Notes REST API

A production-ready REST API for managing notes with user authentication, built with Node.js, Express, and MongoDB.

Features

• ✅ Create, Read, Update, Delete notes
• ✅ Pagination and sorting
• ✅ Full-text search
• ✅ Category filtering (Work, Personal, Other)
• ✅ Input validation with Joi
• ✅ Centralized error handling
• ✅ User authentication with JWT

Tech Stack

• Runtime: Node.js
• Framework: Express.js
• Database: MongoDB with Mongoose
• Validation: Joi
• Authentication: JWT & Bcrypt
• Environment: dotenv

Project Structure

src/
├── config/db.js
├── controllers/
│   ├── note.controller.js
│   └── user.controller.js
├── models/
│   ├── note.model.js
│   └── user.model.js
├── routes/
│   ├── note.routes.js
│   └── user.route.js
├── middleware/
│   ├── validate.js
│   ├── errorHandler.js
│   └── requireAuth.js
├── utils/ApiError.js
└── app.js

Installation

1. Install dependencies

   npm install

2. Create .env file

   PORT=5000
   MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://username:password@cluster.mongodb.net/notes-api
   NODE_ENV=development
   JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key

3. Start server

   npm run dev

Authentication

Register User

POST /sign-up

Request:

{
  "name": "Feose Chiki",
  "email": "feose@example.com",
  "password": "securePassword123"
}

Login User

POST /login

Request:

{
  "email": "feose@example.com",
  "password": "securePassword123"
}

Response:

{
  "message": "logged in",
  "user": {
    "_id": "507f1f77bcf86cd799439011",
    "email": "feose@example.com",
    "name": "Feose Chiki"
  },
  "token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs..."
}

API Endpoints

Health Check

GET /health

Notes (all require Authorization header with token)

Create Note

POST /note
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>

Request:

{
  "title": "Project Meeting",
  "content": "Discussed Q1 objectives and timeline for delivery",
  "category": "Work",
  "tags": "meeting,project,q1"
}

Get All Notes with Pagination

GET /note?page=1&limit=10
Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>

Query Parameters:

• page (optional, default: 1) — Page number
• limit (optional, default: 10) — Items per page

Examples:

# Get first page (10 items)
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>" \
  http://localhost:5000/note

# Get page 2 with 5 items per page
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>" \
  "http://localhost:5000/note?page=2&limit=5"

# Get page 3 with 20 items per page
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>" \
  "http://localhost:5000/note?page=3&limit=20"

Response:

{
  "message": "Notes fetched",
  "data": [
    {
      "_id": "507f1f77bcf86cd799439011",
      "title": "Project Meeting",
      "content": "Discussed Q1 objectives and timeline for delivery",
      "category": "Work",
      "tags": "meeting,project,q1",
      "createdAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
      "updatedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
    },
    {
      "_id": "507f1f77bcf86cd799439012",
      "title": "Personal Goals",
      "content": "Read 2 books this month and start exercising regularly",
      "category": "Personal",
      "tags": "goals,health",
      "createdAt": "2024-01-14T15:45:00.000Z",
      "updatedAt": "2024-01-14T15:45:00.000Z"
    }
  ]
}

Full-Text Search

GET /note/search?search=<query>
Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>

Query Parameters:

• search (required) — Search string applied across title, content, category, and tags

Examples:

# Search for "project"
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>" \
  "http://localhost:5000/note/search?search=project"

# Search for "Q1"
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>" \
  "http://localhost:5000/note/search?search=Q1"

# Search for "meeting goals"
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>" \
  "http://localhost:5000/note/search?search=meeting%20goals"

Response:

{
  "message": "Notes fetched",
  "data": [
    {
      "_id": "507f1f77bcf86cd799439011",
      "title": "Project Meeting",
      "content": "Discussed Q1 objectives and timeline for delivery",
      "category": "Work",
      "tags": "meeting,project,q1",
      "createdAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
      "updatedAt": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
    }
  ]
}

Get Single Note

GET /note/:id
Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>

Update Note

PUT /note/:id
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>

Request:

{
  "title": "Updated Project Meeting",
  "content": "Updated content for the meeting",
  "category": "Work",
  "tags": "updated,project"
}

Delete Note

DELETE /note/:id
Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>

Validation Rules

Note Schema

• title: Required, minimum 5 characters
• content: Required, 10-250 characters
• category: Optional, enum: "Work", "Personal", "Other" (default: "Other")
• tags: Optional, comma-separated string

User Schema

• name: Required, minimum 2 characters
• email: Required, valid email format, unique
• password: Required, minimum 6 characters (recommended)

Deployment

Push to GitHub and deploy on Render.com:

1. Create Web Service from GitHub repo
2. Set build command: npm install
3. Set start command: npm start
4. Add environment variables: MONGODB_URI, NODE_ENV=production, JWT_SECRET

License

ISC

© [Osborn Tulasi, Emmanuel Kuuku Dela Agyei, Ekwem Chidumaga Emmanuel, Feosi Chiki and Amos Ofori Ottei]