💡 DevFlow

DevFlow is a full-stack, production-grade developer Q&A platform inspired by Stack Overflow // Twitter(x) // Quora — with added features like threaded answers, email verification, modular service architecture, and structured logging.

👨‍💻 Built with a scalable architecture in mind, DevFlow empowers users to ask programming questions, post answers, and engage in in-depth threaded conversations.

---

🚀 Why DevFlow?

DevFlow was created to:

• Simplify developer question/answer interactions.
• Support nested conversations for more natural discussions.
• Practice enterprise-grade Node.js architecture with proper service/repository layers.
• Implement ownership logic, validations, and scalable structure using Node.js, Redis, MongoDB, and more.

---

🔧 Tech Stack

Layer	Tech Used
Backend	Node.js, Express.js
Database	MongoDB with Mongoose ODM
Caching & Queue	Redis + BullMQ
Email Service	Nodemailer + OTP with Redis expiry
Validation	validator / Custom Middleware
Logging	Winston (Console + MongoDB transport)
Authentication	JWT + bcrypt

---

🧩 Key Modules

📌 Question Module

• Users can create questions with title, body, and topics.
• Questions are tied to user accounts.
• CRUD operations fully implemented.
• Topics are created dynamically and normalized.

💬 Answer Module

• Answers can be added to any question.
• Supports create, read, update, delete.
• Ownership enforced: only the author can edit/delete their answer.
• Input validation to ensure clean data.

🔁 Nested Answer / Threaded Replies

• Inspired by Twitter/X threads.
• Answers can have infinite replies using a recursive parent-child structure.
• Threaded UI design planned for front-end integration.

👤 User Module

• Signup / Login with password hashing (bcrypt).
• JWT-based auth system.
• Retrieve user profile using username.
• Update bio, email, or username.

📧 Email Verification

• OTP generation using helper utils + Redis cache.
• Email delivery via BullMQ & background workers.
• OTP verification updates isVerified field in the DB.

🪵 Logging

• Winston logger integrated with:

  • Console logging for dev.
  • MongoDB storage for logs in production.

• Logs all key events (login, signup, errors).

---

📁 Project Structure

src/
├── controller/        # Express route handlers (thin layer)
├── service/           # Core business logic
├── repository/        # Data access layer
├── model/             # Mongoose schemas
├── routes/            # API routing
├── middleware/        # Auth, validation, error handling
├── utils/             # JWT, OTP, custom helpers
├── config/            # DB, Redis, Logger configs
├── validation/        # Joi + custom validation logic
├── queue/             # BullMQ setup + job processors
└── logs/              # Winston logs if using file storage

✅ Each module follows Separation of Concerns (SoC) principle.

---

⚙️ Setup Instructions

🧪 Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18+ recommended)
• MongoDB (local or Atlas)
• Redis (local or cloud)
• A mail SMTP provider (e.g., Gmail SMTP, Mailtrap)

📦 Installation

# Clone the project
git clone https://github.com/Sangam5756/devflow.git
cd devflow

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Create .env file
cp .env.example .env
# Add your Mongo URI, JWT secret, Redis URL, SMTP creds

# Start Mongo & Redis if needed

# Run the project
npm start

---

🔐 Environment Variables (.env)

PORT=5000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/devflow
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379
EMAIL_HOST=smtp.example.com
EMAIL_PORT=587
EMAIL_USER=you@example.com
EMAIL_PASS=password

---

🧪 Sample API Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/v1/auth/register	Register new user
POST	/api/v1/auth/login	Login and get JWT
POST	/api/v1/questions	Create a new question
GET	/api/v1/questions	Get all questions
POST	/api/v1/answers/:questionId	Create answer for a question
DELETE	/api/v1/answers/:answerId	Delete your answer
POST	/api/v1/auth/send-otp	Send OTP for email verification
POST	/api/v1/auth/verify-otp	Verify email using OTP

---

🛠️ Features in Progress

• Answer ownership logic ✅
• Threaded replies (nested answers) ✅
• Email OTP flow via Redis + Queue ✅
• Route-level documentation (JSDoc style) ✅
• Unit & Integration Testing (Jest) 🔄
• Votes / Like system on answers 🔜
• Pagination & Filtering by topic 🔜

---

🧑‍💻 Contributing

We’d love your help!

1. Fork the repo
2. Create a new branch: git checkout -b feature-name
3. Make changes
4. Commit and push: git commit -m "Your message"
5. Open a pull request

---

📜 License

MIT License. Feel free to use, share, or build on top of this!

---

🌍 Links

• 🔗 Live Project: Coming Soon
• 📦 Repo: github.com/your-username/devflow
• 🧠 Follow: X @sangammundhe Tag: #BuildInPublic #DevFlow

---