MongoDB Database Setup for the Food Delivery Backend

The Food Delivery App uses MongoDB as its primary data store, accessed through the Mongoose ODM. All three data collections — food items, users, and orders — are defined as Mongoose schemas in the backend/models/ directory. Before the server can handle any requests, a valid MONGODB_URI must be present in backend/.env and the database must be reachable. If the connection fails on startup, the process exits immediately to prevent the app from running in a broken state.

How the Connection Works

Database initialisation lives in a single file, backend/config/db.js. The connectDB function is called once in server.js before any routes are registered:

backend/config/db.js

import mongoose from "mongoose";

export const connectDB = async () => {
    try {
        await mongoose.connect(process.env.MONGODB_URI);
        console.log("Database Connected Successfully!!!");
    } catch (error) {
        console.error("Database connection failed:", error.message);
        process.exit(1);
    }
};

The connection string is read from process.env.MONGODB_URI, which is populated by dotenv when the server starts. There is no explicit database name in the mongoose.connect() call — the database name is embedded in the URI itself (e.g. /food-delivery at the end of the Atlas connection string).

Setting Up Your Database

Local MongoDB
MongoDB Atlas

Use a local MongoDB Community Server instance during development when you do not need cloud access.1. Install MongoDB Community ServerDownload and install MongoDB Community Edition for your operating system from the MongoDB download page.2. Start the mongod daemon

mongod --dbpath /your/data/directory

On macOS with Homebrew you can instead run:

brew services start mongodb-community

3. Set your connection stringAdd the following to backend/.env:

backend/.env

MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/food-delivery

MongoDB will automatically create the food-delivery database the first time a document is inserted — no manual database creation is required.

MongoDB Atlas provides a fully managed cloud database with a free shared tier (M0) that is well suited for development and small production workloads.1. Create a free Atlas account and clusterSign up at cloud.mongodb.com, create a new project, and build a free M0 cluster in the region closest to your server.2. Create a database userIn your cluster, go to Database Access → Add New Database User. Choose Password authentication and note the username and password you set — you will need them in the next step.3. Allow network accessGo to Network Access → Add IP Address. For development, you can allow access from anywhere (0.0.0.0/0). For production, restrict this to your server’s IP address.4. Get your connection stringClick Connect → Drivers, select Node.js, and copy the connection string. It will look like:

mongodb+srv://<user>:<password>@cluster0.xxxxx.mongodb.net/?retryWrites=true&w=majority

5. Set your connection stringReplace <user> and <password> with your database user credentials, add the database name, and paste it into backend/.env:

backend/.env

MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://myuser:mypassword@cluster0.xxxxx.mongodb.net/food-delivery

MongoDB Atlas’s free M0 tier includes 512 MB of storage and is sufficient for running the Food Delivery App in development. Upgrade to an M10 or higher paid cluster when moving to production.

Data Models

The app defines three Mongoose collections. All models use the pattern mongoose.models.<name> || mongoose.model(...) to avoid re-registering a model if the module is imported multiple times.

`food` Collection

Stores the menu items displayed in the storefront and managed through the admin dashboard.

Field	Type	Required	Notes
`name`	String	✅	Display name of the food item
`description`	String	✅	Short description shown on the menu card
`price`	Number	✅	Price in INR; multiplied by 100 when passed to Stripe
`image`	String	✅	Filename of the uploaded image stored in `backend/uploads/`
`category`	String	✅	Menu category (e.g. “Salad”, “Rolls”, “Desserts”)

`user` Collection

Stores registered customer accounts and their active shopping cart state.

Field	Type	Required	Notes
`name`	String	✅	Full name of the user
`email`	String	✅	Must be unique across all users
`password`	String	✅	Bcrypt-hashed password
`cartData`	Object	—	Map of `{ foodId: quantity }`. Defaults to `{}`

The user schema sets { minimize: false } as a schema option. By default, Mongoose removes empty objects from documents before saving them to MongoDB. Setting minimize: false disables this behaviour, ensuring that an empty cartData object ({}) is preserved in the database rather than being stripped out. This is important because the frontend reads cartData on login to restore the user’s cart state.

`order` Collection

Stores every order placed through the checkout flow, including its payment and fulfilment status.

Field	Type	Required	Notes
`userId`	String	✅	MongoDB ObjectId of the user who placed the order
`items`	Array	✅	Array of cart item objects `{ name, price, quantity, ... }`
`amount`	Number	✅	Total order value in INR
`address`	Object	✅	Delivery address fields submitted at checkout
`status`	String	—	Fulfilment status. Defaults to `"Food Processing"`
`date`	Date	—	Order creation timestamp. Defaults to `Date.now()`
`payment`	Boolean	—	`true` once Stripe confirms payment. Defaults to `false`

Get Started

Core Features

Configuration

MongoDB Database Setup for the Food Delivery Backend

How the Connection Works

Setting Up Your Database

Data Models

`food` Collection

`user` Collection

`order` Collection

​How the Connection Works

​Setting Up Your Database

​Data Models

​food Collection

​user Collection

​order Collection

How the Connection Works

Setting Up Your Database

Data Models

`food` Collection

`user` Collection

`order` Collection