Skip to main content

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/meenalsingh0/GradGather/llms.txt

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

GradGather uses the dotenv package to load runtime configuration from a .env file in the project root. The call to require("dotenv").config() at the top of src/index.js makes every key in that file available on process.env before any route or service is initialized. You must create this file yourself — it is intentionally excluded from version control.

​
Required .env Template

Copy the following block into a new file named .env at the project root and fill in your own values before starting the server: 
# Server
PORT=3000

# PayPal (get credentials from https://developer.paypal.com/)
PAYPAL_MODE=sandbox
PAYPAL_CLIENT_KEY=your_paypal_client_id_here
PAYPAL_SECRET_KEY=your_paypal_secret_key_here
Never commit .env to version control. The PAYPAL_SECRET_KEY grants full access to your PayPal application. Add .env to your .gitignore file immediately and rotate any credentials that may have been accidentally exposed.

​
Variable Reference

​
PORT
number
The port the Express HTTP server binds to. If this variable is not set, the server defaults to 3000 as defined in src/index.js:
const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;
Default: 3000 — Example: 3000
​
PAYPAL_MODE
string
required
Controls which PayPal environment the paypal-rest-sdk targets. Set to sandbox while developing and testing so that no real money changes hands. Switch to live only when accepting real donations in production.Required for: Donation / payment features — Example: sandboxAccepted values: sandbox | live
​
PAYPAL_CLIENT_KEY
string
required
The Client ID for your PayPal REST application. This value is read in src/controllers/paymentController.js and passed to paypal.configure() as client_id. It identifies your app to the PayPal API when creating and executing payments.Required for: Donation / payment features — Example: AaBbCcDd...
​
PAYPAL_SECRET_KEY
string
required
The Secret Key for your PayPal REST application. It is passed to paypal.configure() as client_secret and is used to sign API requests. This value must be kept confidential — do not log it, expose it in client-side code, or commit it to source control.Required for: Donation / payment features — Example: EeFfGgHh...
PayPal sandbox credentials are free. Log in to developer.paypal.com, navigate to My Apps & Credentials, and create a new REST application under the Sandbox tab. Your Client ID and Secret will be shown immediately. Sandbox accounts also let you simulate the full buyer checkout flow without spending real money.

​
MongoDB Connection

The MongoDB connection URI is currently hardcoded directly in src/mongo.js:
src/mongo.js
// Current hardcoded connection
mongoose.connect("mongodb://localhost:27017/LoginFormPractice")
This works fine for local development, but makes it harder to point the app at a different database (such as MongoDB Atlas) without editing source code. The recommended approach is to read the URI from an environment variable with a local fallback:
src/mongo.js
// Recommended: use environment variable
mongoose.connect(process.env.MONGODB_URI || "mongodb://localhost:27017/LoginFormPractice")
Once you make this change, add MONGODB_URI to your .env file when you need to override the default: 
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://<user>:<password>@cluster0.example.mongodb.net/LoginFormPractice

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us