Lumen

Lumen is a simple course platform with a Node.js backend and a React frontend. It supports browsing courses, enrollment, and admin course management.

What It Includes

• Public course catalog and course detail pages.
• Student enrollment and My Courses views.
• Admin tooling to create and manage courses.
• Auth with JWT-based sessions.
• File uploads for course media.
• Basic dashboards for students and admins.

Quick Start

# one-time install for backend
npm install
# start backend (port from env)
npm run dev

# in another terminal
cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Start With PowerShell

.\start.ps1

Usage

• Open the frontend in the browser (Vite prints the local URL).
• Sign up as a student or admin.
• Students can browse courses and enroll.
• Admins can create, edit, and delete courses.
• Use the dashboard pages to see stats.

Environment

Create a .env file in the backend root with:

MONGO_URL=your_mongodb_uri
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret
PORT=3000
NODE_ENV=development

API Overview

• POST /auth/signup register a user with role.
• POST /auth/login login and receive JWT.
• GET /courses list public courses.
• GET /courses/:id view course details.
• POST /enrollments enroll in a course.
• GET /enrollments/me list current enrollments.
• GET /dashboard/student student stats.
• GET /dashboard/admin admin stats.
• POST /admin/courses create a course.
• PUT /admin/courses/:id update a course.
• DELETE /admin/courses/:id delete a course.

Project Structure

• backend/ Express app, controllers, services, routes, middleware.
• frontend/ Vite + React app.
• routes/ legacy API routes.
• middlewares/ legacy auth helpers.
• db.js database connector.
• index.js backend entry point.

Development Notes

• Keep backend and frontend running in separate terminals.
• Use npm run dev for hot reload.
• Use npm run lint in frontend if needed.
• Logs are printed in the backend terminal.

Troubleshooting

• If Mongo fails, verify MONGO_URL.
• If auth fails, check JWT_SECRET.
• If CORS blocks, confirm frontend origin.
• If ports clash, change PORT.

Scripts

• start.ps1 starts backend and frontend together.
• npm run dev starts the backend server.
• npm run build builds the frontend.
• npm run preview previews the frontend build.

Contributing

• Keep commits small and focused.
• Prefer descriptive branch names.
• Run formatters or linters before PRs.

License

• Not specified.

Acknowledgements

• Built for learning and demo purposes.
• Thanks for using Lumen.