure Node.js and npm are installed (node -v & npm -v).
• Check your database connection in the .env file.
• If you face dependency errors, try removing and reinstalling:

  rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
  npm install

• Restart the server using npm run dev.

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📌 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License – see the LICENSE file for details.

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🚀 Happy coding! 💡✨