Fundo AI — Educational Resource Portal

Created by Darrell Mucheri
Built for Zimbabwean students — ZIMSEC & Cambridge curriculum support.

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What's Included

Component	Description
admin-portal/server.js	Express backend — API, file uploads, admin & student auth
admin-portal/client/	React frontend — marketing site, student app, admin dashboard
admin-portal/project-prompts.js	AI prompt templates used by the server

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Deploying on Render (Recommended)

The portal is a standalone Express + React app. Deploy it on Render in about 5 minutes.

Step-by-step

1. Push your code to GitHub

Make sure your project is in a GitHub repository (public or private).

2. Create a new Web Service on Render

• Go to render.com → New → Web Service
• Connect your GitHub account and select your repository
• Choose the main branch

3. Configure the service

Field	Value
Name	fundo-ai (or any name you like)
Root Directory	admin-portal
Runtime	Node
Build Command	npm install && npm run build
Start Command	node server.js
Instance Type	Free (or Starter for always-on)

Important: The build command installs client dependencies and compiles the React frontend into client/dist/. The Express server serves these built files automatically. Node.js 20 is pinned — do not use Node 24 (known npm compatibility issues).

4. Add Environment Variables

In Render → your service → Environment tab, add:

Key	Required?	Notes
MONGO_URI	✅ Yes	MongoDB Atlas connection string
ADMIN_USERNAME	✅ Yes	Admin login username
ADMIN_PASSWORD	✅ Yes	Admin login password
SESSION_SECRET	✅ Yes	Any long random string for JWT signing
PAYNOW_ID	Optional	EcoCash Paynow merchant ID
PAYNOW_KEY	Optional	EcoCash Paynow integration key
NVIDIA_API_KEY	Optional	NVIDIA AI key for improved AI quality

Do NOT set PORT — Render injects it automatically. The server reads process.env.PORT already.

5. Deploy

Click Create Web Service. Render will:

1. Clone your repo
2. Run the build command (installs deps + compiles React)
3. Start the server with node server.js
4. Assign you a public URL like https://fundo-ai.onrender.com

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MongoDB Atlas Setup

1. Create a free cluster at cloud.mongodb.com
2. Network Access → Add IP Address → 0.0.0.0/0 (required for Render)
3. Database Access → Add a user with read/write privileges
4. Connect → Drivers → copy the connection string
5. Replace <password> with your DB user password
6. Paste it as MONGO_URI in Render environment variables

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Admin Portal — How to Use

1. Open your Render URL and go to /admin — sign in with your admin credentials
2. Upload resources: drag & drop files (PDF, DOC, DOCX, images)
3. Select the correct Category, Level, Grade, and Subject
4. Add a Year for past papers and marking schemes
5. Click Upload Files — resources appear immediately on the student portal

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Running Locally

cd admin-portal
npm install
npm run build      # compiles the React frontend
node server.js     # starts the server on port 5000

Then open http://localhost:5000.

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Credits

Darrell Mucheri — Developer & Creator

• Website: fundoai.gleeze.com
• Support: support.fundo.ai@gmail.com
• WhatsApp: wa.me/263719647303

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Fundo AI — Empowering Zimbabwean students through accessible, AI-powered education.