Instagram Clone Project

This repository contains the code for an Instagram Clone project, a full-stack web application that allows users to register, login, and view their profile information. The project is built using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the front-end, and Express.js and MongoDB for the back-end.

Features

• User Registration: Users can create an account by providing their name, username, email, password, and bio.

• User Login: Registered users can log in to their accounts using their username and password.

• User Profile: Once logged in, users can view their profile information, including their username, email, and bio.

Technologies Used

• Front-End: HTML, CSS, JavaScript
• Back-End: Express.js, Node.js
• Database: MongoDB
• Authentication: JWT (JSON Web Tokens)
• Security: Password hashing with bcrypt

Installation

1. Clone the repository to your local machine using git clone.
2. Navigate to the project directory.
3. Install the required dependencies using npm install.

Setting Up the Environment

1. Create a .env file in the root directory of the project.

2. Add the following environment variables:

   PORT=8000
   MONGODB_URI=<your_mongodb_connection_string>
   JWT_SECRET=<your_jwt_secret_key>
   CLIENT_URL=http://localhost:5500   // The URL where the front-end is hosted
   

3. Replace <your_mongodb_connection_string> with your MongoDB connection string.

4. Replace <your_jwt_secret_key> with a secret key for JWT token generation.

Running the Application

1. Start the server using npm start. The server will run on the specified port (default: 8000).
2. Access the front-end application by opening http://localhost:5500 in your web browser.

API Endpoints

• POST /signup: Register a new user. Required fields: name, username, email, password, bio.
• POST /login: Authenticate a user and generate a JWT token for successful login. Required fields: username, password.
• GET /: Get user profile information (requires authentication).

Contributions

Contributions to this project are welcome. Feel free to open issues or submit pull requests to improve the project.

License

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