ThoughtCamp 🎓

A modern, full-stack e-learning platform built with the MERN stack. Empowering educators to create dynamic courses and students to learn seamlessly.

🚀 Features

For Students 👨‍🎓

• Secure Authentication: Traditional Email/Password or 1-Click Google OAuth (Firebase).
• Course Discovery: Browse, search, and enroll in published courses.
• Interactive Learning: Watch video lectures seamlessly.
• Reviews & Ratings: Share your feedback on courses you've taken.

For Educators 👨‍🏫

• Course Management: Create, edit, publish, and delete courses.
• Lecture Management: Upload lecture videos securely to Cloudinary.
• Dashboard: Track your created courses and content.

Technical Highlights 🛠️

• Robust Security: JWT-based authentication stored in HTTP-only cookies with secure cross-origin support.
• Optimized Storage: Automated asset cleanup on Cloudinary to prevent storage bloat.
• State Management: Redux Toolkit for predictable state containers.
• Containerized: Fully Dockerized for instant local development.

---

💻 Tech Stack

Frontend

• Framework: React 19 + Vite
• Styling: Tailwind CSS
• State Management: Redux Toolkit
• Routing: React Router DOM
• Authentication: Firebase (Google OAuth)

Backend

• Runtime: Node.js + Express.js
• Database: MongoDB with Mongoose
• Storage: Cloudinary (for videos and thumbnails)
• Security: bcryptjs, jsonwebtoken

---

🐳 Running Locally (Docker)

The easiest way to run the application locally is using Docker.

Prerequisites

• Docker & Docker Compose installed
• MongoDB URI
• Cloudinary Account
• Firebase Project (for Google Auth)

Setup

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/Official-Vinit/ThoughtCamp.git
   cd ThoughtCamp

2. Environment Variables Create a .env file in the backend/ directory:

   PORT=8000
   MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
   FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:5173
   NODE_ENV=development
   
   # Cloudinary Keys
   CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloud_name
   CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_api_key
   CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_api_secret
   
   # JWT
   JWT_SECRET=your_random_jwt_secret

3. Start the containers

   docker-compose up --build

4. Access the application

   • Frontend: http://localhost:5173
   • Backend API: http://localhost:8000

---

🛠️ Running Locally (Manual)

If you prefer to run the application without Docker:

Backend

cd backend
npm install
npm run dev

Frontend

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

---

🌐 Deployment

This project is optimized for deployment on standard cloud providers:

• Frontend: Designed for Vercel. Ensures SPA routing fallback is handled.
• Backend: Designed for Render. Ensure NODE_ENV=production is set so cross-origin cookies work properly.

---

📄 License

This project is licensed under the ISC License.