Notes Management REST API — Assignment 02

A complete Notes Management REST API built from scratch using Node.js + Express + MongoDB (Mongoose) as part of the Backend with Node.js course.

---

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Runtime	Node.js
Framework	Express.js
Database	MongoDB (via Mongoose)
Dev Tool	nodemon
Config	dotenv

---

Folder Structure

notes-app/
│
├── src/
│   ├── config/
│   │   └── db.js               # MongoDB connection
│   ├── models/
│   │   └── note.model.js       # Mongoose schema
│   ├── controllers/
│   │   └── note.controller.js  # All 19 endpoint handlers
│   ├── routes/
│   │   └── note.routes.js      # Express route definitions
│   ├── middlewares/            # (reserved for future use)
│   ├── app.js                  # Express app setup
│   └── index.js                # Entry point
│
├── .env
├── .env.example
└── package.json

---

Mongoose Schema

const noteSchema = new mongoose.Schema(
  {
    title:    { type: String, required: [true, "Title is required"] },
    content:  { type: String, required: [true, "Content is required"] },
    category: { type: String, enum: ["work", "personal", "study"], default: "personal" },
    isPinned: { type: Boolean, default: false },
  },
  { timestamps: true }
);

---

Setup & Installation

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone <repo-url>
cd Notes-Management-REST-API

# 2. Install dependencies
npm install

# 3. Create .env file
cp .env.example .env
# Fill in your MongoDB URI in .env

# 4. Start dev server
npm run dev

# 5. Start production server
npm start

---

Environment Variables

.env:

MONGO_URI=mongodb+srv://<username>:<password>@cluster.mongodb.net/notes-db
PORT=5000

.env.example:

MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string_here
PORT=5000

---

Response Format

Every endpoint follows this exact format:

{
  "success": true | false,
  "message": "...",
  "data": {} | [] | null
}

• List endpoints include "count".
• Paginated endpoints include "pagination".

---

HTTP Status Codes

Code	When Used
200	Successful GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE
201	Successful POST
400	Missing/invalid fields, invalid ObjectId, empty body
404	Note not found
500	Server or database error

---

All Endpoints

Section 0 — CRUD

#	Method	Endpoint	Description
1	POST	/api/notes	Create a single note
2	POST	/api/notes/bulk	Create multiple notes
3	GET	/api/notes	Get all notes
4	GET	/api/notes/:id	Get note by ID
5	PUT	/api/notes/:id	Full replace (all fields)
6	PATCH	/api/notes/:id	Partial update (sent fields only)
7	DELETE	/api/notes/:id	Delete single note
8	DELETE	/api/notes/bulk	Delete multiple notes

---

Section 1 — Route Parameters

Route parameters are dynamic segments in the URL path itself (/path/:param).

#	Method	Endpoint	Description
9	GET	/api/notes/category/:category	Filter by category via route param
10	GET	/api/notes/status/:isPinned	Filter by pin status via route param
11	GET	/api/notes/:id/summary	Get selected fields only (no content)

Example:

GET /api/notes/category/work
GET /api/notes/status/true
GET /api/notes/64b1f2c3.../summary

---

Section 2 — Query Parameters

Query parameters come after ? in the URL and are used to filter/shape results without changing the route.

#	Method	Endpoint	Description
12	GET	/api/notes/filter	Filter by category and/or isPinned
13	GET	/api/notes/filter/pinned	Pinned notes, optionally by category
14	GET	/api/notes/filter/category	Filter by category via ?name=
15	GET	/api/notes/filter/date-range	Filter by ?from= and ?to=

Examples:

GET /api/notes/filter?category=work&isPinned=true
GET /api/notes/filter/pinned?category=study
GET /api/notes/filter/category?name=personal
GET /api/notes/filter/date-range?from=2024-01-01&to=2024-12-31

---

Section 3 — Pagination

Pagination returns results in pages using page and limit query params.

#	Method	Endpoint	Description
16	GET	/api/notes/paginate	Paginate all notes
17	GET	/api/notes/paginate/category/:category	Paginate within a category

Formula: skip = (page - 1) * limit

Response includes:

"pagination": {
  "total": 21,
  "page": 2,
  "limit": 5,
  "totalPages": 5,
  "hasNextPage": true,
  "hasPrevPage": true
}

Examples:

GET /api/notes/paginate?page=1&limit=5
GET /api/notes/paginate/category/work?page=1&limit=3

---

Section 4 — Sorting

Sorting controls the order of results. Client picks the field and direction.

#	Method	Endpoint	Description
18	GET	/api/notes/sort	Sort all notes
19	GET	/api/notes/sort/pinned	Sort pinned notes only

Supported sortBy values: title, createdAt, updatedAt, category
Supported order values: asc, desc

Examples:

GET /api/notes/sort?sortBy=title&order=asc
GET /api/notes/sort?sortBy=createdAt&order=desc
GET /api/notes/sort/pinned?sortBy=title&order=asc

---

Route Order (Important)

Routes are matched top to bottom in Express. Static/specific paths MUST come before parameterized ones (like /:id) to prevent incorrect matching.

✅ CORRECT ORDER in note.routes.js:

POST   /bulk              ← before /:id
DELETE /bulk              ← before /:id
GET    /category/:cat     ← route param section
GET    /status/:isPinned  ← route param section
GET    /filter            ← query param section
GET    /filter/pinned
GET    /filter/category
GET    /filter/date-range
GET    /paginate
GET    /paginate/category/:cat
GET    /sort
GET    /sort/pinned
POST   /                  ← CRUD /:id routes LAST
GET    /
GET    /:id/summary       ← before /:id
GET    /:id
PUT    /:id
PATCH  /:id
DELETE /:id

---

Git Commit History

Each endpoint was committed individually following the mandatory workflow:

Commit	Endpoint
feat: add create note endpoint	POST /api/notes
feat: add bulk create notes endpoint	POST /api/notes/bulk
feat: add get all notes endpoint	GET /api/notes
feat: add get note by ID endpoint	GET /api/notes/:id
feat: add full replace note endpoint	PUT /api/notes/:id
feat: add partial update note endpoint	PATCH /api/notes/:id
feat: add delete single note endpoint	DELETE /api/notes/:id
feat: add bulk delete notes endpoint	DELETE /api/notes/bulk
feat: add get notes by category route param endpoint	GET /api/notes/category/:category
feat: add get notes by pinned status route param endpoint	GET /api/notes/status/:isPinned
feat: add note summary endpoint with field select	GET /api/notes/:id/summary
feat: add general filter endpoint with query params	GET /api/notes/filter
feat: add get pinned notes endpoint	GET /api/notes/filter/pinned
feat: add filter by category query param endpoint	GET /api/notes/filter/category
feat: add filter by date range query param endpoint	GET /api/notes/filter/date-range
feat: add pagination endpoint for all notes	GET /api/notes/paginate
feat: add pagination by category endpoint	GET /api/notes/paginate/category/:category
feat: add sort all notes endpoint	GET /api/notes/sort
feat: add sort pinned notes endpoint	GET /api/notes/sort/pinned