Aarohan API

A scalable and secure backend API built with Node.js, Express, MongoDB, and JWT authentication.

Aarohan API is a production-ready backend API built using the MERN stack to simulate how a modern backend system works in a real-world application.

The platform focuses on secure authentication, role-based authorization, content management, admin moderation, analytics, and scalable backend architecture. Aarohan API also includes production-level security practices, file uploads, and interactive API documentation.

Features

  • Authentication & Authorization: Secure signup, login, refresh tokens, OTP-based password reset, and protected routes using JWT
  • Role-Based Access Control: Separate permissions for user and admin
  • Article Management: Create, update, delete, publish, search, and filter articles with slug-based URLs
  • Likes & Bookmarks: Like, dislike, and save articles for later
  • Comments System: Add comments, replies, and nested discussions
  • Admin Dashboard: Manage users, moderate articles, and view analytics
  • File Upload Support: Secure image uploads with Cloudinary
  • Security Features: Helmet, bcrypt, secure cookies, rate limiting, and centralized error handling
  • API Documentation: Interactive API testing using Swagger UI

Technologies

  • MongoDB: Database for storing application data
  • Express.js: Backend framework for REST APIs
  • Node.js: Server-side JavaScript runtime
  • Mongoose: ODM for MongoDB schema modeling
  • JWT Authentication: Secure authentication and authorization
  • bcrypt: Password hashing and account security
  • Zod: Request validation
  • Helmet: Security middleware
  • Express Rate Limit: API abuse prevention
  • Cloudinary: Cloud image storage
  • Multer: File upload handling
  • Swagger UI: API documentation

Project Structure

backend/
│── config/
│   ├── db.js
│   ├── env.js
│   ├── swagger.js
│   └── cloudinary.js
│
│── controllers/
│── middleware/
│── models/
│── routes/
│── services/
│── utils/
│── validators/
│── server.js

Getting Started

Clone the repository:

git clone <repository-url>
cd backend

Install dependencies:

npm install

Run the development server:

npm run dev

The API will start at:

http://localhost:5000

Build for Production

npm start

Main API Routes

Authentication

POST   /api/v1/auth/signup
POST   /api/v1/auth/login
POST   /api/v1/auth/logout
POST   /api/v1/auth/refresh-token
POST   /api/v1/auth/forgot-password
POST   /api/v1/auth/verify-otp
POST   /api/v1/auth/reset-password
GET    /api/v1/auth/profile
PATCH  /api/v1/auth/profile

Articles

POST   /api/v1/articles
GET    /api/v1/articles
GET    /api/v1/articles/:slug
PATCH  /api/v1/articles/:id
DELETE /api/v1/articles/:id
GET    /api/v1/articles/trending
GET    /api/v1/articles/bookmarks
POST   /api/v1/articles/:id/like
POST   /api/v1/articles/:id/dislike
POST   /api/v1/articles/:id/bookmark

Comments

POST   /api/v1/articles/:id/comments
GET    /api/v1/articles/:id/comments
POST   /api/v1/comments/:id/reply
PATCH  /api/v1/comments/:id
DELETE /api/v1/comments/:id

Conclusion

Aarohan API demonstrates how a scalable and secure backend platform can be built using modern backend technologies. With authentication, moderation, engagement features, and production-level security, the project reflects real-world backend engineering practices.