RideMates

RideMates is a full-stack ride-sharing application that connects drivers with passengers. It facilitates ride creation, booking, and real-time communication between users.

Features

• User Authentication: Secure signup and signin using JWT and Google Authentication.
• Ride Management:
  • Create rides with details like source, destination, date, time, and price.
  • Search and book available rides.
  • Manage booking requests (accept/reject).
• Real-time Chat: Integrated chat functionality using Socket.io for communication between drivers and passengers.
• Dashboard: View created rides, booked rides, and manage passengers.
• Responsive Design: Built with React and Tailwind CSS for a seamless mobile and desktop experience.

Tech Stack

Frontend

• React: UI library.
• Vite: Build tool and development server.
• Tailwind CSS: Utility-first CSS framework.
• React Router: Client-side routing.
• Socket.io Client: Real-time bidirectional event-based communication.
• Axios: Promise based HTTP client.

Backend

• Node.js & Express: Server-side runtime and framework.
• MongoDB & Mongoose: NoSQL database and object modeling.
• Socket.io: Real-time engine.
• JWT: JSON Web Tokens for authentication.
• Zod: Schema validation.

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• MongoDB (Local or Atlas)

Project Structure & File Usage

This section provides a detailed overview of the project's folder structure and the purpose of key files.

Backend (/backend)

The backend is built with Node.js, Express, and MongoDB.

backend/
├── controllers/       # Logic for handling API requests
├── middlewares/       # Custom middleware (e.g., auth checks)
├── models/            # Mongoose schemas for database collections
│   ├── Message.js     # Chat message schema
│   ├── Reservation.js # Ride booking reservation schema
│   ├── Ride.js        # Ride details schema
│   └── User.js        # User profile and auth schema
├── routes/            # API route definitions
│   ├── chat.js        # Chat-related routes
│   ├── reservation.js # Booking management routes
│   ├── rides.js       # Ride creation and retrieval routes
│   └── user.js        # Authentication routes
├── database.js        # MongoDB connection setup
├── index.js           # Application entry point (Server & Socket.io setup)
└── .env               # Environment variables (PORT, MONGO_URL, etc.)

Frontend (/frontend)

The frontend is a React application built with Vite and Tailwind CSS.

frontend/
├── public/            # Static assets
├── src/
│   ├── components/    # Reusable React components and pages
│   │   ├── BookRide.jsx        # Page to search and book rides
│   │   ├── Chat.jsx            # Real-time chat interface
│   │   ├── CreateRide.jsx      # Form to publish a new ride
│   │   ├── FooterNav.jsx       # Mobile-responsive navigation bar
│   │   ├── GoogleSignInButton.jsx # Google Auth component
│   │   ├── Inbox.jsx           # List of active chat conversations
│   │   ├── ManageRequests.jsx  # Driver's view to accept/reject bookings
│   │   ├── MyBookings.jsx      # List of rides booked by the user
│   │   ├── MyCreated.jsx       # List of rides created by the user
│   │   ├── Signin.jsx          # User login page
│   │   ├── Signup.jsx          # User registration page
│   │   └── ViewPassengers.jsx  # View passenger details for a ride
│   ├── App.jsx        # Main application component with Routing
│   ├── index.css      # Global styles and Tailwind directives
│   └── main.jsx       # React DOM entry point
├── index.html         # HTML template
├── package.json       # Dependencies and scripts
└── vite.config.js     # Vite configuration

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Installation & Setup

1. Clone the Repository

git clone <repository-url>
cd RideMates

2. Backend Setup

Navigate to the backend directory:

cd backend

Install dependencies:

npm install

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

PORT=3000
MONGO_URL=mongodb://localhost:27017/ridemates
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key
FRONT_END=http://localhost:5173

Start the backend server:

npm start
# OR for development with nodemon
npm run dev

The server will start on http://localhost:3000.

3. Frontend Setup

Navigate to the frontend directory:

cd ../frontend

Install dependencies:

npm install

Start the development server:

npm run dev

The application will be available at http://localhost:5173.

API Endpoints

Users

• POST /users/signup: Register a new user.
• POST /users/signin: Authenticate a user.

Rides

• POST /rides/create: Create a new ride.
• GET /rides/all: Get all available rides.
• GET /rides/my-created-rides: Get rides created by the logged-in user.
• GET /rides/my-booked-rides: Get rides booked by the logged-in user.

Reservations

• POST /reserve/book: Book a ride.
• POST /reserve/accept: Accept a booking request.
• POST /reserve/reject: Reject a booking request.

Chat

• Real-time messaging via Socket.io events (chat:join, chat:send, chat:message).

License

This project is licensed under the ISC License.