Task Manager API

A minimal REST API for managing tasks, built with Node.js, Express, and MongoDB (Mongoose).

Features

• Create, read, update, and delete tasks (CRUD)
• JSON request/response
• CORS enabled
• Environment-based MongoDB connection via MONGO_URI

Tech Stack

• Node.js + Express (ES Modules)
• MongoDB + Mongoose
• dotenv, cors, nodemon (dev)

Project Structure

task-manager/
├─ server.js               # App entrypoint, Express + routes + DB
├─ package.json            # Scripts and deps
├─ models/
│  └─ Task.js              # Mongoose Task model
├─ routes/
│  └─ taskRoutes.js        # CRUD routes for /api/tasks
└─ README.md

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ (recommended)
• MongoDB instance (local or hosted)

Installation

1. Install dependencies

npm install

2. Configure environment

Create a .env file in the project root with your Mongo connection string:

MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/task_manager

3. Run the server

• Development (auto-reload):

npm run dev

• Production:

npm start

The API listens on http://localhost:5000

API Reference

Base URL: http://localhost:5000/api/tasks

Data Model

Task

• title (string, required)
• description (string, optional)
• status (string, default: "pending")

Example document:

{
	"_id": "6738a5f0f1c2a6f5a3d1e999",
	"title": "Write docs",
	"description": "Create README with API examples",
	"status": "pending"
}

Create a task

POST /api/tasks

Request

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/tasks \
	-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
	-d '{
		"title": "Write docs",
		"description": "Create README with API examples"
	}'

Response 201

{
	"_id": "...",
	"title": "Write docs",
	"description": "Create README with API examples",
	"status": "pending"
}

List tasks

GET /api/tasks

curl http://localhost:5000/api/tasks

Response 200

[
	{
		"_id": "...",
		"title": "Write docs",
		"description": "Create README with API examples",
		"status": "pending"
	}
]

Update a task

PUT /api/tasks/:id

curl -X PUT http://localhost:5000/api/tasks/<TASK_ID> \
	-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
	-d '{
		"status": "done"
	}'

Response 200

{
	"_id": "...",
	"title": "Write docs",
	"description": "Create README with API examples",
	"status": "done"
}

Delete a task

DELETE /api/tasks/:id

curl -X DELETE http://localhost:5000/api/tasks/<TASK_ID>

Response 200

{ "message": "Task deleted" }

Error format

On validation or other errors, the API returns:

{ "error": "<message>" }

Scripts

• npm run dev — start with nodemon (reload on changes)
• npm start — start server

Notes & Tips

• Ensure MONGO_URI is reachable from your machine/container.
• The server currently binds to port 5000. Adjust in server.js if needed.

Roadmap / Ideas

• Input validation (e.g., zod or express-validator)
• Pagination and filtering for GET /api/tasks
• Timestamps on tasks (createdAt, updatedAt)
• Dockerfile and Compose for local Mongo + API
• Tests (Jest + Supertest) and CI workflow
• Authentication (JWT) and per-user tasks

License

ISC — see package.json.