Skip to main content

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/bhavnesh7781/Food-Delivery-App/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

This guide walks you through cloning the Food Delivery App repository and getting all three services — the Express backend, the customer React frontend, and the admin React dashboard — running on your local machine. The entire setup takes about five minutes once you have the prerequisites in place.

​
Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following available:
  • Node.js 18+ — The backend and both Vite frontends require Node 18 or later. Run node -v to check.
  • MongoDB instance — A locally running MongoDB server or a free MongoDB Atlas cluster. You will need the connection URI.
  • Stripe account — A free Stripe account with access to your test secret key (sk_test_...). No real charges are made during development.
  • Git — To clone the repository.

​
Setup Steps

1

Clone the repository

Clone the monorepo from GitHub and enter the project root directory.
git clone https://github.com/bhavnesh7781/Food-Delivery-App.git && cd Food-Delivery-App
2

Configure the backend environment

The Express server reads its secrets from a .env file that is not committed to version control. Create it now:
touch backend/.env
Open backend/.env in your editor and add the following keys:
MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
JWT_SECRET=a_long_random_secret_string
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_your_stripe_secret_key
VariableDescription
MONGODB_URIFull connection string, e.g. mongodb://localhost:27017/food-delivery or a MongoDB Atlas URI
JWT_SECRETAny long, random string — used to sign and verify authentication tokens
STRIPE_SECRET_KEYYour Stripe test secret key from the Stripe Dashboard
See the Environment Variables reference page for the complete list of accepted variables and their default values.
3

Install backend dependencies and start the API server

Move into the backend directory, install dependencies, and start the server with nodemon.
cd backend && npm install && npm run server
Nodemon watches server.js for changes and restarts automatically. The server listens on port 4000 by default (configurable via a PORT env variable). A successful start prints:
Server Started on http://localhost:4000
4

Install and start the customer frontend

Open a new terminal, return to the project root, then install and start the Vite dev server for the customer app.
cd ../frontend && npm install && npm run dev
Vite starts the customer app on port 5173 (the default Vite port). You will see output similar to:
VITE v5.x.x  ready in Xms
➜  Local:   http://localhost:5173/
5

Install and start the admin dashboard

Open another new terminal, navigate to the admin directory, and start its Vite dev server.
cd ../admin && npm install && npm run dev
The admin dashboard runs on port 5174 by default.
VITE v5.x.x  ready in Xms
➜  Local:   http://localhost:5174/
All three services — the backend API (port 4000), the customer frontend (port 5173), and the admin dashboard (port 5174) — must be running concurrently for the application to work correctly. Use three separate terminal tabs or a process manager like concurrently to keep them all alive.

​
Verify Everything Works

Once all three services are up, confirm each one is healthy before you start developing. Check the backend API The root route returns a plain-text health message. Run the following from any terminal: 
curl http://localhost:4000/
Expected response: 
API Working
Browse the customer storefront Open http://localhost:5173 in your browser. The homepage fetches the food catalog from GET /api/food/list and displays available items grouped by category. If you see food cards rendered, the frontend-to-backend connection is working. Access the admin dashboard Open http://localhost:5174. You should see the admin layout with a sidebar containing Add, List, and Orders navigation links. Use the Add page to upload a test food item and verify that it appears in the List view and on the customer storefront.
For a full reference of all environment variables accepted by the backend, visit the Environment Variables configuration page.

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us