Uploading and Managing Content

This guide covers the complete content management workflow for administrators: uploading files to Cloudinary, creating content entries, updating content, and managing the content lifecycle.

All endpoints in this guide require admin authentication. Include Authorization: Bearer <admin_token> in all requests.

Content Upload Flow

Prepare content files

Gather the content file and an optional thumbnail:Supported content types:

Videos: .mp4, .mov, .avi (uploaded to content/videos)
Audio: .mp3, .wav, .aac (uploaded to content/audio)
PDFs: .pdf (uploaded to content/pdfs)

Thumbnail requirements:

Format: .jpg, .png, .webp
Uploaded to: content/thumbnails
Recommended size: 1280x720px

File size limits:

Maximum: 500MB per file
Configured in: src/config/cloudinary.js:42-44

Create content with files

Upload files and create content in a single request using multipart/form-data:

curl -X POST https://api.vaniykempire.com/admin/content \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9..." \
  -F "title=Advanced JavaScript Patterns" \
  -F "description=Deep dive into modern JavaScript design patterns and best practices for scalable applications" \
  -F "type=video" \
  -F "category=64abc123def456789" \
  -F "price=29.99" \
  -F "status=published" \
  -F "tags=[\"javascript\",\"patterns\",\"advanced\"]" \
  -F "file=@/path/to/video.mp4" \
  -F "thumbnail=@/path/to/thumbnail.jpg"

Required fields:

title: Content title
description: Detailed description
type: Content type (video, audio, pdf)
category: Category ID (must exist in MongoDB)
price: Price in USD (numeric)
file: Content file (required)

Optional fields:

thumbnail: Thumbnail image file
status: draft or published (default: draft)
tags: JSON array of tags

Response:

{
  "message": "Content created successfully",
  "content": {
    "_id": "64def789abc123456",
    "title": "Advanced JavaScript Patterns",
    "description": "Deep dive into modern JavaScript design patterns...",
    "type": "video",
    "category": "64abc123def456789",
    "price": 29.99,
    "fileUrl": "https://res.cloudinary.com/vaniyk/video/upload/v1709467200/content/videos/abc123.mp4",
    "filePublicId": "content/videos/abc123",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://res.cloudinary.com/vaniyk/image/upload/v1709467200/content/thumbnails/xyz789.jpg",
    "thumbnailPublicId": "content/thumbnails/xyz789",
    "duration": 3600,
    "fileSize": 524288000,
    "status": "published",
    "tags": ["javascript", "patterns", "advanced"],
    "createdBy": {
      "_id": "64abc789def123456",
      "name": "Admin User",
      "email": "[email protected]"
    },
    "createdAt": "2026-03-03T14:30:00.000Z",
    "updatedAt": "2026-03-03T14:30:00.000Z"
  }
}

What happens:

Files are uploaded to Cloudinary with automatic folder organization
Cloudinary returns URLs and public IDs
Content metadata is saved to MongoDB
File metadata (size, duration) is extracted automatically

Cloudinary Configuration

The API automatically organizes uploads into folders based on content type: Folder structure:

content/
├── videos/          # Video files (.mp4, .mov, .avi)
├── audio/           # Audio files (.mp3, .wav, .aac)
├── pdfs/            # PDF documents
└── thumbnails/      # Thumbnail images

Resource types:

Videos/Audio: resource_type: 'video'
PDFs: resource_type: 'image'
Thumbnails: resource_type: 'image'

Cloudinary configuration is handled automatically. See src/config/cloudinary.js:12-38 for implementation details.

Update Existing Content

Update metadata only

Update text fields without changing files:

curl -X PUT https://api.vaniykempire.com/admin/content/64def789abc123456 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "title": "Advanced JavaScript Design Patterns",
    "description": "Updated description with more details",
    "price": 34.99,
    "status": "published",
    "tags": ["javascript", "patterns", "advanced", "es6"]
  }'

Response:

{
  "message": "Content updated successfully",
  "content": {
    "_id": "64def789abc123456",
    "title": "Advanced JavaScript Design Patterns",
    "description": "Updated description with more details",
    "price": 34.99,
    "status": "published",
    "tags": ["javascript", "patterns", "advanced", "es6"],
    "updatedAt": "2026-03-03T15:45:00.000Z"
  }
}

Replace content file

Update the content file (old file is automatically deleted from Cloudinary):

curl -X PUT https://api.vaniykempire.com/admin/content/64def789abc123456 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9..." \
  -F "title=Advanced JavaScript Design Patterns" \
  -F "file=@/path/to/updated-video.mp4"

What happens:

Old file is deleted from Cloudinary using filePublicId
New file is uploaded to Cloudinary
MongoDB record is updated with new URLs and metadata

The resource_type for deletion is determined automatically based on content type.

Replace thumbnail

Update just the thumbnail:

curl -X PUT https://api.vaniykempire.com/admin/content/64def789abc123456 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9..." \
  -F "thumbnail=@/path/to/new-thumbnail.jpg"

Old thumbnail is deleted from Cloudinary before uploading the new one.

Content Lifecycle Management

Draft to Published

Content can be created as drafts and published later:

# Create as draft
curl -X POST https://api.vaniykempire.com/admin/content \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9..." \
  -F "status=draft" \
  -F "title=New Course" \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  # ... other fields

# Publish later
curl -X PUT https://api.vaniykempire.com/admin/content/64def789abc123456 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"status": "published"}'

Status options:

draft: Not visible to public, admin-only
published: Visible in public listings, available for purchase

View All Content (Admin)

Admins can view all content including drafts:

curl -X GET "https://api.vaniykempire.com/admin/content?page=1&limit=20&status=draft&category=64abc123def456789&type=video" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9..."

Query parameters:

page: Page number
limit: Items per page
status: Filter by status (draft, published)
category: Filter by category ID
type: Filter by type (video, audio, pdf)

Response:

{
  "content": [
    {
      "_id": "64def789abc123456",
      "title": "Advanced JavaScript Patterns",
      "description": "Deep dive into modern JavaScript design patterns...",
      "type": "video",
      "category": "64abc123def456789",
      "price": 29.99,
      "fileUrl": "https://res.cloudinary.com/vaniyk/video/upload/v1/content/videos/abc123.mp4",
      "thumbnailUrl": "https://res.cloudinary.com/vaniyk/image/upload/v1/content/thumbnails/xyz789.jpg",
      "status": "published",
      "createdBy": {
        "_id": "64abc789def123456",
        "name": "Admin User",
        "email": "[email protected]"
      },
      "createdAt": "2026-03-01T10:00:00.000Z",
      "updatedAt": "2026-03-01T10:00:00.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "totalPages": 3,
  "currentPage": 1,
  "totalContent": 52
}

Delete Content

Permanently delete content and associated files:

curl -X DELETE https://api.vaniykempire.com/admin/content/64def789abc123456 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkjXVCJ9..."

Response:

{
  "message": "Content and files deleted successfully"
}

What happens:

Content file is deleted from Cloudinary (using filePublicId)
Thumbnail is deleted from Cloudinary (if exists)
MongoDB document is removed

Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. Associated purchase records remain for accounting purposes.

Error Handling

Status Code	Error	Description
400	Bad request	Missing required fields or invalid file format
401	Unauthorized	Missing or invalid admin token
403	Forbidden	User is not an admin
404	Not found	Content doesn’t exist
413	Payload too large	File exceeds 500MB limit
500	Server error	Cloudinary or database error

Example error response:

{
  "error": "Content file is required"
}

Best Practices

File Optimization:

Compress videos before upload (target: H.264 codec, 1080p max)
Optimize thumbnails (target: 1280x720px, JPEG quality 85%)
Use descriptive filenames (they appear in Cloudinary)

Content Organization:

Create content as draft first, review, then publish
Use consistent tagging for better searchability
Include comprehensive descriptions for SEO
Set thumbnails to improve visual appeal in listings

Important Notes:

File uploads use multipart/form-data, not JSON
Tags must be a JSON string: tags="[\"tag1\",\"tag2\"]"
Category IDs must exist in the database before creating content
Cloudinary URLs are permanent once generated

Testing File Uploads

Using Postman:

Set method to POST or PUT
Set Authorization header with Bearer token
Select Body → form-data
Add text fields (title, description, etc.)
Add file fields (file, thumbnail) and select files
Send request

Using cURL:

# Store token in variable
TOKEN="eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9..."

# Create content
curl -X POST https://api.vaniykempire.com/admin/content \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -F "title=Test Video" \
  -F "description=Test description" \
  -F "type=video" \
  -F "category=64abc123def456789" \
  -F "price=9.99" \
  -F "file=@./test-video.mp4" \
  -F "thumbnail=@./test-thumbnail.jpg"

Environment Setup

Required environment variables:

# Cloudinary Configuration
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your-cloud-name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your-api-key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your-api-secret

# Admin Authentication
ADMIN_SECRET_KEY=your-admin-secret

Cloudinary credentials are available in your Cloudinary dashboard under Account Details.

Source Code References

Create content: src/controllers/contentController.js:7
Update content: src/controllers/contentController.js:56
Delete content: src/controllers/contentController.js:122
Cloudinary config: src/config/cloudinary.js:1
Upload middleware: src/config/cloudinary.js:40

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Uploading and Managing Content

Content Upload Flow

Cloudinary Configuration

Update Existing Content

Content Lifecycle Management

Draft to Published

View All Content (Admin)

Delete Content

Error Handling

Best Practices

Testing File Uploads

Environment Setup

Source Code References

Next Steps

Content API Reference

Payment Management

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

​Content Upload Flow

​Cloudinary Configuration

​Update Existing Content

​Content Lifecycle Management

​Draft to Published

​View All Content (Admin)

​Delete Content

​Error Handling

​Best Practices

​Testing File Uploads

​Environment Setup

​Source Code References

​Next Steps

Content API Reference

Payment Management

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Content Upload Flow

Cloudinary Configuration

Update Existing Content

Content Lifecycle Management

Draft to Published

View All Content (Admin)

Delete Content

Error Handling

Best Practices

Testing File Uploads

Environment Setup

Source Code References

Next Steps