[Feature]: Multicontainer Dockerization using Docker Compose (Client, Server, Bot)

[khushigoel44-afk]

Problem

Currently, setting up GAMIFY locally requires a multi-step process where contributors must manually navigate to three separate directories (client/, server/, and bot/), run npm install in each, configure local environmental variables, and maintain three running terminal processes. This introduces onboarding friction, potential port conflicts, and OS-specific dependency issues for open-source contributors.

Proposed solution

Implement complete multi-container dockerization across the entire repository using Docker and Docker Compose. This will enable contributors to spin up the React frontend, Express API server, Discord bot service, and a local MongoDB instance simultaneously with a single command.
The required architecture should implement:

1. Service Dockerfiles:
   • server/Dockerfile: Containerizes the Node.js/Express REST API.
   • client/Dockerfile: Multi-stage build that compiles the React application and serves it via an optimized Nginx container layer.
   • bot/Dockerfile: Configures an isolated Node.js environment optimized to sustain the running discord.js client listener.
2. docker-compose.yml: A root-level orchestration configuration linking:
   • The backend API server container (mapping port 5000).
   • The web dashboard UI container (mapping Vite's dev/preview ports).
   • The Discord companion bot process wrapper.
   • A localized database layer (mongo:latest) with named persistent volumes to bypass immediate requirements for an external MongoDB Atlas connection string during testing.
3. .dockerignore: To keep the build context highly performant by stripping local node_modules and build directories.
4. Documentation: Appending step-by-step implementation notes to the README.md on how to launch the entire multi-service stack natively through Docker commands.

Additional context

1. This update significantly streamlines local workflow management, lowering barriers for new open-source contributors who want to test frontend interactions alongside bot events in real-time.
2. All configuration secrets inside the respective .env files will map safely and directly into the orchestrator blocks without security compromises.

I am a GSSoC Contributor and would love to work on this issue. Could you please assign it to me.

[github-actions]

Thank you for raising this issue!

We'll review it as soon as possible. We truly appreciate your contributions! ✨

Meanwhile make sure you've visited the README.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, and CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md before creating a PR for this. Also, please do NOT create a PR until this issue has been assigned to you. 😊