IronLance - Backend

Description

IronLance is a job board platform that connects Ironhack alumni (Ironhackers) with companies offering job opportunities. This is the Backend API built with Express.

Technologies Used

• Express.js - Web framework
• MongoDB / Mongoose - Database and ODM
• JSON Web Token (JWT) - Authentication
• Bcrypt - Password hashing
• Cookie Parser - Cookie handling
• CORS - Cross-origin resource sharing
• Morgan - HTTP request logging
• Dotenv - Environment variable management

Related Repository

The frontend for this application is hosted in a separate repository. You can find it here:

🔗 IronLance Frontend (React)

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Instructions to Run Locally

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/CesarDevtools/ironLance-server.git
cd ironlance-server

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Environment variables

Create a .env file in the root directory with the following variables:

# Server
PORT=5000

# Database
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/ironlance

# Authentication
JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-jwt-key-change-in-production

# Frontend URL (for CORS)
ORIGIN=http://localhost:5173

Database Setup: You need a MongoDB instance running locally or use MongoDB Atlas. If using local MongoDB, make sure it's running before starting the server.

4. Seed the database (Optional but recommended)

This project includes a seeds.js file that populates the database with sample data for testing purposes.

What the seed creates:

• 3 Companies: Google, Meta, and Amazon (password: Password123)
• 20 Ironhackers: Sample students with profiles (password: Password123)
• 30 Job Listings: Various positions across the companies

To seed the database:

npm run seed

Note: Running the seed will delete all existing data and replace it with the sample data.

Test Accounts:

Role	Email	Password
Company	google@google.com	Password123
Company	meta@meta.com	Password123
Company	amazon@amazon.com	Password123
Ironhacker	estudiante1@ironhackers.com	Password123

5. Run the application

Development mode (with auto-reload):

npm run dev

Production mode:

npm start

The API will be available at http://localhost:5000/api

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Demo

🌐 API Base URL: https://ironlance-server.vercel.app

The backend is deployed on Vercel alongside the frontend.

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API Endpoints Documentation

Base

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required
GET	/	Health check endpoint	No

Authentication

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required
POST	/auth/signup	Register new user (Ironhacker or Company)	No
POST	/auth/login	Login and receive JWT token	No
PUT	/auth/update	Update user profile and regenerate token	Yes
GET	/auth/verify	Verify current token	Yes

Jobs

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required
GET	/jobs	List all active job postings	No
GET	/jobs/:id	Get job details	No
POST	/jobs	Create a new job (Company only)	Yes
PUT	/jobs/:id	Update a job (Owner only)	Yes
DELETE	/jobs/:id	Delete a job and its applications (Owner only)	Yes
GET	/my-jobs	Get company's own job postings	Yes (Company)

Applications

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required
POST	/applications	Apply to a job (Ironhacker only)	Yes
GET	/my-applications	Get my applications (Ironhacker)	Yes
GET	/applications/:id	Get application details (Company owner)	Yes
GET	/jobs/:jobId/applications	Get applicants for a job (Company owner)	Yes
PUT	/applications/:id	Update application status (Company owner)	Yes

Users

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required
GET	/users/ironhackers	List public Ironhacker profiles (Company only)	Yes
GET	/users/:userId	Get Ironhacker profile details	Yes

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Request/Response Notes

• Authentication: All protected routes require a JWT token sent via HTTP-only cookie.
• Roles: Users have either IRONHACKER or COMPANY role, determining their access to certain endpoints.
• Error Handling: Returns appropriate HTTP status codes (400, 401, 403, 404, 500) with JSON error messages.