Setting Up the BookMe.com

This guide will walk you through the process of setting up the MERN Booking App on your local machine.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have Node.js installed on your system.

Cloning the Repository

Start by cloning the repository to your local machine:

git clone https://github.com/rishirishhh/BookMe.com.git
cd BookMe.com

Backend Configuration

1. Environment Files: Navigate to the backend folder and create two files: .env and .env.e2e. Add the following contents to both files:

   MONGODB_CONNECTION_STRING=
   
   JWT_SECRET_KEY=
   FRONTEND_URL=
   
   # Cloudinary Variables
   CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=
   CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=
   CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=
   
   # Stripe
   STRIPE_API_KEY=
   

2. MongoDB Setup:

   • Sign up for an account at MongoDB Atlas.
   • Create a new cluster and follow the instructions to set up a new database.
   • Once set up, obtain your MongoDB connection string and add it to the MONGODB_CONNECTION_STRING variable in your .env files.
   • For the .env.e2e setup see "running automated tests" below

3. Cloudinary Setup:

   • Create an account at Cloudinary.
   • Navigate to your dashboard to find your cloud name, API key, and API secret.
   • Add these details to the respective CLOUDINARY_* variables in your .env files.

4. Stripe Setup:

   • Sign up for a Stripe account at Stripe.
   • Find your API keys in the Stripe dashboard.
   • Add your Stripe API key to the STRIPE_API_KEY variable in your .env files.

5. JWT_SECRET_KEY:

   • This just needs to be any long, random string. You can google "secret key generator".

6. Frontend URL:

   • The FRONTEND_URL should point to the URL where your frontend application is running (typically http://localhost:3000 if you're running it locally).

Frontend Configuration

1. Environment Files: Navigate to the frontend folder and create a file: .env:

   VITE_API_BASE_URL=
   VITE_STRIPE_PUB_KEY=
   

2. VITE_API_BASE_URLL:

   • The VITE_API_BASE_URL should point to the URL where your backend application is running (typically http://localhost:7000 if you're running it locally).

Running the Application

1. Backend:

   • Navigate to the backend directory.
   • Install dependencies: npm install.
   • Start the server: npm start.

2. Frontend:

   • Open a new terminal and navigate to the frontend directory.
   • Install dependencies: npm install.
   • Start the frontend application: npm run dev.
   • The application should now be running on http://localhost:5173 but verify this in your command line terminal