Echo Backend - Modern Social Media API

A production-ready social media backend that powers modern social experiences

Echo Backend is a **NestJS-based REST API** that powers the Echo social media platform. It provides authentication, user management, content creation, social interactions, and real-time–ready endpoints used by the Next.js web client and Flutter mobile client.

The project is designed with scalability, security, and clean architecture in mind.

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Features

Authentication

• User registration and login
• JWT-based authentication using HttpOnly cookies
• Access & refresh token flow
• Protected routes with guards

Users

• Profile management
• Follow / unfollow
• User discovery

Content

• Create, read, update, delete posts
• Replies / threaded conversations
• Likes and bookmarks
• Feed endpoints

Social & System

• Notifications
• Role-based access control (where applicable)
• Input validation and DTOs
• Modular architecture

API & Tooling

• OpenAPI / Swagger specification (openapi-spec.json)
• Structured logging
• Centralized error handling

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Tech Stack

• NestJS – backend framework
• TypeScript – language
• PostgreSQL – database
• Prisma / TypeORM – ORM (depending on current module usage)
• JWT – authentication
• Passport – auth strategies
• Swagger / OpenAPI – API documentation

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Project Structure

src/
├── modules/        # Feature modules (auth, users, posts, etc.)
├── common/         # Guards, decorators, interceptors, filters
├── config/         # App and environment configuration
├── database/       # ORM setup and migrations
├── main.ts         # App bootstrap

prisma/ or migrations/   # Database schema & migrations
test/                   # Unit & integration tests

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16+ recommended)
• PostgreSQL
• pnpm / npm / yarn

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Installation

git clone https://github.com/Petergrac/echo-backend.git
cd echo-backend

pnpm install
# or npm install
# or yarn

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Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the project root:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/echo
JWT_ACCESS_SECRET=your_access_secret
JWT_REFRESH_SECRET=your_refresh_secret
CLIENT_URL=http://localhost:3000
PORT=4000

Add other variables as required by your setup (Redis, email service, etc.).

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Database Setup

Migrations

pnpm prisma migrate dev
# or equivalent TypeORM command

Seeding (if available)

pnpm prisma db seed

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Running the Server

Development

pnpm start:dev

Production

pnpm build
pnpm start

Server will run on:

http://localhost:4000

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API Documentation

If Swagger is enabled, access it at:

http://localhost:4000/api/docs

You can also refer to the generated OpenAPI spec:

openapi-spec.json

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Authentication Model

Echo uses cookie-based JWT authentication:

• Access token stored in HttpOnly cookie
• Refresh token stored in HttpOnly cookie
• Automatic refresh flow
• CSRF protection via same-site cookies

This approach is optimized for browser clients (Next.js) and mobile apps (Flutter).

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Available Scripts

Command	Description
pnpm start:dev	Start development server
pnpm build	Build production bundle
pnpm start	Start production server
pnpm test	Run tests
pnpm lint	Run linter

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Testing

pnpm test

Tests include unit and integration coverage for core modules such as auth and users.

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Clients Supported

Client	Status
Next.js Web App	Supported
Flutter Mobile App	Supported
REST Clients (Postman/Curl)	Supported

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Deployment

You can deploy on:

• Railway
• Render
• Fly.io
• VPS (Docker or PM2)

Steps:

1. Set environment variables
2. Run migrations
3. Build the project
4. Start the server

Docker setup can be added for production environments.

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Security

• Password hashing
• Input validation with DTOs
• JWT expiration & refresh flow
• CORS configuration
• HTTP-only cookies
• Role-based guards (where used)

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Roadmap

• WebSocket or Ably-based real-time messaging
• Media uploads
• Advanced notifications
• Search improvements
• Rate limiting
• Caching layer

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Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Commit changes
4. Open a pull request

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Related Projects

• Frontend (Next.js): https://github.com/Petergrac/echo-web

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License

MIT (or specify your license)