Server setup

Install and run the SPS School Backend locally or with MongoDB Atlas.

This guide walks you through setting up the SPS School Backend on your machine for local development or connecting it to a hosted MongoDB Atlas cluster.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure the following are installed:

Requirement	Minimum version	Notes
Node.js	18.x	LTS recommended
npm	9.x	Bundled with Node.js
MongoDB	6.x (local) or Atlas	See setup options below

Check your installed versions with node -v, npm -v, and mongod --version before continuing.

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/praveenarya123/sps-backend.git
   cd sps-backend
   
2. Install dependencies

   npm

   npm install
   

   yarn

   yarn install
   

   This installs all production and development dependencies defined in package.json, including Express, Mongoose, bcryptjs, jsonwebtoken, and nodemon.

3. Configure environment variables

   Copy the example environment file and fill in your values:

   cp .env.example .env
   

   At minimum, set PORT, MONGODB_URI, and JWT_SECRET. See the environment variables reference for details on each variable.

4. Set up MongoDB

   Choose your database setup:

   Local MongoDB

   Install MongoDB Community Edition for your operating system.

   macOS (Homebrew)

   brew tap mongodb/brew
   brew install mongodb-community
   brew services start mongodb-community
   

   Once MongoDB is running, set your connection string in .env:

   MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/sps-school
   

   MongoDB will create the sps-school database automatically on first write.

   MongoDB Atlas

   1. Sign in to MongoDB Atlas.
   2. Create a new project and deploy a free M0 cluster.
   3. Under Database Access, add a database user with a strong password.
   4. Under Network Access, allow your IP address (or 0.0.0.0/0 for development).
   5. Click Connect on your cluster, choose Drivers, and copy the connection string.

   Paste it into your .env file, replacing the placeholder credentials:

   MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://<username>:<password>@cluster0.abcde.mongodb.net/sps-school?retryWrites=true&w=majority
   

   Never commit your Atlas connection string to version control. It contains your database credentials.

5. Start the server

   Development (nodemon)

   npx nodemon server.js
   

   nodemon watches for file changes and automatically restarts the process. This is the recommended mode during active development.

   You can also add a dev script to package.json for convenience:

   "scripts": {
     "dev": "nodemon server.js",
     "start": "node server.js"
   }
   

   Then run npm run dev.

   Production (node)

   node server.js
   

   In production, use a process manager such as PM2 to keep the server running and handle restarts:

   npm install -g pm2
   pm2 start server.js --name sps-school-backend
   pm2 save
   pm2 startup
   

Verify the server is running

Once the server starts, confirm it is responding correctly by sending a request to the root endpoint:

curl http://localhost:5000/

Expected response:

SPS School Backend Running

You can also open http://localhost:5000/ in your browser and you should see the same message.

The default port is 5000, read from process.env.PORT. If you set a different value in your .env file, use that port instead.

Project structure

The following tree shows the top-level layout of the project:

sps-backend/
├── server.js              # Entry point
├── package.json
├── .env                   # Local config (do not commit)
├── config/
│   └── db.js              # MongoDB connection
├── routes/
│   ├── authRoutes.js
│   ├── teacherRoutes.js
│   ├── studentRoutes.js
│   ├── attendanceRoutes.js
│   ├── assignmentRoutes.js
│   ├── applicationRoutes.js
│   └── financeRoutes.js
├── controllers/
│   ├── authController.js
│   ├── studentController.js
│   ├── teacherController.js
│   ├── attendanceController.js
│   ├── assignmentController.js
│   ├── applicationController.js
│   └── financeController.js
├── middleware/
│   ├── authMiddleware.js
│   └── roleMiddleware.js
└── models/
    ├── User.js
    ├── Student.js
    ├── Teacher.js
    ├── Attendance.js
    ├── Assignment.js
    ├── Submission.js
    ├── Application.js
    └── Fee.js

File / folder	Purpose
server.js	Application entry point. Initializes Express, mounts routes, and starts the HTTP server.
config/db.js	Establishes the Mongoose connection to MongoDB using MONGODB_URI.
routes/	One file per resource. Each file defines the route handlers for that domain area.
controllers/	Business logic separated from routing. Called by route handlers.
middleware/	Reusable middleware, including JWT authentication checks.
models/	Mongoose schema and model definitions.
.env	Local environment configuration. Never commit this file.

Available API routes

The following base paths are mounted in server.js:

Route prefix	Description
GET /	Health check — returns "SPS School Backend Running"
/api/auth	Authentication (register, login)
/api/teacher	Teacher management
/api/student	Student management
/api/attendance	Attendance tracking
/api/assignment	Assignment management
/api/application	Applications and admissions
/api/finance	Finance and fee management

Next steps

Environment variables

Full reference for all required and optional environment variables.

Authentication

How to authenticate requests using JWT tokens.