Social_Network API

A robust RESTful API for a social network web application where users caare their thoughts, react to friends' thoughts, and manage friend lists. This API is built using Express.js, MongoDB, and Mongoose, with timestamps formatted via a getter method (using Day.js). All endpoints have been tested with Insomnia.

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Table of Contents

• Features
• User Story
• Installation
• Usage
• API Endpoints
• Walkthrough Video
• Tech Stack
• License
• Contributing

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Features

• User Management: Create, read, update, and delete users.
• Thought Management: Post, update, and delete thoughts.
• Reactions: Add and remove reactions (as subdocuments) to thoughts.
• Frieips: Add and remove friends on a user's friend list.
• Timestamp Formatting: Timestamps are automatically formatted using Day.js.
• Tested with Insomnia: All endpoints are fully tested via Insomnia.

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User Story

As a social media startup, I want an API for my social network that uses a NoSQL database so that my website can handle large amounts of unstructured data.

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Installation

Clone the Repository:

git clone https://github.com/YourUsername/Social_Network.git cd Social_Network

Install Dependencies:

npm install Set Up Environment Variables:

Create a .env file in the root directory and add:

MONGODB_URI=mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/socialNetworkDB

PORT=3000

Seed the Database (Optional):

If you want to populate the database with sample data:

node data/seed.js

Usage

Start the Server:

npm run start

You should see output similar to:

Connected to MongoDB Server running on port 3000 Test Endpoints with Insomnia:

Use Insomnia (or Postman) to send requests to your API endpoints as outlined below.

🚀 API Endpoints

👤 Users

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/users	🔍 Returns all users
GET	/api/users/:userId	🔎 Returns a single user by ID
POST	/api/users	✍️ Creates a new user
PUT	/api/users/:userId	🛠️ Updates a user by ID
DELETE	/api/users/:userId	❌ Deletes a user by ID
POST	/api/users/:userId/friends/:friendId	➕ Adds a friend to a user's friend list
DELETE	/api/users/:userId/friends/:friendId	➖ Removes a friend from a user's friend list

📦 Example – Create a New User:

{ "username": "lernantino", "email": "lernantino@gmail.com" }

🛠️ Example – Update a User: { "username": "newUsername" }

💭 Thoughts

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/thoughts	📚 Returns all thoughts
GET	/api/thoughts/:thoughtId	🔍 Returns a single thought by ID
POST	/api/thoughts	✏️ Creates a new thought
PUT	/api/thoughts/:thoughtId	🛠️ Updates a thought by ID
DELETE	/api/thoughts/:thoughtId	❌ Deletes a thought by ID

✏️ Example – Create a Thought:

{ "thoughtText": "Here's a cool thought!", "username": "bob", "userId": "SOME_EXISTING_USER_ID" }

💬 Reactions

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/thoughts/:thoughtId/reactions	💥 Adds a reaction to a thought
DELETE	/api/thoughts/:thoughtId/reactions/:reactionId	🗑️ Removes a reaction from a thought

💬 Example – Add a Reaction:

{ "reactionBody": "I really like this thought!", "username": "alice" }

🔍Insomnia

Use Insomnia to test the API endpoints above. Each route supports proper HTTP verbs and requires the appropriate JSON body when applicable. Use the seeded user/thought IDs in your requests.

✅ Be sure to show:

Creating, updating, and deleting Users

Adding and removing Friends

Creating, updating, and deleting Thoughts

Adding and deleting Reactions

Walkthrough Video

A walkthrough video demonstrating the functionality of each endpoint is available here:

https://app.screencastify.com/v3/watch/0mMEdiwZzpjUVihZfoT9 https://app.screencastify.com/v3/watch/lvnlXZp1fQs1XvkKpknq https://app.screencastify.com/v3/watch/jXTNTmNRSdQQEHmko9pm

🛠️ Tech Stack

A powerful combination of technologies used to build the Social_Network API:

Tech	Description	Badge
	Fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework for Node.js	⚡️ Handles routing and middleware
	Flexible NoSQL database	🧩 Stores users, thoughts, and reactions
	Elegant MongoDB object modeling for Node.js	🔗 Schemas and validation
	Lightweight JavaScript date library	⏰ Formats createdAt timestamps
	API design and testing tool	🧪 Test routes with full CRUD support

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Contributing

Feel free to fork this repository and submit pull requests. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

Contact

Please reach out to me: outsideofemit@gmail.com