foodmate

Foodmate is a meal planning and recipe browsing web app that helps users discover recipes based on their preferences, dietary needs, and available ingredients. Built with Node.js, MongoDB, and Materialize CSS, it supports JWT authentication and third-party API integration (Spoonacular, Google Gemini).

Features

• Secure User Authentication with Email Verification and Password Reset Support
• Recipe Search with Keyword Matching
• Recipe Filtering based on Category, Dietary & Allergen Preferences
• Personalized Weekly Meal Planning
• Grocery List Generation from Selected Meals
• Collaborative Grocery List Editing with Real-Time Updates
• AI-Powered Real-Time Chat for Meal Recommendations (via Google Gemini & Socket.io)
• Customizable User Profile with Dietary Preferences and Account Management
• Optimized API Usage through Database Caching Mechanisms
• Modern Responsive UI built with Materialize CSS
• Third-Party Integrations: Spoonacular (Recipes), Google Gemini (AI Chat)

Tech Stack

• Backend: Node.js, Express.js

• Frontend: EJS templates, Materialize CSS

• Database: MongoDB

• Authentication: JWT, Email verification

• Logging: Winston – centralized logging for debugging and error tracking

• API Integrations:

  • Spoonacular – for recipe data
  • Google Gemini – AI-powered meal chat responses (via Socket.io)
  • Mailtrap – for email testing and verification

• Real-time Communication:

  • Socket.io – enables live chat interactions with the AI

RESTful API Endpoints

Auth Routes (/auth)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required
POST	/login	Logs in a user and returns a token	❌
GET	/logout	Logs out user, clears token cookie	✅
GET	/verify	Verifies user email	❌
GET	/register	Renders registration page	❌
POST	/register	Registers a new user	❌

Recipe Routes (/recipe)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required
GET	/search	Searches for recipes (filtered)	✅
GET	/	Returns saved or suggested recipes	✅
GET	/:id	Returns recipe details based on ID	✅

Meal Plan Routes (/mealPlan)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required
POST	/	Creates a new meal plan entry	✅
GET	/week	Returns weekly meal plan data (JSON)	✅
GET	/api	Returns meal plan entries	✅
DELETE	/	Deletes meal entries for a specific date	✅

Grocery List Routes (/groceryList)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required
POST	/generate	Creates a new grocery list	✅
GET	/:id	Retrieves a grocery list by ID	✅
PATCH	/:id	Edits an existing grocery list	✅
POST	/:id/collaborators	Invites a collaborator to the list	✅
GET	/all	Retrieves all grocery lists for a user	✅

User Profile Update (/profile)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required
GET	/	Retrieves the user's profile	✅
POST	/update	Updates the user's profile information	✅
POST	/dietpreferences	Updates dietary preferences	✅
DELETE	/delete	Deletes the user's account	✅
POST	/uploadpicture	Uploads a new profile picture	✅
POST	/updateemail	Updates the user's email address	✅

Password Recovery

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required
GET	/forgot-password	Renders the forgot password form	❌
POST	/forgot-password	Sends a reset password link to the user's email	❌
GET	/reset-password/:token	Renders the reset password form with token	❌
POST	/reset-password/:token	Updates the user's password using the reset token	❌

Socket Events

Event Name	Direction	Description
ai-message	Client → Server	Sent by the client when a user submits a chat message to the AI
ai-reply	Server → Client	Emitted by the server with the AI's response (from Gemini)
joinGroceryRoom	Client → Server	Sent when a user joins a grocery list room to receive real-time updates.
leaveGroceryRoom	Client → Server	Sent when a user leaves a grocery list room to stop receiving updates.
logMessage	Server → Client	Emitted when a new log entry is added to a grocery list. Sent to all clients in that room.

Running Locally

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/apriilbee/foodmate.git
   cd foodmate

2. Install dependencies

   npm install
   

3. Setup .env file. Replace with actual values.

   # Spoonacular API Key
   SPOONACULAR_KEY=your-api-key
   
   # MongoDB Connection URI (e.g., mongodb+srv://...)
   MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/foodmate
   
   # JWT Secrets
   JWT_SECRET=your-jwt-secret
   JWT_REFRESH_SECRET=your-jwt-refresh-secret
   
   # Gemini AI API Key
   GEMINI_API_KEY=your-gemini-api-key
   
   # Base URL of the application (for cookies, redirects, etc.)
   BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000
   
   # Mailtrap SMTP Config (for email testing in development)
   MAILTRAP_HOST=sandbox.smtp.mailtrap.io
   MAILTRAP_PORT=2525
   MAILTRAP_USER=your-mailtrap-username
   MAILTRAP_PASS=your-mailtrap-password
   

4. Run the app. If you're actively developing:

   npm run dev 
   

   If you're running app in production mode:

   npm start 
   

Screenshots