AI Journaling App

A comprehensive multi-platform journaling application that leverages AI to provide deep insights into your thoughts, emotions, and personal growth. Features a modern web interface, mobile app, and a powerful backend with advanced AI analysis.

🌟 Features

Core Functionality

• 📝 Intelligent Journaling: Create, read, update, and delete journal entries with rich text support
• 🎯 Goal Tracking: Set personal goals and track progress with visual indicators
• 📊 Advanced Analytics: Sentiment analysis and trend visualization over time
• 📱 Cross-Platform: Web application and React Native mobile app
• 🔥 Streak Tracking: Maintain writing consistency with streak counters

AI-Powered Features

• 🧠 Google Gemini Integration: Advanced AI insights using Google's latest LLM
• 😊 Sentiment Analysis: Real-time emotion detection and mood tracking
• 📈 Trend Analysis: Visualize emotional patterns and identify key themes
• 💡 Smart Templates: AI-generated journal prompts and writing templates
• 🎨 Theme Recognition: Automatic identification of recurring themes in your writing

User Experience

• 🔐 Secure Authentication: Supabase-powered authentication with JWT tokens
• 📅 Calendar Integration: Visual calendar for tracking journal entries
• 📊 Interactive Charts: Beautiful data visualizations using Recharts
• 🎨 Modern UI: Responsive design with Tailwind CSS and Radix UI components
• ⚡ Real-time Updates: Live synchronization across devices

🏗️ Tech Stack

Frontend (Web)

• Framework: React 19 with TypeScript
• Build Tool: Vite
• UI Library: Tailwind CSS, Radix UI
• State Management: Zustand
• Routing: React Router v7
• HTTP Client: Axios
• Charts: Recharts

Mobile App

• Framework: React Native with Expo
• Navigation: React Navigation
• Charts: React Native Chart Kit, Gifted Charts
• Authentication: Google Sign-In, Expo Auth Session
• State Management: Zustand

Backend

• Runtime: Node.js with ES Modules
• Framework: Express.js
• Database: MongoDB with Mongoose ODM
• Authentication: Supabase Auth
• AI/ML: Google Generative AI (Gemini), VADER Sentiment Analysis
• NLP: Wink NLP for text processing
• Logging: Winston
• Security: JWT, Cookie Parser, CORS

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

• Node.js (v18 or higher) - Download here
• npm or yarn package manager
• MongoDB (local installation or MongoDB Atlas cloud)
• Supabase Account - Sign up here
• Google Cloud Account (for Gemini AI) - Get started here
• Expo CLI (for mobile development) - npm install -g @expo/cli

📥 Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/gup-abhi/ai-journaling.git
   cd ai-journaling

2. Install root dependencies:

   npm install

3. Install platform-specific dependencies:

   # This will install dependencies for frontend, backend, and mobile
   npm run postinstall

⚙️ Environment Configuration

Create environment files for each platform:

Backend (.env)

Create /backend/.env:

# Server Configuration
PORT=5000
NODE_ENV=development
API_ROUTE_START=/api/v1

# Database
MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/ai-journaling
# Or for MongoDB Atlas: mongodb+srv://username:password@cluster.mongodb.net/ai-journaling

# Supabase Configuration
SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project.supabase.co
SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=your-supabase-anon-key
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=your-supabase-service-role-key

# Google Gemini AI
GOOGLE_AI_API_KEY=your-google-ai-api-key

# JWT Configuration
JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-jwt-key
JWT_EXPIRES_IN=7d
JWT_REFRESH_EXPIRES_IN=30d

# CORS
FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:5173
MOBILE_URL=exp://localhost:8081

# Logging
LOG_LEVEL=info

Frontend (.env)

Create /frontend/.env:

VITE_API_BASE_URL=http://localhost:5000/api/v1
VITE_SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project.supabase.co
VITE_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=your-supabase-anon-key

Mobile (.env)

Create /mobile/.env:

API_BASE_URL=http://localhost:5000/api/v1
SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project.supabase.co
SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=your-supabase-anon-key
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-google-oauth-client-id

🏃‍♂️ Running the Application

Development Mode

Option 1: Run all platforms concurrently (Recommended)

# Terminal 1: Start backend
npm run backend-dev

# Terminal 2: Start frontend
npm run frontend-dev

# Terminal 3: Start mobile (if developing mobile)
cd mobile && npm start

Option 2: Using npm scripts

# Start backend only
npm run backend-dev

# Start frontend only
npm run frontend-dev

Production Mode

# Build and start production server
npm start

This will:

1. Build the frontend for production
2. Start the backend server
3. Serve the frontend through the backend

Mobile Development

cd mobile

# Start Expo development server
npm start

# Run on specific platform
npm run android    # Android emulator/device
npm run ios        # iOS simulator
npm run web        # Web browser

📁 Project Structure

ai-journaling/
├── backend/                    # Express.js API server
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── config/            # Configuration files
│   │   ├── controllers/       # Route controllers
│   │   ├── lib/              # Utility libraries
│   │   ├── middlewares/      # Express middlewares
│   │   ├── models/           # MongoDB models
│   │   ├── routes/           # API routes
│   │   └── utils/            # Helper functions
│   └── package.json
├── frontend/                  # React web application
│   ├── public/               # Static assets
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/       # Reusable React components
│   │   ├── lib/              # Utility functions
│   │   ├── pages/            # Page components
│   │   ├── stores/           # Zustand state stores
│   │   ├── types/            # TypeScript type definitions
│   │   └── styles/           # CSS styles
│   └── package.json
├── mobile/                    # React Native mobile app
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/       # Mobile components
│   │   ├── lib/              # Mobile utilities
│   │   ├── navigation/       # Navigation setup
│   │   ├── screens/          # App screens
│   │   ├── stores/           # Mobile state stores
│   │   └── types/            # Mobile type definitions
│   └── package.json
└── README.md

📡 API Documentation

The backend provides a comprehensive REST API with the following endpoints:

Authentication Endpoints

POST   /api/v1/auth/login              # User login
POST   /api/v1/auth/register           # User registration
POST   /api/v1/auth/refresh            # Refresh JWT tokens
GET    /api/v1/auth/user               # Get current user info
POST   /api/v1/auth/logout             # User logout

Journal Endpoints

GET    /api/v1/journal                 # Get all journal entries
POST   /api/v1/journal                 # Create new journal entry
GET    /api/v1/journal/:id             # Get specific journal entry
PUT    /api/v1/journal/:id             # Update journal entry
DELETE /api/v1/journal/:id             # Delete journal entry
GET    /api/v1/journal/streak/current  # Get current writing streak

AI Insights Endpoints

GET    /api/v1/ai-insights/:journalId   # Get AI insights for journal
POST   /api/v1/ai-insights/generate     # Generate new insights
GET    /api/v1/ai-insights/trends       # Get sentiment trends

Goal Tracking Endpoints

GET    /api/v1/goal-tracking            # Get all goals
POST   /api/v1/goal-tracking            # Create new goal
PUT    /api/v1/goal-tracking/:id        # Update goal
DELETE /api/v1/goal-tracking/:id        # Delete goal
PATCH  /api/v1/goal-tracking/:id/progress # Update goal progress

Journal Templates Endpoints

GET    /api/v1/journal-template         # Get all templates
POST   /api/v1/journal-template         # Create new template
PUT    /api/v1/journal-template/:id     # Update template
DELETE /api/v1/journal-template/:id     # Delete template

User Management Endpoints

GET    /api/v1/user/profile             # Get user profile
PUT    /api/v1/user/profile             # Update user profile
GET    /api/v1/user/streaks             # Get user streaks

🔧 Development Workflow

Available Scripts

Root Level Scripts

npm run postinstall    # Install dependencies for all platforms
npm start             # Build frontend and start production server
npm run build:frontend # Build frontend for production
npm run backend-dev   # Start backend in development mode
npm run frontend-dev  # Start frontend in development mode

Backend Scripts

cd backend
npm start             # Start production server
npm run dev          # Start development server with nodemon

Frontend Scripts

cd frontend
npm run dev          # Start development server
npm run build        # Build for production
npm run preview      # Preview production build
npm run lint         # Run ESLint

Mobile Scripts

cd mobile
npm start            # Start Expo development server
npm run android      # Run on Android
npm run ios          # Run on iOS
npm run web          # Run on web

Code Quality

• ESLint: Frontend code linting
• TypeScript: Type safety for frontend and mobile
• Prettier: Code formatting (recommended)

Testing

# Frontend testing
cd frontend && npm run test

# Backend testing (when implemented)
cd backend && npm run test

🚀 Deployment

Backend Deployment

The backend can be deployed to various platforms:

Render.com

1. Connect your GitHub repository
2. Set environment variables in Render dashboard
3. Configure build command: npm install
4. Configure start command: npm start

Railway

1. Connect repository
2. Set environment variables
3. Deploy automatically on push

Heroku

1. Create Heroku app
2. Set environment variables
3. Deploy using Heroku CLI or GitHub integration

Frontend Deployment

The frontend can be deployed to:

Vercel

1. Connect GitHub repository
2. Set environment variables
3. Deploy automatically

Netlify

1. Connect repository
2. Set build command: npm run build
3. Set publish directory: dist
4. Configure environment variables

Mobile Deployment

cd mobile

# Build for production
npx expo build:android
npx expo build:ios

# Submit to app stores
npx expo submit --platform android
npx expo submit --platform ios

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how you can help:

Development Setup

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/your-feature
3. Make your changes
4. Test thoroughly
5. Submit a pull request

Guidelines

• Follow the existing code style
• Write clear commit messages
• Add tests for new features
• Update documentation as needed
• Ensure all platforms work correctly

Areas for Contribution

• 🐛 Bug fixes
• ✨ New features
• 📱 Mobile app improvements
• 🎨 UI/UX enhancements
• 📚 Documentation improvements
• 🧪 Testing coverage

📄 License

This project is licensed under the ISC License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Google Gemini AI for powering the AI insights
• Supabase for authentication and real-time features
• MongoDB for reliable data storage
• React & React Native communities for excellent frameworks
• Open source contributors who make projects like this possible

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Made with ❤️ for personal growth and self-reflection