VideoTube

A full-stack video sharing platform built with React, Node.js, Express, MongoDB, JWT authentication, Cloudinary uploads, likes, comments, playlists, subscriptions, and a modern responsive UI.

Local setup

Backend

cd Backend
npm install
copy .env.example .env
npm run dev

Set the MongoDB, JWT, Cloudinary, and CORS values in Backend/.env. The API defaults to http://localhost:8000.

Frontend

cd Frontend
npm install
copy .env.example .env
npm run dev

The Vite app defaults to http://localhost:5173. Set VITE_API_BASE_URL to the complete API prefix, normally http://localhost:8000/api/v1. The included Vite proxy also supports /api/v1 during local development.

Commands

Backend:

• npm run dev: start with nodemon
• npm start: start with Node
• npm test: run the backend syntax check

Frontend:

• npm run dev: start Vite
• npm run build: create a production build
• npm run preview: preview the build

API summary

• Users: /api/v1/users/register, /login, /logout, /refresh-token, /current-user, /c/:username
• Videos: GET /api/v1/videos, GET /videos/:videoId, GET /videos/channel/:username, POST /videos/publish-video
• Video ownership: PATCH/DELETE /api/v1/videos/:videoId, PATCH /videos/:videoId/publish
• Comments: GET/POST /api/v1/comments/:videoId, PATCH/DELETE /comments/:commentId
• Likes: POST /api/v1/likes/videos/:videoId, GET /likes/videos
• Subscriptions: POST /api/v1/subscriptions/:channelId
• Playlists: /api/v1/playlists
• Tweets: /api/v1/tweets

Successful responses use { success, statusCode, data, message }. Errors use { success: false, message, errors }.

Assumptions

• Public users can browse published videos, channels, and comments.
• Authentication supports both HTTP-only cookies and Authorization: Bearer <accessToken>.
• Local cookies are non-secure with SameSite=Lax; production cookies are secure.
• Video uploads accept MP4, WebM, or MOV and are limited to 100 MB by the current Multer configuration.
• Existing databases created with the old Like schema may require the old indexes to be dropped before Mongoose creates the new partial unique indexes.