Education for All – Backend

This is the backend of the Education for All platform — a secure, role-based forum designed to facilitate communication between parents and educational counselors. Built using C# and ASP.NET Core Web API, this server handles user authentication, question and answer management, counselor workflows, and integration with speech services and email notifications.

🌐 Overview

• Enables parents to post questions and counselors to respond
• Provides secure, role-based access for different types of users
• Integrates voice-based features and email services
• Built with a modular, scalable architecture and modern design patterns

You can visit the live application here: Education for All

⚙️ Tech Stack

• C#, .NET 6, ASP.NET Core Web API
• Entity Framework Core (code-first, SQL Server)
• SQL Server via SSMS (SQL Server Management Studio)
• Azure Speech Services for Text-to-Speech (TTS)
• MailKit for SMTP-based email communication
• JWT-based Authentication with HTTP-only refresh tokens
• RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) for permission management

🔐 Security & Authentication

• Password hashing using ASP.NET Identity cryptographic tools
• JWT Access Tokens for secure stateless authentication
• Refresh Tokens stored in HTTP-only secure cookies
• RBAC: Role-based access for endpoints (e.g., parent, counselor)
• Input validation and safe data handling throughout

📬 Communication Features

• Email Services using SMTP via MailKit

🧩 Design Patterns & Architecture

• Dependency Injection (built-in ASP.NET Core container)
• Repository Pattern for data abstraction
• Singleton Services for shared state where applicable
• Layered Architecture:
  • Controllers → Services → Repositories → DB Context

📂 Main Features

• 🔐 User Authentication: Register/login with secure token handling
• 🧑‍🏫 Counselor Role: Can answer user-submitted questions
• 👪 Parent Role: Can ask questions and view responses
• 🔄 Token Refresh Flow: Automatic access token renewal via secure cookie
• ✉️ Email Notifications: Account verification and activity alerts
• 🗣️ Text-to-Speech Integration: Azure-based TTS service (for accessibility)

🔗 Related Repositories

• education-for-all-frontend

🛠️ Setup Instructions

1. Prerequisites

• .NET 6 SDK
• SQL Server + SSMS
• Azure Speech Services key (for Text-to-Speech and Speech-to-Text support)
• Mail server credentials (for SMTP email)

2. Running the Project Locally

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/efchbd1013/education-for-all-backend.git
   cd education-for-all-backend

2. Set up your database connection in appsettings.json:

   "ConnectionStrings": {
     "DefaultConnection": "Server=localhost;Database=EducationDb;Trusted_Connection=True;"
   }

3. Configure your secrets (in appsettings.json or user-secrets):

   • JWT secret
   • SMTP credentials
   • Azure Speech key

4. Apply migrations and run the project:

   dotnet ef database update
   dotnet run

The API should now be running on the port displayed in the console output.

3. appsettings.json (Structure Example)

Note: This is a template example of how the appsettings.json file should be structured. Be sure to replace the placeholder values with your actual sensitive information, such as API keys, SMTP credentials, and JWT secrets.

{
  "Logging": {
    "LogLevel": {
      "Default": "Information",
      "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Warning"
    }
  },
  "AllowedHosts": "*",
  "Jwt": {
    "Key": "YourSecureKeyHere",
    "Issuer": "http://localhost:5000",
    "Audience": "http://localhost:5000"
  },
  "EmailSettings": {
    "SiteManagerEmail": "[email protected]",
    "SiteManagerName": "Site Manager Name",
    "FromName": "Your Application Name",
    "FromEmail": "[email protected]",
    "SmtpServer": "smtp.example.com",
    "SmtpPort": 587,
    "SmtpUser": "[email protected]",
    "SmtpPass": "YourSmtpPasswordHere"
  },
  "AzureSpeech": {
    "Key": "YourAzureSpeechKeyHere",
    "Region": "your-region"
  },
  "AllowedOrigins": [
    "http://localhost:3000",
    "http://your-frontend-domain.com"
  ],
  "ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT": "Development",
  "DefaultConnection": "User Id=your-user;Password=your-password;Server=localhost;Port=5432;Database=your-database"
}