MOVIEREC

Your next favorite movie, found faster.

A full-stack recommendation platform with secure accounts, intelligent discovery, and personal watch tracking.

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Product Pitch

MovieRec helps users stop scrolling and start watching.

• Personalized recommendations driven by user behavior
• Powerful discovery tools by genre, rating, year, and sort
• Secure authentication and protected user routes
• One personal hub for favorites, wishlist, and ratings

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What Makes It Strong

Capability	Outcome
JWT Auth	Secure sign up and login flow
Smart Discovery	Faster filtering and better exploration
Personalized Feed	Recommendations shaped by user choices
Profile Library	Favorites, watchlist, and ratings in one place
Responsive UI	Smooth experience across desktop and mobile

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Stack

Frontend

• React 18
• Vite
• Tailwind CSS v4
• React Router
• Axios
• Lucide Icons

Backend

• Node.js
• Express.js
• MongoDB with Mongoose
• JWT Authentication
• bcrypt
• TMDB API Integration

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Quick Start

1. Clone

git clone https://github.com/Omanshsingh/MovieRec.git
cd MovieRec

2. Run Backend

cd movie-app-backend
npm install

Create env file:

Windows:

copy .env.example .env

macOS/Linux:

cp .env.example .env

Set env values:

TMDB_API_KEY=your_tmdb_api_key
PORT=5000
MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
JWT_SECRET=your_generated_jwt_secret

Generate a secure JWT secret:

node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('hex'))"

Start backend:

npm run dev

3. Run Frontend

cd ../movie-app-frontend
npm install

Create env file:

Windows:

copy .env.example .env.local

macOS/Linux:

cp .env.example .env.local

Use:

VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:5000/api

Start frontend:

npm run dev

4. Open App

• Frontend: http://localhost:5173
• Backend API: http://localhost:5000

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Environment Variables

Backend: movie-app-backend/.env

Variable	Required	Purpose
TMDB_API_KEY	Yes	TMDB API access key
PORT	Yes	Backend port
MONGODB_URI	Yes	Database connection URI
JWT_SECRET	Yes	JWT signing secret

Frontend: movie-app-frontend/.env.local

Variable	Required	Purpose
VITE_API_URL	Yes	Backend API base URL

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API Snapshot

Auth

• POST /api/auth/register
• POST /api/auth/login

Movies

• GET /api/movies/trending
• GET /api/movies/top-rated
• GET /api/movies/:id
• GET /api/movies/:id/recommendations
• GET /api/genres
• GET /api/discover

User

• GET /api/user/recommendations
• POST /api/user/favorites
• DELETE /api/user/favorites/:movieId
• POST /api/user/wishlist
• DELETE /api/user/wishlist/:movieId
• POST /api/user/rate
• DELETE /api/user/ratings/:movieId

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Project Structure

MovieRec/
|-- movie-app-backend/
|   |-- middleware/
|   |-- models/
|   |-- server.js
|   |-- fallback-data.js
|   |-- test-tmdb.js
|   `-- package.json
|-- movie-app-frontend/
|   |-- src/
|   |   |-- api/
|   |   |-- components/
|   |   |-- context/
|   |   |-- hooks/
|   |   `-- pages/
|   `-- package.json
`-- README.md

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Dev Commands

Backend:

cd movie-app-backend
npm run dev

Frontend:

cd movie-app-frontend
npm run dev

TMDB test:

cd movie-app-backend
node test-tmdb.js

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Troubleshooting

MongoDB connection fails

• Verify MONGODB_URI format and credentials
• Whitelist your IP in MongoDB Atlas
• Confirm DB user permissions

TMDB requests fail

• Verify TMDB_API_KEY
• Check internet connection
• Retry after rate limit cooldown

Frontend cannot reach backend

• Confirm backend is running on port 5000
• Check VITE_API_URL in .env.local
• Confirm backend CORS configuration

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Security

• JWT-based authentication
• bcrypt password hashing
• Protected API routes
• Environment-variable-based secret management
• No secrets committed to source control

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Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. For major changes, open an issue first.

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License

MIT