🌐 HacktoberBlog - Spring Boot Backend

Welcome to the backend repository for HacktoberBlog – a simple blogging platform built with Spring Boot and Firebase Firestore. This project is beginner-friendly and perfect for your first open-source contribution during Hacktoberfest! 🎉

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📌 Project Overview

This is the backend service for HacktoberBlog. It provides APIs to:

• 👤 Create, update, delete, and list users
• 📝 Create and retrieve blog posts
• ❤️ Like a blog
• 💬 Comment on a blog
• 📧 Send welcome emails to new users

Built using:

• Java + Spring Boot
• Firebase Firestore (NoSQL DB)
• Firebase Admin SDK
• Spring Boot Actuator & Mail
• Lombok for clean code

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🗂️ Project Structure

src/
└── main/
├── java/com/hacktober/blog/
│ ├── blog/ → Blog service logic
│ ├── user/ → User service logic
│ ├── email/ → Email service logic
│ ├── config/ → Firebase initialization
│ └── utils/ → Utility functions (e.g., password encoding)
└── resources/
└── application.properties

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📘 API Documentation

Interactive API documentation is available out of the box thanks to Swagger UI and the generated OpenAPI specification.

1. Run the application locally:

./mvnw spring-boot:run

2. Open http://localhost:8080/swagger-ui/index.html in your browser to explore and try the endpoints.

The raw OpenAPI document can be downloaded from http://localhost:8080/v3/api-docs for integration with other tools.

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🚀 Getting Started

1. Prerequisites

• Java 17+
• Maven
• Email SMTP (Gmail or others)
• Firebase Project (Firestore + Service Account)

2. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/HacktoberBlog/SpringBootBackend.git
cd SpringBootBackend

3. Firebase Setup

• Go to Firebase Console

• Create a project

• Enable Firestore

• Generate a Service Account Key JSON file

• Save the file in a secure path, e.g., /etc/secrets/firebaseServiceAccountKey.json

4. Configure Email

Edit src/main/resources/application.properties:

spring.mail.host=smtp.gmail.com
spring.mail.port=587
spring.mail.username=your_email@gmail.com
spring.mail.password= 16 char app key such as abcd efgh ijkl mnop
spring.mail.properties.mail.smtp.auth=true
spring.mail.properties.mail.smtp.starttls.enable=true
redis.password= your redis db password

Getting Keys/Passwords for Email, DB, etc.

Gmail 16 char App Key: You can get the app key by navigating to google myaccount settings->search app passwords->give an app name-> create and copy the key

Redis Password: You can create a free db on Redis. Once your db is created, click on the "Connect using Redis CLI, Client, or Insight" button. There you will be able to view your password (view/hide it using eye icon)

🔑 Setup Secrets (Environment Variables)

To run the project, you must provide your secrets as environment variables.
These are used in application.properties via Spring's placeholder system:

Variable Name	Description	Example Value
spring.mail.username	Your email for sending welcome emails.	your_email@gmail.com
spring.mail.password	Your 16-char app key for the email account.	abcd efgh ijkl mnop
redis.password	The password for your Redis database.	yourRedisDbPassword123

⚠️ NOTE:

🚫 DO NOT PUSH the changes made in application.properties, RedisConfig, and FirestoreService.
🔒 Keep your secrets safe! 🔒

🚀 Live Demo

🎉 The project is now LIVE! Check it out here: HacktoberBlog Deployment 🌟