TaskTracker API

A modern Task Management API built with Node.js, Express, MySQL, and containerized with Podman.

🏗️ Architecture

┌─────────────────┐    ┌──────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│   Client App    │───▶│  TaskTracker API  │───▶│  MySQL Database │
│  (Frontend/     │    │  (Node.js/Express│    │  (Containerized) │
│   Mobile App)   │    │   Containerized)  │    │                 │
└─────────────────┘    └──────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘

Key Features

• ✅ MVC Architecture - Clean separation of concerns
• ✅ JWT Authentication - Stateless, secure authentication
• ✅ RESTful API - Standard HTTP methods and status codes
• ✅ Podman Containerization - Rootless, secure containers
• ✅ MySQL Database - Reliable data persistence
• ✅ Health Checks - Container and application monitoring
• ✅ Environment Configuration - 12-factor app principles

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Podman and Podman-compose installed
• Node.js 18+ (for local development)
• Git

Installation & Setup

1. Clone and setup project:

git clone <your-repo-url>
cd task-tracker-api
npm install

2. Configure environment:

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your settings (default password: GMX@432)

3. Start with Podman:

./scripts/deploy.sh up

4. Test the API:

./scripts/test-api.sh

📡 API Endpoints

Authentication

• POST /api/auth/register - Register new user
• POST /api/auth/login - User login
• GET /api/auth/profile - Get user profile (authenticated)
• PUT /api/auth/profile - Update profile (authenticated)
• POST /api/auth/change-password - Change password (authenticated)

Tasks

• GET /api/tasks - List tasks (authenticated)
• POST /api/tasks - Create task (authenticated)
• GET /api/tasks/:id - Get specific task (authenticated)
• PUT /api/tasks/:id - Update task (authenticated)
• DELETE /api/tasks/:id - Delete task (authenticated)
• PATCH /api/tasks/:id/complete - Mark task complete (authenticated)
• GET /api/tasks/stats - Get task statistics (authenticated)
• GET /api/tasks/search?q=term - Search tasks (authenticated)

System

• GET /api/health - Health check
• GET /api - API documentation

🐳 Container Management

Using Deploy Script (Recommended)

./scripts/deploy.sh up      # Start all services
./scripts/deploy.sh down    # Stop all services
./scripts/deploy.sh logs    # View logs
./scripts/deploy.sh ps      # Check status
./scripts/deploy.sh test    # Run tests
./scripts/deploy.sh clean   # Remove everything

Manual Podman Commands

# Start services
podman-compose -f containers/compose.yml up -d

# View logs
podman-compose -f containers/compose.yml logs -f api

# Stop services
podman-compose -f containers/compose.yml down

# Check container status
podman ps

🧪 Testing

The project includes comprehensive API tests:

# Run all tests
./scripts/test-api.sh

# Manual testing with curl
curl http://localhost:3008/api/health
curl -X POST http://localhost:3008/api/auth/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"username":"testuser","email":"test@example.com","password":"password123"}'

🗄️ Database

Schema

• users - User accounts and authentication
• tasks - Task management with priorities and statuses
• categories - Task categorization (optional)
• task_categories - Many-to-many relationship

Connection

• Host: mysql (container name)
• Port: 3306
• Database: tasktracker
• User: taskuser
• Password: GMX@432 (configurable in .env)

🔧 Development

Local Development (without containers)

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start MySQL locally or use container
podman run -d --name mysql \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=GMX@432 \
  -e MYSQL_DATABASE=tasktracker \
  -e MYSQL_USER=taskuser \
  -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=GMX@432 \
  -p 3306:3306 mysql:8.0

# Update .env for local development
# DB_HOST=localhost

# Start development server
npm run dev

Project Structure

task-tracker-api/
├── src/
│   ├── config/         # Database and app configuration
│   ├── controllers/    # Business logic (MVC)
│   ├── models/         # Data models (MVC)
│   ├── routes/         # API routes
│   ├── middleware/     # Authentication, validation
│   ├── views/          # Response helpers
│   ├── app.js          # Express application setup
│   └── server.js       # Server startup
├── database/
│   ├── init.sql        # Database schema
│   └── seed.sql        # Sample data
├── containers/
│   ├── Containerfile   # Container image definition
│   ├── compose.yml     # Multi-container orchestration
│   ├── mysql.cnf       # MySQL configuration
│   └── nginx.conf      # Reverse proxy config
├── scripts/
│   ├── deploy.sh       # Deployment automation
│   ├── test-api.sh     # API testing
│   └── wait-for-db.sh  # Database readiness check
└── package.json        # Node.js dependencies and scripts

🔒 Security

• JWT Authentication - Secure, stateless tokens
• Password Hashing - bcrypt with configurable rounds
• Input Validation - Request sanitization and validation
• SQL Injection Prevention - Parameterized queries
• Security Headers - Helmet.js middleware
• Rootless Containers - Enhanced container security
• Environment Variables - Sensitive data protection

🚀 Deployment

Development

./scripts/deploy.sh up

Production

1. Update environment variables in .env
2. Change Containerfile target to 'production'
3. Enable nginx proxy in compose.yml
4. Set up SSL/TLS certificates
5. Configure monitoring and logging

🔍 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Port already in use:

# Change port in .env file
PORT=3009

Database connection failed:

# Check MySQL container status
podman logs task-tracker-mysql

# Restart database
podman-compose -f containers/compose.yml restart mysql

API not responding:

# Check API logs
podman logs task-tracker-api

# Restart API
podman-compose -f containers/compose.yml restart api

Logs and Debugging

# All service logs
podman-compose -f containers/compose.yml logs -f

# Specific service logs
podman logs task-tracker-api
podman logs task-tracker-mysql

# Enter container for debugging
podman exec -it task-tracker-api sh

📈 Performance

• Connection pooling for database efficiency
• Request/response compression
• Proper indexing on database queries
• Health checks for container monitoring
• Graceful shutdown handling

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built with modern containerization practices
• Follows 12-factor app methodology
• Implements RESTful API standards
• Uses secure authentication patterns