SkillSwap Backend

A Node.js/Express backend API for the SkillSwap platform - a community-driven skill exchange application where users can offer and request skills from one another.

Features

• 🔄 Create Swaps - Users can post skill offers and requests
• 📋 List Swaps - Browse all available skill exchanges
• ✏️ Edit Swaps - Update existing skill swap postings
• 🗑️ Delete Swaps - Remove swaps
• 💾 MongoDB Integration - Persistent data storage
• 🔒 CORS Enabled - Secure cross-origin requests
• 📝 Environment Configuration - Secure environment variable management

Tech Stack

• Runtime: Node.js
• Framework: Express.js
• Database: MongoDB
• Environment: dotenv
• Middleware: CORS, Express JSON parser

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• npm or yarn
• MongoDB Atlas account (or local MongoDB instance)

Setup

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/JstMeJosh/skillswap-backend.git
cd skillswap-backend

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Create .env file Create a .env file in the root directory:

MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
PORT=5000

4. Start the server

npm run dev

The server will start on http://localhost:5000

API Endpoints

Get All Swaps

GET /api/swaps

Returns a list of all skill swaps.

Response:

[
  {
    "_id": "507f1f77bcf86cd799439011",
    "title": "Learn React",
    "skillOffered": "JavaScript",
    "skillWanted": "Python",
    "description": "I can teach JavaScript basics..."
  }
]

Create a New Swap

POST /api/swaps
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "title": "Learn Web Design",
  "skillOffered": "Web Development",
  "skillWanted": "Graphic Design",
  "description": "I can teach HTML, CSS, and JavaScript"
}

Update a Swap

PUT /api/swaps/:id
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "title": "Learn React",
  "skillOffered": "JavaScript",
  "skillWanted": "Python",
  "description": "Updated description"
}

Delete a Swap

DELETE /api/swaps/:id

Database Schema

Swap Model

{
  title: String (required),
  skillOffered: String (required),
  skillWanted: String (required),
  description: String (optional),
  createdAt: Date (auto-generated),
  updatedAt: Date (auto-generated)
}

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Example
MONGO_URI	MongoDB connection string	mongodb+srv://user:password@cluster.mongodb.net/skillswap
PORT	Server port (optional, defaults to 5000)	5000

Scripts

• npm run dev - Start the server with nodemon (auto-reload on file changes)
• npm start - Start the production server

Project Structure

backend/
├── models/
│   └── Swap.js          # MongoDB Swap model
├── server.js            # Main Express application
├── package.json         # Dependencies and scripts
├── .env                 # Environment variables (not tracked)
├── .gitignore          # Git ignore rules
└── README.md           # This file

Development

The backend uses nodemon for automatic server reloading during development. Changes to any file will automatically restart the server.

Error Handling

All endpoints return appropriate HTTP status codes:

• 200 - Success
• 201 - Created
• 400 - Bad Request / Server Error
• 404 - Not Found

CORS Configuration

The API is configured to accept requests from any origin. In production, update the CORS configuration in server.js to restrict to your frontend domain:

app.use(cors({
  origin: 'https://yourdomain.com'
}));

Future Enhancements

• User authentication and authorization
• User profiles with ratings and reviews
• Skill categories and tags
• Search and filter functionality
• Messaging system between users
• Transaction history

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

Contact

For questions or support, please reach out to the project maintainer.

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Happy Skill Swapping! 🚀