DriveX — A Minimal File Drive Backend (Node.js + Express + MongoDB + Firebase)

DriveX is a lightweight file-drive backend built with Node.js, Express, MongoDB, and Firebase Storage. It supports JWT authentication using HTTP-only cookies, file upload with Firebase Storage, and ownership-based access control.

⭐ Features

🔐 JWT Authentication (stored in HTTP-only cookies for security)

📁 Upload + Store files in Firebase Storage

🛡️ Ownership-based authorization — users can delete only their own files

🧩 Clean Express architecture

routes/, middlewares/, models/, config/, views/

🗂️ MongoDB models for users + files

🎨 EJS-powered UI for uploading & viewing files

🛠️ Tech Stack Layer Technology Backend Node.js, Express Database MongoDB, Mongoose File Storage Firebase Storage Auth JWT + HTTP-only Cookies Views EJS Templates 📂 Project Structure Project-DriveX/ │── config/ │── middlewares/ │── models/ │── routes/ │── views/ │── app.js │── package.json │── .gitignore

🚀 Getting Started 1️⃣ Clone the repo git clone https://github.com//Project-DriveX.git cd Project-DriveX

2️⃣ Install dependencies npm install

3️⃣ Create a .env file PORT=3000 MONGO_URI=your-mongodb-uri JWT_SECRET=your-secret COOKIE_NAME=drivex_token

FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID=your-project-id FIREBASE_CLIENT_EMAIL=your-client-email FIREBASE_PRIVATE_KEY="your-private-key" FIREBASE_STORAGE_BUCKET=your-bucket.appspot.com

4️⃣ Run the app npm start

🔑 Authentication Flow

User logs in → server creates JWT

JWT is sent in HTTP-only cookie (cannot be accessed by JS → more secure)

Every protected route uses an auth middleware to verify token

File delete/edit routes check file.owner === loggedInUser

📁 File Upload Flow

User uploads file → server receives it

File is uploaded to Firebase Storage

Metadata stored in MongoDB

UI loads file using Firebase URL

🧪 API Endpoints (Example) Method Route Description POST /auth/register Register user POST /auth/login Login + set JWT cookie POST /files/upload Upload file (protected) GET /files/:id View file DELETE /files/:id Delete file (owner only)

(Update these based on your actual routes.)

📌 What I Learned (Summary)

Implementing JWT auth with HTTP-only cookies

Using Firebase Storage for production-ready uploads

Building clean Express architectures (routes + middlewares separation)

Understanding how small backend decisions impact scalability

🧭 Future Enhancements

Preview thumbnails

Public/private file modes

Sharing links

Pagination for large file sets

🤝 Contributing

Feel free to open issues or submit PRs.

📝 License

MIT License