AetherCart

AetherCart is a full-stack e-commerce project with a polished storefront UI, admin dashboard experience, and a production-style REST API.

This repository contains:

• frontend: Next.js 16 + React 19 storefront and admin interface
• backend: Express + TypeScript + MongoDB API with JWT authentication

Features

• Multi-page storefront (home, category pages, product details, sale, cart, wishlist)
• Admin dashboard UX for products, orders, customers, categories, analytics, and settings
• Backend API modules for auth, catalog, cart, wishlist, orders, and admin analytics
• JWT access + refresh token workflow
• Zod validation and centralized API error handling
• Seed script for fast local setup

Note: the current admin UI in frontend uses mock data and local session logic for demo UX. The backend provides real API endpoints and can be integrated as the next step.

Tech Stack

• Frontend: Next.js, React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, Radix UI, shadcn/ui
• Backend: Node.js, Express, TypeScript, MongoDB, Mongoose, JWT, Zod
• Tooling: npm, TypeScript, GitHub Actions

Repository Structure

.
|- frontend/         # Next.js app
|- backend/          # Express API
|- docs/             # Architecture, API, and portfolio docs
|- .github/          # CI workflow and templates

Quick Start

1. Install dependencies

cd backend && npm ci
cd ../frontend && npm ci

2. Configure environment

cd backend
cp .env.example .env

3. Run locally

# terminal 1
cd backend
npm run dev

# terminal 2
cd frontend
npm run dev

4. Open

• Frontend: http://localhost:3000
• Backend health: http://localhost:4000/health

Environment Variables (Backend)

Use backend/.env.example as the source of truth.

Variable	Required	Description
PORT	No	API port (default: 4000)
MONGODB_URI	Yes	MongoDB connection string
JWT_SECRET	Yes	Access token signing secret
JWT_REFRESH_SECRET	Yes	Refresh token signing secret
CORS_ORIGIN	Yes	Allowed frontend origin
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS	No	Rate limit window in ms
RATE_LIMIT_MAX	No	Max requests per window
UPLOAD_DIR	No	Upload path for assets
ADMIN_DEFAULT_EMAIL	No	Seeded admin account email
ADMIN_DEFAULT_PASSWORD	No	Seeded admin account password

Scripts

Frontend (frontend)

• npm run dev
• npm run build
• npm run start
• npm run typecheck
• npm run lint (mapped to typecheck)

Backend (backend)

• npm run dev
• npm run build
• npm run start
• npm run typecheck
• npm run seed

Documentation

• Architecture: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
• API reference: docs/API_REFERENCE.md
• LinkedIn portfolio copy: docs/LINKEDIN_FEATURE.md

Production Notes

• Never commit real secrets. Keep only .env.example in git.
• This repo is now configured to ignore generated folders and dependencies.
• CI validates both backend and frontend builds on push and pull request.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.