ThinkBoard MERN Stack Note Management Application Create, organize, and manage notes and ideas through a React frontend, Express REST API, MongoDB persistence, and Redis-powered rate limiting.

---

Preview

---

Live Demo

The application is available at:

🔗 https://thinkboard-eqpi.onrender.com

---

Overview

ThinkBoard is a MERN-stack note and idea management application designed for creating, storing, and organizing notes through a web interface.

The frontend is built with React and Vite, while the backend uses Express and MongoDB. Upstash Redis is integrated for request rate limiting. The repository follows a monorepo structure containing separate frontend and backend applications.

---

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Features
• Technology Stack
• Architecture
• Repository Structure
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Environment Configuration
• Running the Application
• Root Commands
• Available Scripts
• Contributing
• Good First Contributions
• Troubleshooting
• Maintainer
• Contributors
• Project Support
• License
• Issues

---

Features

Feature	Description
REST API	Express-based backend API
Database Persistence	MongoDB integration through Mongoose
Rate Limiting	Request limiting using Upstash Redis
Routing	Client-side routing with React Router
Notifications	User feedback using React Hot Toast
Styling	Tailwind CSS and DaisyUI
HTTP Client	Axios-based API communication
Development Tooling	Vite, ESLint, and Nodemon

---

Technology Stack

Frontend

Technology	Purpose
React 19	User Interface
Vite	Development & Build Tool
React Router	Client-Side Routing
Tailwind CSS	Styling
DaisyUI	UI Components
Axios	HTTP Client
React Hot Toast	Notifications
Lucide React	Icons

Backend

Technology	Purpose
Node.js	Runtime Environment
Express.js	REST API
MongoDB	Database
Mongoose	Object Data Modeling
Upstash Redis	Rate Limiting
Dotenv	Environment Configuration
CORS	Cross-Origin Resource Sharing
Nodemon	Development Server

---

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────┐
│      React + Vite       │
│      Frontend SPA       │
└────────────┬────────────┘
             │ HTTP
             ▼
┌─────────────────────────┐
│       Express API       │
│      Backend Server     │
└───────┬────────┬────────┘
        │        │
        ▼        ▼
   MongoDB   Upstash Redis
   Storage   Rate Limiting

---

Repository Structure

ThinkBoard/
│
├── backend/
│   ├── src/
│   ├── package.json
│   └── package-lock.json
│
├── frontend/
│   ├── public/
│   ├── src/
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── vite.config.js
│   ├── tailwind.config.js
│   ├── postcss.config.js
│   ├── eslint.config.js
│   ├── package.json
│   └── package-lock.json
│
├── package.json
├── .gitignore
└── README.md

---

Prerequisites

Ensure the following software is installed before running the project:

• Node.js
• npm
• MongoDB
• Upstash Redis account

Verify installation:

node -v
npm -v

---

Installation

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/niharika-mente/ThinkBoard.git
cd ThinkBoard

Install Backend Dependencies

cd backend
npm install

Install Frontend Dependencies

cd ../frontend
npm install

---

Environment Configuration

Create a .env file inside the backend directory.

MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string_here
PORT=5001

UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL=your_upstash_redis_url_here
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN=your_upstash_redis_token_here

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
PORT	Backend server port
MONGO_URI	MongoDB connection string
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL	Upstash Redis REST endpoint
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN	Upstash Redis authentication token

---

Frontend Environment Variables

No frontend environment variables are currently required.

MongoDB Setup

ThinkBoard supports both local MongoDB instances and MongoDB Atlas.

Local MongoDB Example

MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/thinkboard

MongoDB Atlas

1. Create a MongoDB Atlas cluster.
2. Create a database user.
3. Configure network access.
4. Copy the connection string from Atlas.
5. Replace MONGO_URI in your .env file with the Atlas connection string.

Upstash Redis Setup

Upstash Redis is used for API rate limiting.

1. Create an Upstash account.
2. Create a Redis database.
3. Open the database dashboard.
4. Copy:
   • UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL
   • UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN
5. Add them to the .env file.

---

Running the Application

Development

Service	Command
Backend	cd backend && npm run dev
Frontend	cd frontend && npm run dev

Backend:

http://localhost:5001

Frontend:

http://localhost:5173

---

Root Commands

Note: npm start launches only the backend server. The frontend must be started separately during development using npm run dev inside the frontend directory.

Command	Description
npm run build	Install dependencies and build the frontend
npm start	Start the backend production server

---

Available Scripts

Backend

Command	Description
npm run dev	Start development server
npm start	Start production server

Frontend

Command	Description
npm run dev	Start Vite development server
npm run build	Build application
npm run preview	Preview production build
npm run lint	Run ESLint

---

Contributing

Contributions are welcome and appreciated. Whether you're fixing bugs, improving documentation, enhancing the user interface, or proposing new features, your contributions help improve ThinkBoard.

Contribution Workflow

# Fork the repository

# Clone your fork
git clone https://github.com/your-username/ThinkBoard.git

# Create a feature branch
git checkout -b feature/your-feature

# Commit changes
git commit -m "feat: add feature"

# Push changes
git push origin feature/your-feature

Open a Pull Request describing the changes and their purpose.

Good First Contributions

New contributors can help by:

• Improving documentation
• Reporting bugs
• Enhancing UI consistency
• Refactoring components
• Improving accessibility

---

Contribution Guidelines

• Follow the existing project structure.
• Keep changes focused on a single concern.
• Test changes before submission.
• Update documentation when applicable.
• Use clear and descriptive commit messages.

---

Troubleshooting

MongoDB Connection Issues

• Verify MongoDB is running.
• Verify the connection string.
• Verify database access permissions.

Redis Authentication Issues

• Verify Upstash credentials.
• Verify REST URL and REST token.
• Restart the backend server.

Dependency Issues

rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm install

---

Maintainer

Maintained by @niharika-mente

---

Contributors

Thanks to all the amazing people who contribute to ThinkBoard 🚀

---

Project Support

  

---

License

Distributed under the ISC License.

See the LICENSE file for details.

---

Issues

For bug reports or feature requests:

1. Search existing issues.
2. Open a new issue if necessary.
3. Provide reproduction steps.
4. Include relevant logs and environment details.

---

⭐ Star the repository if you find it useful

Built with React, Express, MongoDB, and Upstash Redis.