MERN JWT Authentication (Client/Server Layout)

This repository ships with a complete JWT-authenticated MERN stack configured for Node 16. The project is split into server/ (Express + MongoDB) and client/ (React 18 + React Router 6).

Quick Start

• cd server && npm install && npm run dev
• cd client && npm install && npm start

Create a .env in server/ (one is provided with sample values) and ensure MongoDB is running locally before starting the server. By default the API listens on PORT=4545; update the React client base URL via REACT_APP_API_BASE_URL if you change it. Keep CLIENT_ORIGIN aligned with your React dev server URL (defaults to http://localhost:3000).

Tech Stack

• Express 4.17.1, Mongoose 6.0.11, bcryptjs, jsonwebtoken
• React 18.2, React Router DOM 6.4.2, Axios 1.1.2, Bootstrap 5

See student.md for a detailed build-along guide and instructor.md for teaching notes.