Building a Secure Backend for Your Music App with JWT and Bcrypt

In this guide, we will walk through the process of building a secure backend for a music app using Node.js, Express, JWT (JSON Web Tokens), and bcrypt. This setup will handle user registration, login, and secure access to music tracks.

Overview

DATA API  - https://sandmusic-backendnew.onrender.com/api/tracks

GITHUB PROJECT - https://github.com/qubesmagazine/sandmusic-backend?tab=readme-ov-file

Technologies Used

Node.js: JavaScript runtime environment.

Express: Web framework for Node.js.

Mongoose: MongoDB object modeling for Node.js.

Bcrypt: Library to hash passwords.

JWT: Standard for creating secure tokens.

Dotenv: Module to load environment variables.

Nodemon: Utility to monitor changes in the code and automatically restart the server.

Project Structure

Here's a basic structure for the project:

sandmusic-backend/

│

├── controllers/

│   ├── UserControllers.js

│   ├── TrackController.js

│

├── middleware/

│   └── validateTokenHandler.js

│

├── models/

│   └── User.js

│   └── Track.js

│

├── routes/

│   ├── userRoutes.js

│   └── trackRoutes.js

│

├── .env

├── index.js

├── package.json

Setting Up the Project

Initialize the Project:

Starting Code

mkdir sandmusic-backend

cd sandmusic-backend

npm init -y

Install Dependencies:

npm install express mongoose dotenv bcrypt jsonwebtoken

npm install --save-dev nodemon

Environment Variables:

Create a .env file:

makefile

MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string

ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key

PORT=5000

Core Functionalities

User Registration and Login

The UserControllers.js handles user registration and login:

Register User: Hashes the password and saves the user to the database.

Login User: Validates the user credentials and generates a JWT token.

Token Validation Middleware

The validateTokenHandler.js middleware ensures secure access to protected routes by verifying the JWT token.

Secure API Routes

The userRoutes.js and trackRoutes.js define routes for user-related and track-related operations. Protected routes use the token validation middleware.

Example Usage

User Registration: Send a POST request to /api/users/register with displayName, email, password, and profileImage.

User Login: Send a POST request to /api/users/login with email and password to receive a JWT token.

Secure Access: Use the JWT token in the Authorization header to access protected routes.

Running the Server

To start the server, use:

npm run dev

This will run the server with nodemon, which will automatically restart the server on code changes.

API - https://sandmusic-backendnew.onrender.com/api/tracks