Clevernote Local Setup

This project has two apps:

• Backend API on http://localhost:5001
• Frontend on http://localhost:3000

Prerequisites

• Node 16.20.2 (see .nvmrc)
• npm 8+
• Docker Desktop (recommended for PostgreSQL)

1) Use the correct Node/npm version

nvm install
nvm use
node -v
npm -v

2) Install dependencies

npm install

3) Create backend environment file

cp backend/.env.example backend/.env

4) Start PostgreSQL

docker compose up -d postgres

If you use a local PostgreSQL install instead of Docker, update backend/.env to match your local credentials.

5) Run database migrations and seed data

npm run db:migrate
npm run db:seed

6) Start the apps

Run backend:

npm run dev:backend

In a second terminal, run frontend:

npm run dev:frontend

Common troubleshooting

• ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:5432: PostgreSQL is not running.
• lockfileVersion@2 warning: npm is too old; switch to Node 16 with npm 8+.
• Frontend cannot reach API: confirm backend is running on port 5001.