Fixes #292

Summary

Added Joi-based environment configuration validation to NestJS ConfigModule. The app now fails fast at startup with clear error messages if required environment variables are missing.

Changes

• backend/src/common/config/config.validation.ts — New Joi validation schema:

  • Required: DATABASE_URL, JWT_SECRET (min 16 chars)
  • Conditional: REDIS_URL (required unless QUEUE_DISABLED=true)
  • Optional with defaults: PORT, NODE_ENV, STORAGE_PROVIDER, etc.
  • Custom error messages: "Missing Configuration: XYZ"
  • Supports storage (local/S3/IPFS), mail (SMTP), and app config

• backend/src/app.module.ts — Updated ConfigModule.forRoot():

  • Added validationSchema: configValidationSchema
  • abortEarly: false — reports all errors at once
  • Missing vars → clear console error + process.exit(1) (NestJS default behavior)

Prerequisites

cd backend && npm install joi

Verification

# Test 1: Missing required var → crash on startup
unset DATABASE_URL && npm run start
# → Error: "Missing Configuration: DATABASE_URL"

# Test 2: Invalid JWT_SECRET → crash
export JWT_SECRET="short"
npm run start
# → Error: "JWT_SECRET must be at least 16 characters"

# Test 3: All valid → starts normally
export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://..." JWT_SECRET="my-super-secret-key-12345"
npm run start
# → ✅ Server listening on port 3000