Setting Up the MERN Booking App

This guide will walk you through the process of setting up the MERN Real Estate on your local machine.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have Node.js installed on your system.

Cloning the Repository

Start by cloning the repository to your local machine:

git clone https://github.com/shanthi1710/Estate.git
cd Estate

Backend Configuration

1. Environment Files: Navigate to the backend folder and create two files: .env and .env.e2e. Add the following contents to both files:

   MONGO_URL=
   PORT=
   JWT_SECRET=
   

2. MongoDB Setup:

   • Sign up for an account at MongoDB Atlas.
   • Create a new cluster and follow the instructions to set up a new database.
   • Once set up, obtain your MongoDB connection string and add it to the MONGO_URL variable in your .env files.

3. JWT_SECRET_KEY:

   • This just needs to be any long, random string. You can google "secret key generator".

4. Frontend URL:

   • The FRONTEND_URL should point to the URL where your frontend application is running (typically http://localhost:3000 if you're running it locally).

Frontend Configuration

1. Environment Files: Navigate to the frontend folder and create a file: .env:

   VITE_FIREBASE_API_KEY=
   

2. VITE_FIREBASE_API_KEY:

   • To obtain the VITE_FIREBASE_API_KEY, you need to create a Firebase project on the Firebase console (https://console.firebase.google.com/) and then navigate to project settings where you can find your API key under the "General" tab.

Running the Application

1. Backend:

   • Navigate to the api directory.
   • Install dependencies: npm install.
   • Start the server: npm run dev.

2. Frontend:

   • Open a new terminal and navigate to the client directory.
   • Install dependencies: npm install.
   • Start the frontend application: npm run dev.
   • The application should now be running on http://localhost:5173 but verify this in your command line terminal