Virtual Visiting Card Generator

Production-ready Node.js + Express app that generates:

• a shareable SVG visiting card image
• a downloadable vCard (.vcf) contact file
• QR code links back to the hosted public card page

Features

• Mobile-first form on / with required fields:
  • First name
  • Last name
  • Designation
• POST /create
  • validates inputs
  • creates unique card ID
  • stores card in memory
  • returns immediate downloadable SVG card image
• Public card page: /card/:id
  • full name
  • designation
  • card ID
  • QR image
  • Download Card Image button
  • Download vCard button
• QR endpoint: /card/:id/qr.png
• Card image endpoint: /card/:id/download
• vCard endpoint: /card/:id/contact.vcf
• Friendly 404 pages for invalid card IDs and unknown routes
• Basic tests for form validation and route behavior

Tech stack

• Node.js (18+)
• Express
• qrcode
• supertest + node:test

Local run

1. Install dependencies:

   npm install

2. Start the app:

   npm start

3. Open:

   http://localhost:3000
   

4. Run tests:

   npm test

Render deployment

1. Push this repository to GitHub.
2. In Render, create a Blueprint deployment (or Web Service) from this repository.
3. Render reads render.yaml:
   • env: node
   • buildCommand: npm install
   • startCommand: npm start
4. Click Manual Deploy → Deploy latest commit after every new push.

Verify on Render

After deployment, verify these paths from your Render domain:

• / should show the form.
• submit form and confirm response downloads .svg.
• open /card/:id and verify both buttons:
  • Download Card Image → .svg
  • Download vCard → .vcf
• /card/:id/contact.vcf should return vCard text beginning with BEGIN:VCARD.

Why Render may still show old UI

Most common reasons:

• latest commit is not pushed to GitHub
• Render service is connected to a different branch
• deploy did not run after merge
• browser cache (hard refresh needed)

Persistence behavior

This app currently stores cards in in-memory storage (Map).

• Server restarts/redeploys will clear all cards.
• Old /card/:id links will return 404 after restart.

For permanent storage, switch to SQLite/Postgres.

Merge-conflict prevention workflow

To avoid recurring conflicts in server.js and public/styles.css:

1. Always pull/rebase before starting:

   git checkout work
   git pull --rebase origin work

2. Keep these files as single-source-of-truth (avoid parallel edits in multiple branches).

3. Before push, run:

   npm test

4. If conflict appears, prefer current canonical versions of:

   • server.js
   • public/styles.css