[BUG] server/package.json is invalid JSON (merge conflict), so npm install fails in server/

[Anexus5919]

Summary

server/package.json is not valid JSON. Its dependencies block contains leftover merge conflict artifacts: a missing comma plus duplicate keys. As a result, cd server && npm install fails and backend dependencies cannot be installed.

Details

Inside dependencies:

1. There is no comma after "pdf-lib": "^1.17.1" (line 25), so the JSON is malformed.
2. mongoose appears twice (both ^8.17.0).
3. multer appears twice with conflicting versions: ^2.1.1 and ^1.4.5-lts.1.

This block is the result of two dependency lists being merged without resolving the conflict.

Steps to reproduce

1. From the repo root, run node -e "require('./server/package.json')".
2. Observe:

Expected ',' or '}' after property value in JSON at position 572 (line 27 column 5)

Or run cd server && npm install and observe it fails to parse package.json.

Expected

server/package.json is valid JSON and cd server && npm install installs the backend dependencies.

Actual

server/package.json fails to parse, so npm install cannot run.

Suggested fix

Resolve the conflict into a single valid dependencies block:

• Keep one mongoose entry.
• Keep multer at ^2.1.1 (the current maintained major; server/package-lock.json already resolves multer to 2.1.1).
• Keep the dependencies required by the backend that are only present in the second block: pdf-parse (used by server/utils/parser.js), mammoth (used by server/utils/parser.js), and openai (used by server/index.js).
• Add the missing comma.

After the fix, cd server && npm install should succeed and the lockfile should be regenerated to include the previously missing dependencies.

Notes

This is the second half of the same recent bad merge. The backend entry point server/index.js was also left with merge artifacts, reported separately in #515. Both are required for the backend to install and start.

I would like to work on this issue.

[Anexus5919]

@lovelymahor I'd like to work on this issue under gssoc 26. Could you please assign this issue to me?

[aditya-5224]

Hi @lovelymahor ,

I would like to work on this issue under GSSoC 2026.

I reviewed the reported problem and understand that server/package.json contains unresolved merge artifacts that are preventing dependency installation. I can resolve the malformed JSON, remove duplicate dependency entries, retain the required packages, regenerate the lockfile if needed, and verify that cd server && npm install completes successfully.

I have experience working with Node.js, dependency management, and debugging repository merge conflicts.

Please assign this issue to me. Looking forward to contributing to the project.

[Anexus5919]

@aditya-5224 Thanks for your interest. I've already completed the work for this issue and am currently waiting for it to be assigned before opening a PR. This helps avoid duplicate effort and overlapping submissions.