Mention

A modern, cross-platform social app built with Expo, React Native, TypeScript, and a Node.js/Express backend in a monorepo structure.

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Table of Contents

• About
• Project Structure
• Getting Started
• Development Scripts
• API Documentation
• Contributing
• License

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About

Mention is a universal social platform inspired by Twitter/X, designed for mobile and web. It features real-time feeds, user profiles, trends, notifications, and more. Built with Expo, React Native, and a Node.js backend in a modern monorepo structure, it supports file-based routing, multi-language support, and a modern UI.

Project Structure

This is a monorepo using npm workspaces with the following structure:

/
├── packages/            # All code packages
│   ├── frontend/        # Expo React Native app
│   │   ├── app/         # App entry, screens, and routing
│   │   │   ├── [username]/  # User profile, followers, following
│   │   │   ├── ai/          # AI assistant (Alia chat)
│   │   │   ├── p/[id]/      # Post details, replies, quotes
│   │   │   └── ...
│   │   ├── components/  # UI components
│   │   ├── assets/      # Images, icons, fonts
│   │   ├── constants/   # App-wide constants
│   │   ├── context/     # React context providers
│   │   ├── features/    # Feature modules
│   │   ├── hooks/       # Custom React hooks
│   │   ├── interfaces/  # TypeScript interfaces
│   │   ├── lib/         # Library code
│   │   ├── locales/     # i18n translation files
│   │   ├── scripts/     # Utility scripts
│   │   ├── store/       # State management
│   │   ├── styles/      # Global styles and colors
│   │   └── utils/       # Utility functions
│   ├── backend/         # Node.js/Express API server
│   │   ├── src/         # Backend source code
│   │   │   ├── controllers/ # API controllers
│   │   │   ├── middleware/  # Express middleware
│   │   │   ├── models/      # MongoDB models
│   │   │   ├── routes/      # API routes
│   │   │   ├── scripts/     # Utility scripts
│   │   │   ├── sockets/     # WebSocket handlers
│   │   │   ├── types/       # TypeScript types
│   │   │   └── utils/       # Utility functions
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── agora/           # Agora audio/video spaces app (Expo)
│   ├── agora-shared/    # Shared utilities for Agora
│   └── shared-types/    # Shared TypeScript types
│       ├── src/         # Type definitions
│       └── dist/        # Compiled types
├── package.json         # Root package.json with workspaces
├── tsconfig.json        # Root TypeScript config
└── ...

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ and npm 8+
• MongoDB instance
• Expo CLI for mobile development

Initial Setup

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/OxyHQ/Mention.git
   cd Mention

2. Install all dependencies

   npm run install:all

Development

Start All Services

npm run dev

Start Individual Services

# Frontend only
npm run dev:frontend

# Backend only
npm run dev:backend

Frontend Development

The frontend is an Expo React Native app that can run on:

• Web: npm run web (or npm run dev:frontend then press 'w')
• iOS: npm run ios (requires macOS and Xcode)
• Android: npm run android (requires Android Studio)

Backend Development

The backend runs on the development server with hot reload:

npm run dev:backend

Development Scripts

Root Level (Monorepo)

• npm run dev — Start all services in development mode
• npm run dev:frontend — Start frontend development server
• npm run dev:backend — Start backend development server
• npm run build — Build all packages
• npm run build:shared-types — Build shared types package
• npm run build:frontend — Build frontend for production
• npm run build:backend — Build backend for production
• npm run test — Run tests across all packages
• npm run lint — Lint all packages
• npm run clean — Clean all build artifacts
• npm run install:all — Install dependencies for all packages

Frontend (@mention/frontend)

• npm start — Start Expo development server
• npm run android — Run on Android device/emulator
• npm run ios — Run on iOS simulator
• npm run web — Run in web browser
• npm run build-web — Build static web output
• npm run lint — Lint codebase
• npm run clean — Clean build artifacts

Backend (@mention/backend)

• npm run dev — Start development server with hot reload
• npm run build — Build the project
• npm run start — Start production server
• npm run lint — Lint codebase
• npm run clean — Clean build artifacts
• npm run migrate — Run database migrations
• npm run migrate:dev — Run database migrations in development

Shared Types (@mention/shared-types)

• npm run build — Build TypeScript types
• npm run dev — Watch and rebuild types
• npm run clean — Clean build artifacts

Documentation

Project Documentation

All project documentation is available in the docs/ folder:

• Mention System Overview - Complete guide to the mention system
• Mention Format Specification - Final format summary for mentions
• Mention Implementation - Implementation details
• Notifications System - Notification system documentation
• Visual Guide - Visual design guide
• Theming Guide - Complete theming system documentation
• Theme Quick Reference - Quick reference for developers
• Theming Troubleshooting - Common theming issues and solutions
• Compose Refactoring - Compose screen architecture
• Performance Optimizations - Performance best practices
• Federation (ActivityPub) - Fediverse federation setup, endpoints, and sync
• DigitalOcean Deployment - Production deployment guide for DigitalOcean App Platform
• Vercel Deployment - Deployment guide for Vercel

API Documentation

The Mention API is a robust backend service built with Express.js and TypeScript, providing functionality for social media interactions including posts, user management, authentication, and real-time communications.

For detailed API information, see the Backend README.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open issues or pull requests for bug fixes, features, or improvements.

Development Workflow

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Run tests and linting: npm run test && npm run lint
5. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.