Property-Tenancy Backend (v2)

A Node.js + Express + MongoDB backend for a Property Tenancy app. v2 turns the single-host setup into a multitenant platform with bookings and role-based access.

Features

• Multitenant home ownership — multiple home owners sign up, list their own homes, and each home carries its owner's details when guests view it.
• Booking — guests book a home with a simple click-and-confirm (no payment flow) and can unbook anytime.
• Booking track records — each home owner sees a detailed record of which guest booked which of their homes and when.
• Favourites — guests can save and remove favourite homes.
• Three roles
  • guest — browse, book/unbook, manage favourites.
  • host (home owner) — list/edit/delete their own homes, view their bookings.
  • superAdmin — platform-wide oversight of all users, homes, and bookings.
• Session-based auth — login state stored in MongoDB-backed sessions.

API reference

All endpoints, request bodies, roles, and error responses are documented in API.md.

Tech stack

Node.js, Express, MongoDB (Mongoose), express-session with connect-mongodb-session.

Configuration

The app reads these environment variables (see .env.example):

Variable	Default	Purpose
PORT	3001	Port the server listens on.
MONGODB_URI	Atlas fallback in code	MongoDB connection string.
SESSION_SECRET	secret_key	Secret used to sign session cookies.

Running the app

With Docker (recommended — app + MongoDB bundled)

docker compose up --build

This starts the API and a local MongoDB with a persistent volume. The app is available at http://localhost:3001.

To use MongoDB Atlas instead of the bundled Mongo, override MONGODB_URI in docker-compose.yml (or via an env file) and remove the mongo dependency.

To run just the image against an external database:

docker build -t property-tenancy-backend .
docker run -p 3001:3001 -e MONGODB_URI="<your-mongo-uri>" -e SESSION_SECRET="<random>" property-tenancy-backend

Without Docker

Requirements: Node.js 18+ and a reachable MongoDB instance (local or Atlas).

npm install

Set your environment variables (copy .env.example to .env and adjust, or export them in your shell), then start the server:

npm start

npm start runs the app with nodemon for live reload during development. The server listens on http://localhost:3001 (or your PORT).

Project structure

app.js              # Express app setup, middleware, route mounting, server start
controllers/        # auth, store (guest), host, admin, errors
models/             # user, home, booking, favourite (Mongoose schemas)
routes/             # authRouter, storeRouter, hostRouter, adminRouter
utils/              # database URI and path helpers
public/             # static assets