StudySync – All‑in‑One Student Collaboration Platform (MERN)

An integrated platform for students to share knowledge, collaborate in real‑time, generate AI‑assisted study material, and engage through community posts & chat.

Core Feature Modules

1. Notes
   • Upload notes (documents & images)
   • AI‑powered note generation
   • Retrieval of stored note assets
2. Community / Posts
   • Create posts & comment threads
3. Realtime Chat
   • Direct & group conversations
   • Attachments (Cloudinary)
   • Typing indicators, unread counts, pagination
4. User & Auth
   • JWT (cookie) authentication
   • Email verification & password reset (OTP)
   • Avatar upload & profile data
5. Dashboard & UI
   • Responsive layout (Tailwind)
   • Animated landing & stats

Monorepo Layout

backend/    # Express + MongoDB + Socket.IO + AI integration
frontend/   # React (Vite) SPA

Detailed docs:

• Backend routes & socket events: backend/README.md
• Frontend architecture & env: frontend/README.md

Technology Stack

Layer	Tech
Frontend	React 18, Vite, Tailwind, Socket.IO client, Axios
Backend	Node.js, Express 4, Socket.IO, Mongoose
Database	MongoDB Atlas / MongoDB
Auth	JWT (HTTP-only cookie)
File/Media	Multer + Cloudinary
Email	Nodemailer (SMTP)
AI	OpenAI / Google Generative AI (extensible)

Quick Start

Clone & install both packages.

git clone <repo>
cd StudySync

# Backend
cd backend
npm install
cp .env.example .env   # fill values
npm run dev

# Frontend (new terminal)
cd ../frontend
npm install
cp .env.example .env   # set VITE_BACKEND_URL
npm run dev

Open: http://localhost:5173 (default Vite) & backend typically on :5000.

Environment Essentials

See each sub README for full list. Minimum required: Backend: MONGODB_URI, JWT_SECRET, CLOUDINARY_*, SMTP creds (for email features), AI key (for generation). Frontend: VITE_BACKEND_URL (unless relying on dev proxy).

Realtime Chat Overview

• Socket handshake authenticates via JWT cookie
• Rooms per conversation ID
• Events: conversation:join, message:send, message:typing etc. (Full table in backend README)

Security & Hardening Notes

• CORS restricted via env-specified origins
• HTTP-only, SameSite=None; Secure cookies recommended in production
• Sanitization of uploads handled by Cloudinary (virus scanning not yet implemented)
• Future: rate limiting & audit logging

Roadmap (Planned Enhancements)

• Presence indicators (online/offline)
• Message editing/deletion + reactions
• Offline caching / PWA support
• AI summarization of long chats & notes clustering
• Role-based access for moderated communities

Contributing

1. Fork & create feature branch
2. Update/add tests if adding logic (future test harness)
3. Submit PR with clear description

License

ISC (see package metadata) – adjust if needed for distribution.

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Refer to module READMEs for full route & event documentation.