BeReal Clone MVP

A lightweight React Native mobile app that lets users capture and share one dual-photo post (back then front camera) per day during a randomized time of day for a notification saying "Time to BeReal", which indicates when a user has 2 minutes to submit their daily "BeReal" photo. Friends can view each other's posts, and manage friend connections.

Features

• Authentication: Sign up/login with email using JWT-based auth
• Dual Camera Capture: Capture both front and back camera photos and stitch them together
• Daily Posts: One post per user per day with daily prompts
• Friends System: Search, request, accept/decline, remove friends
• Feed: Friends-only feed of posts for the day
• Profile Management: Update profile information and view your posts
• Notifications: Local push notifications for daily prompts
• Reactions: Like posts and report inappropriate content

Architecture

[React Native App]
   - Camera, Feed, Friends, Notifications
   - JWT Auth
   - Local image stitch
        |
        |
        V

[Node.js Express Server (server.js)]
   - Auth (JWT, bcrypt)
   - API Routes (/auth, /users, /friends, /posts, /feed, /reactions, /reports)
   - SQLite DB (users, friends, posts, reactions, reports, meta)
   - File Storage (uploads/)
   - Scheduler (daily prompt with node-cron)
        |
        |
        V

[SQLite + File System]
   - SQLite: user/friend/post metadata
   - File system: stored post images

Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or newer (Node 16 works but 18+ is recommended for Expo tooling)
• npm (bundled with Node)
• Optional: Expo CLI (npm install -g expo-cli) for extra commands
• Optional: iOS Simulator (requires Xcode) or Android Studio/Emulators if you plan to test natively

Quick Start (recommended)

The repository includes a helper script that installs dependencies, prepares the database, and runs either the automated test suite or the dev servers.

./run.sh

By default this will perform a non-interactive CI-style run:

• install/update dependencies
• run npm run setup
• execute the full Jest test suite with coverage reporting

To launch the development servers instead, pass the dev flag:

./run.sh dev

The first run may take a few minutes while npm install completes. The Expo CLI output will show a QR code if you want to connect an Expo Go client. This project currently targets Expo SDK 49, so you must use a matching Expo Go build (or run the Expo web build in your browser).

Manual Setup (if you prefer separate terminals)

1. Install dependencies:

   npm install

2. Set up environment variables (optional – defaults work out of the box):

   cp env.example .env

   Edit .env file with your configuration:

   JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-jwt-key-here
   PORT=3000
   DB_PATH=./database.sqlite
   UPLOAD_PATH=./uploads
   

3. Initialize database:

   npm run setup

4. Start the server:

   npm start

   The server will run on http://localhost:3000

5. Start the Expo dev server (new terminal):

   npm run expo:start

6. Run on device/simulator:

   • Web (default): open the browser tab Expo launches or run npm run expo:web
   • iOS simulator: npm run expo:ios
   • Android emulator: npm run expo:android

   Note: Using a physical device with Expo Go requires the Expo Go build that matches SDK 49. Newer App Store/Play Store versions (e.g., SDK 54) will refuse to load this project.

API Endpoints

Authentication

• POST /auth/register - Register new user
• POST /auth/login - Login user

Users

• GET /users/profile - Get user profile
• PUT /users/profile - Update user profile

Friends

• GET /friends - Get friends list
• GET /friends/requests - Get friend requests
• POST /friends/search - Search users
• POST /friends/request - Send friend request
• PUT /friends/respond - Accept/decline friend request
• DELETE /friends/:friend_id - Remove friend

Posts

• POST /posts - Create new post (with image upload)
• GET /posts/my - Get user's posts

Feed

• GET /feed - Get friends' posts for today

Reactions

• POST /reactions - Add reaction to post
• DELETE /reactions/:post_id - Remove reaction

Reports

• POST /reports - Report a post

Meta

• GET /meta/daily-prompt - Get daily prompt
• PUT /meta/daily-prompt - Update daily prompt

Database Schema

Users Table

• id (INTEGER PRIMARY KEY)
• email (TEXT UNIQUE)
• phone (TEXT UNIQUE)
• username (TEXT UNIQUE)
• display_name (TEXT)
• avatar_url (TEXT)
• password_hash (TEXT)
• created_at (DATETIME)
• updated_at (DATETIME)

Friends Table

• id (INTEGER PRIMARY KEY)
• user_id (INTEGER)
• friend_id (INTEGER)
• status (TEXT) - 'pending', 'accepted', 'declined'
• created_at (DATETIME)
• updated_at (DATETIME)

Testing

This project now ships with a Jest + Expo testing harness that exercises the major user flows (authentication, feed interactions, friends management, camera capture/upload, and profile updates) in a fully isolated environment.

• Run the suite once (collects coverage by default):

  npm test -- --coverage

• Watch mode for TDD:

  npm run test:watch

• Turnkey CI run (installs deps, seeds DB, runs coverage):

  ./run.sh

Key pieces of the scaffolding:

• jest.config.js disables Watchman (no macOS permissions needed), wires the jest-expo preset, and enables HTML/LCOV coverage reports.
• jest.setup.js wires up native mocks (expo-camera, expo-notifications, AsyncStorage, vector icons, etc.) and fetch polyfills so tests run without real native services.
• Manual mocks in __mocks__/ provide predictable behavior for axios, expo-camera, and static assets.

If you introduce new native dependencies, add lightweight mocks in jest.setup.js or __mocks__/ to keep the environment hermetic. When debugging odd watcher behaviour, you can always append USE_WATCHMAN=0 to npm test, though it should no longer be necessary.

Posts Table

• id (INTEGER PRIMARY KEY)
• user_id (INTEGER)
• front_image_url (TEXT)
• back_image_url (TEXT)
• stitched_image_url (TEXT)
• caption (TEXT)
• created_at (DATETIME)

Reactions Table

• id (INTEGER PRIMARY KEY)
• post_id (INTEGER)
• user_id (INTEGER)
• reaction_type (TEXT)
• created_at (DATETIME)

Reports Table

• id (INTEGER PRIMARY KEY)
• post_id (INTEGER)
• reporter_id (INTEGER)
• reason (TEXT)
• created_at (DATETIME)

Meta Table

• id (INTEGER PRIMARY KEY)
• key (TEXT UNIQUE)
• value (TEXT)
• created_at (DATETIME)
• updated_at (DATETIME)

Development

Running in Development Mode

1. Backend with auto-reload:

   npm run dev

2. Frontend with Expo:

   npm run expo:start

Deployment

Backend Deployment

1. Set up a production server (AWS, DigitalOcean, etc.)
2. Install Node.js and dependencies
3. Set up environment variables
4. Initialize database
5. Use PM2 or similar for process management
6. Set up reverse proxy (nginx)

Frontend Deployment

1. Build the app for production:

   expo build:android
   expo build:ios

2. Deploy to app stores or distribute APK/IPA files

Security Considerations

• JWT tokens are used for authentication
• Passwords are hashed with bcrypt
• Posts are only visible to friends
• Input validation on all endpoints
• File upload restrictions (size, type)

Performance

• App launch target: under 2 seconds
• Capture-to-post target: under 3 seconds
• Supports small groups (tens to hundreds of users)
• SQLite database for fast local queries
• Image stitching handled server-side

License

MIT License