The Writing App

A premium, distraction-free blogging platform built with the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js). Designed for writers and thinkers who value a clean, focused environment.

✨ Features

• Distraction-Free Editor — Rich text editing powered by Tiptap with unobtrusive formatting controls.
• Writer Profiles — Letterboxd-style profile pages with a contribution graph and "Selected Works" showcase.
• Discover Feed — Typography-heavy cards for exploring new content.
• Minimalist UI — Off-white and deep gray palette with premium typography (Inter & serif stacks), built with Tailwind CSS.

🏗️ Project Structure

TheWritingApp/
├── apps/
│   ├── backend/    # Express + MongoDB API
│   └── frontend/   # React + Vite SPA
└── packages/       # Shared packages (future)

🛠️ Tech Stack

Layer	Technologies
Frontend	React 18 · TypeScript · Vite · Tailwind CSS · Tiptap
Backend	Node.js · Express · MongoDB (Mongoose)
Tooling	npm workspaces · ESLint · Prettier · Vitest

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js v18+
• MongoDB running locally or a connection string

1. Clone & install

git clone https://github.com/shash-hq/TheWritingApp.git
cd TheWritingApp
npm install

2. Configure environment

Copy the example env files and fill in your values:

cp apps/backend/.env.example apps/backend/.env
cp apps/frontend/.env.example apps/frontend/.env

Required: Set a strong JWT_SECRET in apps/backend/.env. Generate one with: node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(64).toString('hex'))"

3. Start development

# From the root — starts both backend and frontend
npm run dev

• Frontend: http://localhost:5173
• Backend API: http://localhost:3000/api

4. Run tests

npm test

📝 License

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for details.