Library Management API

A comprehensive RESTful API for managing a library system with user authentication, book catalog management, author management, and book borrowing functionality.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Features
• API Endpoints
  • Authentication
  • User Management
  • Author Management
  • Book Management
  • Borrowing System
  • Admin Functions
• Authentication
• Setup & Installation
• Environment Variables
• Postman

Overview

This Library Management API provides a complete backend solution for a digital library system. It allows users to browse books, check author information, borrow books, and return them. Administrators have additional capabilities to manage the entire library catalog, user accounts, and monitor borrowing activities.

Features

• User Authentication: Secure JWT-based authentication system
• Role-Based Access Control: Different permissions for regular users and administrators
• Book Catalog: Comprehensive book management with metadata
• Author Management: Track author information and their publications
• Borrowing System: Borrow and return functionality with status tracking
• Admin Dashboard: Special endpoints for administrative functions

API Endpoints

Authentication

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/auth/register	Register a new user
POST	/auth/login	User login with email and password

User Management

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/auth/user	Get current user information
GET	/auth/user/:id	Get user by ID
PATCH	/auth/user/:id	Update user information

Author Management

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/authors/	Get all authors
GET	/authors/:id	Get author by ID

Book Management

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/books/	Get all books
GET	/books/:id	Get book by ID

Borrowing System

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/borrowings/	Borrow a book
GET	/borrowings/my	Get books borrowed by the current user
PUT	/borrowings/:bookId/return	Return a borrowed book

Admin Functions

User Management

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/admin/users	Get all users
GET	/admin/user/:id	Get user by ID
PATCH	/admin/user/:id	Update user information
DELETE	/admin/user/:id	Delete user

Author Management

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/admin/author	Add a new author
PATCH	/admin/author/:id	Update author information
DELETE	/admin/author/:id	Delete author

Book Management

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/admin/book	Add a new book
GET	/admin/book	Get all books
GET	/admin/book/:id	Get book by ID
PATCH	/admin/book/:id	Update book information
DELETE	/admin/book/:id	Delete book

Borrowing Management

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/admin/borrowings	Get all borrowed books
PUT	/admin/borrowings/:bookId/return	Force return a borrowed book

Contact Management

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/admin/contact	Get all contact requests
DELETE	/admin/contact/:id	Delete a contact request

Authentication

The API uses JWT (JSON Web Token) for authentication. After successful login or registration, a token is returned which must be included in the Authorization header for protected routes:

Authorization: Bearer <your_token_here>

Setup & Installation

1. Clone the repository
2. Install dependencies: npm install
3. Set up environment variables (see below)
4. Start the server: npm start

Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the root directory with the following variables:

PORT=3000
MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key

Note: For Postman testing, update the environment variables for:

• auth: Your authentication service base URL
• authors: Your authors service base URL
• books: Your books service base URL
• borrowings: Your borrowings service base URL
• admin: Your admin service base URL