SimpliRide Tech Internship – Backend Authentication API

Overview

This project is a secure authentication API built with Node.js and Express. It demonstrates best practices in input validation, JWT-based authentication, and error handling.

Features

• Input validation using express-validator
• JWT token generation for authentication
• Mock user database
• Error handling with appropriate HTTP status codes
• Token verification endpoint (Bonus)

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Tech Stack

• Node.js
• Express
• jsonwebtoken
• express-validator
• dotenv

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Endpoints

POST /api/login

Description: Authenticates user and returns a JWT token.

Request Body:

{
  "email": "test@example.com",
  "password": "password123"
}

Validation Rules:

• Email must exist and be in a valid format.
• Password must exist and be at least 8 characters.

Responses:

• 200 OK: Returns JWT token.
• 400 Bad Request: Missing or invalid inputs.
• 401 Unauthorized: Invalid email or password.
• 500 Internal Server Error: Token generation failure.

GET /api/verify

Description: Verifies if a provided JWT token is valid.

Header:

    Authorization: Bearer <token>

Responses:

• 200 OK: Token is valid.
• 401 Unauthorized: Missing or invalid token.

Setup Instructions

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/odogwukelly/secure-auth-api.git

cd secure-auth-api

Install dependencies

npm install

Create .env file

JWT_SECRET=SECRET_123
PORT=3000

Run the app

node app.js

Test with Postman or cURL

• POST /api/login
• GET /api/verify with Bearer Token

Mock Users

Test users mock database:

{
  "email": "test@example.com",
  "password": "password123"
},
{
  "email": "test2@example.com",
  "password": "password"
}

Folder Structure

secure-auth-api/
├── controllers/
│   └── authController.js
├── middleware/
│   └── validate.js
├── routes/
│   └── authRoutes.js
├── utils/
│   └── mockDB.js
├── .env
├── .gitignore
├── app.js
├── package.json
├── README.md

Notes

• Passwords are stored in plain text for simplicity. In a real-world application, use bcrypt for hashing.
• This project uses a mock database. Integrate with a real DB (e.g., MongoDB, PostgreSQL) in production.

Author

Odogwu Kelly

Backend Developer – SimpliRide Tech Internship Candidate