Rock-Spotter

Quick Start Guide

Get Rock Spotter up and running in 5 minutes!

Prerequisites

• Node.js v14+ installed
• MongoDB installed and running (or MongoDB Atlas account)

Setup in 3 Steps

1. Install Backend Dependencies

cd backend
npm install

2. Configure Environment

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env if needed (defaults work for local development):

PORT=3000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/rock-spotter
JWT_SECRET=rock-spotter-secret-key-change-this-in-production

3. Start the Server

npm start

You should see:

MongoDB connected successfully
Rock Spotter API server running on port 3000

Test It Out

1. Check Health

curl http://localhost:3000/api/health

2. Register a User

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/users/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "username": "rockfan",
    "email": "fan@rocks.com",
    "password": "rocks123"
  }'

Save the token from the response!

3. Create a Rock Post

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/rocks \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN_HERE" \
  -d '{
    "title": "My First Rock",
    "description": "A beautiful granite specimen",
    "location": {
      "type": "Point",
      "coordinates": [-122.4194, 37.7749],
      "address": "San Francisco, CA"
    },
    "rockType": "igneous",
    "tags": ["granite", "first"],
    "isPublic": true
  }'

4. View All Rocks

curl http://localhost:3000/api/rocks

What’s Next?

Explore the API

• 📚 Read API Documentation
• 🏃 Learn about Rock Hunts
• 🔧 See Full Setup Guide

Try More Features

Create a Hunt:

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/hunts \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "title": "First Hunt",
    "description": "Find 3 rocks!",
    "rocks": [],
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "startDate": "2025-10-17T00:00:00Z",
    "endDate": "2025-10-24T23:59:59Z"
  }'

View Achievements:

curl http://localhost:3000/api/achievements

Common Issues

MongoDB not running?

# Start MongoDB (macOS)
brew services start mongodb-community

# Start MongoDB (Linux)
sudo systemctl start mongod

Port 3000 already in use?

Change the PORT in .env file to 3001 or another available port.

Need help?

Check the full documentation:

• Setup Guide
• API Documentation
• Hunts Guide

---

Quick Deploy with Docker 🐳

Want to deploy quickly? Use Docker!

Option 1: Docker Compose (Easiest)

# Clone and start everything
git clone https://github.com/jmenichole/Rock-Spotter.git
cd Rock-Spotter
docker-compose up -d

# Check if it's running
curl http://localhost:3000/api/health

This starts both the API and MongoDB automatically!

Option 2: Deploy to Cloud

Render (Free tier available):

1. Fork this repository
2. Create MongoDB Atlas free database
3. Click:
4. Connect GitHub and deploy!

Railway ($5 free credit):

npm install -g railway
railway login
railway init
railway add  # Add MongoDB
railway up   # Deploy!

See DEPLOYMENT.md for detailed cloud deployment guides.

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You’re all set! Start sharing rocks! 🪨✨

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