Local Development

Local Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• A MongoDB instance (local mongod or a free MongoDB Atlas cluster)
• (Optional) an OpenAI API key for live AI chat
• (Optional) Google OAuth credentials for Calendar sync

Setup

git clone https://github.com/harshcode1/BetterMind.git
cd BetterMind
npm install

# Create .env.local and fill in the values below
# Then optionally seed demo doctors:
node scripts/seed-doctors.mjs

npm run dev

App runs at http://localhost:3000. The fastest way to see everything is the ”Explore as Guest” button — no DB writes required (see Guest-Mode).

Environment variables

Create a .env.local file in the project root (there is no .env.example — create from scratch):

# ── Required ───────────────────────────────
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://<user>:<password>@<cluster>.mongodb.net/bettermind
JWT_SECRET=a_long_random_string

# Required for AES-GCM encryption of sensitive health data
ENCRYPTION_SECRET=a_long_random_string
ENCRYPTION_SALT=any_short_string

# ── Optional (features degrade gracefully) ──
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...                 # AI chat → keyword fallback if absent
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=...                  # Calendar sync
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=...
GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URI=http://localhost:3000/api/auth/google/callback

ENCRYPTION_SECRET and ENCRYPTION_SALT have development fallbacks but must be set in production or data encrypted in dev will be unreadable in prod.

The MongoDB URI check is deferred to request time, so the app boots even if some optional vars are missing — handy for UI-only work.

Scripts

Command	Purpose
npm run dev	Start the dev server (hot reload)
npm run build	Production build (also runs lint/type checks)
npm run start	Serve the production build
npm run lint	ESLint
node scripts/seed-doctors.mjs	Seed 6 demo doctors into MongoDB (idempotent — safe to re-run)

Creating test accounts

1. Patient — sign up at /signup.
2. Doctor — sign up at /signup/doctor (lands as pending verification).
3. Admin — set a user's role to admin directly in MongoDB, then visit /admin/dashboard to approve the doctor.

Verifying key flows

Flow	How
2FA	/settings/security → enable → scan QR in an authenticator app → confirm → log out → log back in and complete the challenge
AI chat	Set OPENAI_API_KEY, open /chat, send a message (without the key you'll get the keyword fallback)
Calendar sync	Configure Google OAuth, connect on /appointments, book an appointment, confirm the event appears
Reviews	Complete an appointment, leave a review, confirm the doctor's averageRating updates
Rate limiting	Hit /api/auth/register or /api/chat rapidly → expect HTTP 429

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
Port 3000 in use	Stop the other process or run next dev -p 3001
MONGODB_URI errors at request time	Ensure Mongo is running and the URI is correct
AI replies look like canned keyword matches	OPENAI_API_KEY is missing/invalid — that's the intended fallback
Build warnings about react-hooks/exhaustive-deps	Non-blocking; pre-existing intentional effect deps

Related

• Architecture · Authentication-and-Security · Guest-Mode