SkillForge LMS

SkillForge LMS is a comprehensive, modern Learning Management System (LMS) built on the MERN stack. Designed with a clean, responsive interface and role-based access control, it empowers instructors to publish high-quality educational content and allows students to seamlessly enroll, learn, and track their progress.

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🚀 Features

👤 Role-Based Authorization

• Students: Can explore courses, enroll in their chosen topics, stream video lessons, and track progress.
• Instructors: Have full control over course creation, including managing sections, lessons, uploading video lectures, and accessing an instructor dashboard.

📚 Course & Content Management

• Multi-tier course structure: Course ➡️ Sections ➡️ Lessons.
• Full CRUD operations for courses, sections, and lessons.
• Drag-and-drop or file-selector lecture video uploads with streaming capabilities.

🎥 Cloud Integration

• Integrated with Cloudinary for scalable, secure hosting of video lectures and media assets.
• Multer-driven buffer streaming to ensure files are processed securely without cluttering the local server.

📈 Progress Tracking & Student Experience

• Track completed lessons within each course.
• Interactive course player interface.
• Confetti celebration using react-confetti upon course completion.

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Domain	Technology	Description
Frontend	React (v19)	Modern component-driven UI library
	Vite	Next-generation frontend build tool
	Tailwind CSS (v4)	Utility-first CSS framework for modern styling
	React Router DOM (v7)	Declarative routing
	Lucide React / React Icons	Clean and consistent iconography
	Axios	Promise-based HTTP client for API requests
Backend	Node.js / Express	Fast, unopinionated web framework for API services
	MongoDB / Mongoose	Flexible NoSQL document database and ODM
	JWT (JSON Web Tokens)	Secure token-based user authentication
	Multer & Streamifier	Multipart form-data processing and buffer streaming
	Cloudinary SDK	Cloud storage management for lecture videos

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📂 Directory Structure

SkillForge/
├── backend/
│   ├── config/             # Database & Cloudinary configurations
│   ├── controller/         # API controllers handling business logic
│   ├── middleware/         # Auth & Role-based route guard middlewares
│   ├── models/             # Mongoose database schemas
│   ├── routes/             # Express API endpoints
│   ├── utils/              # Helper utilities
│   ├── server.js           # App entrypoint
│   └── package.json
└── frontend/
    ├── public/             # Static public assets
    ├── src/
    │   ├── api/            # Axios API client setup
    │   ├── components/     # Shared layout & UI components (Navbar, Footer, Cards)
    │   ├── context/        # React Auth State context provider
    │   ├── pages/          # Views grouped by Auth, Student, and Instructor roles
    │   ├── routes/         # Protected/Public React routing guards
    │   ├── App.jsx         # App routing definitions
    │   ├── main.jsx        # React DOM entrypoint
    │   └── index.css       # Tailwind configuration imports
    ├── vite.config.js
    └── package.json

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⚙️ Environment Configurations

Configure the environment variables in both directories prior to running the applications.

Backend Configurations

Create a .env file inside the backend/ directory:

PORT=3000
MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloudinary_cloud_name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_cloudinary_api_key
CLOUDINARY_SECRET_KEY=your_cloudinary_secret_key
FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:5173

Frontend Configurations

Create a .env file inside the frontend/ directory:

VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:3000/api

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🛣️ API Reference

🔐 Authentication (/api/auth)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required	Role
POST	/register	Register a new user	No	Guest
POST	/login	Login user and receive JWT	No	Guest

📖 Courses (/api/courses)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required	Role
GET	/	Retrieve all active courses	No	Guest/Student/Instructor
GET	/:id	Get specific course details	Yes	Student
GET	/instructor/my-courses	Get instructor's created courses	Yes	Instructor
GET	/instructor/my-courses/:id	Get course details for management	Yes	Instructor
POST	/	Create a new course	Yes	Instructor
PUT	/:id	Update an existing course	Yes	Instructor
DELETE	/:id	Delete a course	Yes	Instructor

📂 Sections (/api/sections)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required	Role
GET	/student/:id	Get sections as student	Yes	Student
GET	/student/:id/lessons	Get lessons under section	Yes	Student
POST	/	Create a section	Yes	Instructor
GET	/:id	Get specific section details	Yes	Instructor
GET	/:id/lessons	Get lessons in a section	Yes	Instructor
PUT	/:id	Update section title/description	Yes	Instructor
DELETE	/:id	Delete section	Yes	Instructor

📝 Lessons (/api/lessons)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required	Role
POST	/	Create a lesson	Yes	Instructor
GET	/:id	Get lesson details	Yes	Instructor
PUT	/:id	Edit lesson details	Yes	Instructor
DELETE	/:id	Delete a lesson	Yes	Instructor

☁️ Media Uploads (/api/uploads)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required	Role
POST	/	Upload lecture video to Cloudinary	Yes	Instructor

🎟️ Enrollment (/api/enroll)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required	Role
POST	/	Enroll student in a course	Yes	Student
GET	/:courseId	Check enrollment status	Yes	Student
GET	/	Retrieve student enrolled courses	Yes	Student

📈 Progress (/api/progress)

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth Required	Role
POST	/:lessonId	Toggle lesson completion progress	Yes	Student
GET	/course/:courseId	Fetch overall course progress details	Yes	Student

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🏃 Local Setup & Installation

Prerequisites

Make sure you have Node.js (v18+) and MongoDB installed locally or access to a MongoDB Atlas cluster.

Step 1: Clone & Navigate

git clone https://github.com/akashzone/skillforge-lms.git
cd skillforge-lms

Step 2: Set Up Backend

cd backend
npm install
# Configure your .env file
npm run dev

Step 3: Set Up Frontend

cd ../frontend
npm install
# Configure your .env file
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:5173 in your browser to view and interact with the application.