DevSocial

DevSocial is a lightweight MERN social network for developers. Create a profile, showcase experience, link GitHub repos, and share posts with comments and likes.

Live demo: https://devsocial.herokuapp.com/ (wait 30s to boot up. If offline, run locally—see below).

Features

• Email/password signup/login with JWT.
• Editable developer profile (bio, location, skills, experience, education, social links).
• GitHub integration to display public repos on your profile.
• Community feed with posts, comments, likes/unlikes, and post deletion by owner.
• Directory of all developers with quick profile cards.

Tech stack

• Frontend: React 17, Redux + Thunk, React Router, CRA build.
• Backend: Node.js, Express, JWT auth middleware, validation with express-validator.
• Database: MongoDB via Mongoose.
• Dev tooling: Concurrent dev runner (npm run dev), Nodemon, Heroku build hooks.

Environment

Create a .env in the project root with:

MONGO_URI=mongodb+srv://...
JWT_SECRET=super-secret-key
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxx              # optional, for higher-rate GitHub API calls
PORT=8000                         # optional
NODE_ENV=development

Getting started

1. Install dependencies (root + client):

   npm install

2. Run in development (API + React client):

   npm run dev

   • API on http://localhost:8000
   • Client on http://localhost:3000 (proxied to the API)
3. Production build:

   npm run start           # serves the API
   # build client assets
   cd client && npm run build

   The Heroku deploy hook (heroku-postbuild) installs and builds the client automatically.

Project layout

server/           # API routes, models, middleware
client/           # React app
config/db.js      # Mongo connection helper
server.js         # Express entry point

Notes

• GitHub repo cards use an optional token to avoid low rate limits; omit it if you don't need repo previews.
• No images are bundled; run locally or hit the live demo to view the UI.