🛒 CampusCart

A campus-centric peer-to-peer student marketplace where verified students buy, sell, and trade items safely within their campus community.

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🎯 Problem It Solves

Students constantly need to buy and sell textbooks, electronics, lab equipment, and other campus essentials. Existing platforms like OLX or Facebook Marketplace aren't campus-specific — they lack trust, proximity, and student verification. CampusCart solves this by creating a closed, campus-only marketplace with built-in escrow, reviews, and peer delivery.

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	React 19 + Vite
Backend	Node.js + Express 5
Database	MongoDB + Mongoose
Auth	JWT (HTTP-only cookies) + Passport.js (Google & GitHub OAuth)
Real-time	Socket.io (Chat & Notifications)
Email	Brevo Transactional API
AI Support	Gemini 1.5 Pro (Search Assistant)
Hosting	Vercel (frontend) · Render (backend) · MongoDB Atlas (DB)

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📁 Project Structure

url_shortner/
├── client/                    → React frontend (Vite)
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── pages/             → Page components
│   │   ├── components/        → Reusable UI elements
│   │   ├── context/           → Auth & Chat context providers
│   │   └── services/          → API instance with refresh logic
│
├── server/                    → Express backend
│   ├── config/                → DB connection, Passport strategies
│   ├── controllers/           → Route handlers (MVC)
│   ├── models/                → Mongoose schemas
│   ├── routes/                → Express route definitions
│   ├── sockets/               → Socket.io events and logic
│   └── server.js              → App entry point
│
└── README.md

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⚙️ Getting Started

1. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/your-username/campuscart.git
cd campuscart

2. Install dependencies

# In the root (or individually)
cd server && npm install
cd ../client && npm install

3. Set up environment variables

# Backend (.env)
PORT=10000
MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_uri
ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET=your_secret
EMAIL_FROM=your_email
BrevoApiKey=your_brevo_key
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloud_name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_api_key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_api_secret
GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_key

# Frontend (.env)
VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:10000

4. Run Development

# Backend (Server Terminal)
npm run dev

# Frontend (Client Terminal)
npm run dev

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📡 API Endpoints

🔐 Authentication

Method	Endpoint	Purpose
POST	/api/auth/login	Log in user
POST	/api/auth/logout	Log out user
GET	/api/auth/me	Get current user profile

🛒 Listings & Categories

Method	Endpoint	Purpose
GET	/api/listings	Get all listings (paginated)
GET	/api/listings?category=Electronics	Filter by category (case-insensitive)
GET	/api/listings/:id	Get single listing

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🚀 Deployment

• Frontend: Push client to Vercel/Netlify. Set VITE_API_URL environment variable.
• Backend: Push server to Render/Railway. Set all .env variables in the dashboard.
• Database: Use MongoDB Atlas for a managed cluster.

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📄 License

ISC