A full-stack MERN (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js) application for managing patient appointments, treatments, and user authentication at the Aezal Dental Clinic.

• Features
• Tech Stack
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Environment Variables
• Running Locally
• API Documentation
• Project Structure
• Deployment
• Contributing
• License

• User Authentication: JWT-based signup, login, and role-based access control (admin vs. user).
• Appointment Management: Create, read, update, and delete patient appointments.
• Treatment Management: CRUD operations for dental treatments offered by the clinic.
• Protected Routes: Middleware enforces authentication and authorization for sensitive endpoints.
• Responsive Frontend: React SPA consuming the Express API with client-side routing.

• Frontend: React, React Router, Tailwind CSS
• Backend: Node.js, Express.js, Mongoose
• Database: MongoDB Atlas
• Deployment: Vercel (frontend & serverless backend)

• Node.js (>=14.x)
• npm or yarn
• MongoDB Atlas account (or local MongoDB)

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/aezal-dental-clinic.git
   cd aezal-dental-clinic

2. Install dependencies

   # Backend
   cd backend
   npm install
   
   # Frontend
   cd ../frontend
   npm install

Create a .env file in the backend/ folder with the following variables:

MONGO_URI=<your-mongodb-connection-string>
JWT_SECRET=<your-jwt-secret>
FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:3000

For production (Vercel), add the same keys in your project settings under Environment Variables.

1. Start the backend server

   cd backend
   npm start

   The API will run at http://localhost:5000.

2. Start the frontend

   cd frontend
   npm start

   The React app will be available at http://localhost:3000.

3. Proxy setup
   The React dev server proxies /api requests to the backend via the proxy field in frontend/package.json:

   {
     "proxy": "http://localhost:5000"
   }

This project is configured to deploy both frontend and backend on Vercel:

1. Frontend: @vercel/static-build reads from frontend/build (or frontend/dist if you’re using Vite).
2. Backend: @vercel/node serves your Express API under /api/*.
3. Routes in vercel.json:
   • Proxy /api/* to the Express function
   • Serve static files via Vercel’s CDN
   • SPA fallback: /.* → /index.html

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

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