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🚀 Quick Start Guide

Get your Task Tracker app running in 5 minutes!

⚠️ Important: MongoDB Setup Required

The app is currently configured with a local MongoDB connection which won't work unless you have MongoDB installed locally. You have two options:

Option 1: Use MongoDB Atlas (Recommended - Free & Easy)

  1. Create Free MongoDB Atlas Account

  2. Create a Free Cluster

    • Click "Build a Database"
    • Choose "M0 FREE" tier
    • Select your preferred region
    • Click "Create Cluster" (takes 3-5 minutes)

  3. Create Database User

    • Go to "Database Access" (left sidebar)
    • Click "Add New Database User"
    • Choose "Password" authentication
    • Username: tasktracker
    • Password: Generate a strong password (save it!)
    • Database User Privileges: "Atlas admin"
    • Click "Add User"

  4. Whitelist Your IP

    • Go to "Network Access" (left sidebar)
    • Click "Add IP Address"
    • Click "Allow Access from Anywhere" (adds 0.0.0.0/0)
    • Click "Confirm"

  5. Get Connection String

    • Go to "Database" (left sidebar)
    • Click "Connect" on your cluster
    • Choose "Connect your application"
    • Copy the connection string
    • It looks like: mongodb+srv://tasktracker:<password>@cluster0.xxxxx.mongodb.net/?retryWrites=true&w=majority

  6. Update Your .env File

    • Open server/.env
    • Replace the MONGODB_URI line with your connection string
    • Replace <password> with your actual password
    • Add database name: mongodb+srv://tasktracker:yourpassword@cluster0.xxxxx.mongodb.net/tasktracker?retryWrites=true&w=majority

Option 2: Install MongoDB Locally

If you prefer to run MongoDB on your machine:

Windows:

# Download from: https://www.mongodb.com/try/download/community
# Install and start MongoDB service
# The default connection string in .env should work

Mac:

brew tap mongodb/brew
brew install mongodb-community
brew services start mongodb-community

Linux:

sudo apt-get install mongodb
sudo systemctl start mongodb

🏃 Running the App

Once MongoDB is configured:

  1. Install Dependencies (if not done already)

    npm run install:all

  2. Start Both Servers

    npm run dev

    This will start:

  3. Open Your Browser

✅ Verify Everything Works

  1. Check Backend Health

  2. Check Frontend

  3. Test Registration

    • Click "Register"
    • Fill in the form
    • Should redirect to dashboard after successful registration

🐛 Troubleshooting

"MongoDB Connection Error"

  • Solution: Make sure you've updated MONGODB_URI in server/.env
  • Check if your IP is whitelisted in MongoDB Atlas
  • Verify your password doesn't contain special characters that need URL encoding

"Cannot find module 'helmet'" or similar

  • Solution: Run npm install in the server directory 
    cd server
npm install
cd ..

Frontend shows "Network Error"

  • Solution: Make sure backend is running on port 5000
  • Check client/.env has REACT_APP_API_URL=http://localhost:5000/api

Port 5000 or 3000 already in use

  • Solution: Kill the process or change the port 
    # Windows PowerShell
netstat -ano | findstr :5000
taskkill /PID <PID> /F

# Mac/Linux
lsof -ti:5000 | xargs kill -9

📝 Default Configuration

The app comes with these default settings in server/.env:

NODE_ENV=development
PORT=5000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/tasktracker  # ⚠️ UPDATE THIS
JWT_SECRET=dev_secret_key_change_in_production_12345678
ALLOWED_ORIGINS=http://localhost:3000

⚠️ Important: You MUST update MONGODB_URI with your MongoDB Atlas connection string or local MongoDB URL.

🎯 Next Steps

After getting the app running:

  1. ✅ Test all features (register, login, create/edit/delete tasks)
  2. ✅ Read README.md for full documentation
  3. ✅ Read DEPLOYMENT.md when ready to deploy to production
  4. ✅ Check CHANGES.md to see what was improved

💡 Tips

  • Development: The app auto-reloads when you make changes
  • Backend logs: Check the terminal running the server for API logs
  • Frontend errors: Open browser DevTools (F12) to see console errors
  • Database: View your data in MongoDB Atlas dashboard

🆘 Still Having Issues?

  1. Make sure Node.js version is 16 or higher: node --version
  2. Clear npm cache: npm cache clean --force
  3. Delete node_modules and reinstall: 
    rm -rf node_modules server/node_modules client/node_modules
npm run install:all
  4. Check if all environment files exist:
    • server/.env ✓
    • client/.env ✓

📞 Need Help?

  • Check the error message carefully
  • Search the error on Google/Stack Overflow
  • Review the troubleshooting sections in README.md
  • Open an issue on GitHub with:
    • Error message
    • Steps to reproduce
    • Your environment (OS, Node version)

Happy Coding! 🎉