Alumni Club Platform Guide

A full-stack alumni management platform built with React + TypeScript frontend and Node.js + Express + Prisma backend.

🌐 Deployment Status

As of 2.10.2026, this project is fully deployed and operational exclusively on Render. Local execution is no longer supported due to environment coupling, hosted database constraints, and production-only configuration.

🔗 Live Application: https://alumni-club.onrender.com

All services, including backend API, database, email workflows, and authentication, are bound to the Render hosting environment.

Automated email workflows are presently inactive due to the expiration of the SendGrid free-tier service. The implementation remains intact and can be reactivated upon renewal of email service credentials.

🚀 Tech Stack

Frontend

• React 18 with TypeScript
• Vite for fast development
• Tailwind CSS for styling
• React Router for navigation
• React Icons for icons

Backend

• Node.js with Express
• TypeScript
• Prisma ORM with PostgreSQL
• JWT for authentication
• bcrypt for password hashing
• CORS for cross-origin requests

🛠️ Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18 or higher)
• PostgreSQL database
• npm or yarn

1. Backend Setup

Navigate to backend directory

cd backend

Install dependencies

npm install

Set up environment variables

Create .env file in backend/ with:

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://username:password@localhost:5432/alumni_club_dev?schema=public"
PORT=4000
NODE_ENV=development
JWT_SECRET="your_jwt_secret"
PRISMA_LOG_LEVEL=info
SMTP_HOST=smtp.sendgrid.net
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=apikey
SMTP_PASS=????????????
FROM_EMAIL=fit.alumni.club@gmail.com      
ENROLL_TO=fit.alumni.club@gmail.com
CONTACT_INBOX_EMAIL=fit.alumni.club@gmail.com

Set up environment variables

Create .env file in frontend/ with:

VITE_TINYMCE_API_KEY=qkcx67femxnaq01itdjrlnliucc2at403pzwt57aici7njws

Set up database

npx prisma db pull
npx prisma generate
npx prisma db push

Start the backend server

npm run dev

Backend will run on http://localhost:4000

2. Frontend Setup

Navigate to frontend directory (in a new terminal)

cd frontend

Install dependencies

npm install

Start the development server

npm run dev

Frontend will run on http://localhost:5173

🔐 Authentication

The platform uses JWT-based authentication:

Login: POST /api/auth/login with username and password
Protected Routes: Admin dashboard requires admin role
Auto-logout: Token expiration after 1 hours

Default Admin user

To create an admin user, run the admin creation script:

# From backend directory
npx ts-node src/scripts/create-admin.ts

Or use the interactive version:

npx ts-node src/scripts/create-admin-interactive.ts

📊 API Endpoints

Authentication

POST /api/auth/login - User login

Alumni Management

GET /api/alumni - Get all alumni members

GET /api/alumni/:id - Get specific alumni

Health Check

GET /api/health - Check API status

Backend Architecture

backend/
├── prisma/            # Prisma schema and migrations
├── src/
│   ├── controllers/  # Request handlers (no business logic)
│   ├── services/     # Core business logic
│   ├── routes/       # Express route definitions
│   ├── middlewares/  # Authentication and authorization
│   ├── config/       # Configuration files
│   ├── utils/        # Helper utilities
│   ├── types/        # Shared TypeScript types
│   ├── app.ts        # Express app setup
│   └── server.ts     # Server entry point
├── uploads/           # User-uploaded files
└── testing/           # Jest and Supertest tests

Backend Rules

Controllers must remain thin

Business logic lives exclusively in services

All database access goes through Prisma

No raw SQL in application code

Core Backend Modules

Authentication and authorization

User profiles with visibility controls

Alumni directory with search and filtering

Blog system with admin approval

One-to-one inbox messaging

Event management with RSVP support

Contact and enrollment email workflows

Administrative control panel

Frontend Architecture

frontend/
├── src/
│   ├── pages/        # Route-level pages
│   ├── components/   # Reusable UI components
│   ├── services/     # API communication layer
│   ├── context/      # Global state management
│   ├── assets/       # Static assets
│   └── App.tsx       # Route definitions

Frontend Rules

Pages contain presentation logic only

API calls are isolated in services/

Shared UI lives in components/

Role-based routing is enforced

Data Flow

User logs in

Backend issues a JWT token

Frontend stores the token

Token is attached to API requests

Backend validates token and role

JSON response is returned

UI updates accordingly

Testing

Backend

Jest and Supertest

Covers authentication, messages, blog, and profile visibility

npm test

Frontend

Manual QA

Browser DevTools

Role-based UI verification

Environment & Security Notes

.env files must never be committed

Prisma migrations should not be edited manually

Always update schema.prisma first

Upload directories are ignored by git

Extension Points

The architecture supports safe future extensions such as:

Notifications

Group messaging

Advanced admin analytics

Forum enhancements

Event reminders

Extended profile metadata

Project Status

The project is feature-complete, stable, and ready for handover.
All core systems are implemented, documented, and structured for continued development.

📬 Project Handover & Administration

For matters concerning project handover, maintenance, deployment access, or administrative oversight, please contact the current project administrator:

Administrator: AdrianAdrovic-sudo Email: atko.adrovic@gmailc.com

All credentials, hosting configurations, and operational knowledge are held by the administrator. Any future development, service reactivation, or ownership transfer should be coordinated directly through this contact.