Cortex DB Backend

The intelligent, headless API core for the Cortex CMS. Built with Node.js, Express, and TypeScript, it provides a robust foundation for content management, authentication, and integration.

Repository: https://github.com/umairrx/cortex-backend Frontend: https://github.com/umairrx/cortex

🚀 Features

• Headless Architecture: Decoupled content delivery via REST API.
• Secure Authentication: JWT-based auth with access/refresh token rotation (httpOnly cookies).
• Dynamic Content Modeling: Create and manage custom collections with dynamic schemas.
• Integration System: (In Progress) Connectors for external databases and services.
• Type Safety: Fully typed with TypeScript.
• Performance: Optimized MongoDB queries and indexing.

🛠️ Tech Stack

• Runtime: Node.js
• Framework: Express.js
• Language: TypeScript
• Database: MongoDB (via Mongoose)
• Validation: Zod & Express-Validator
• Security: Helmet, bcrypt, CORS, Rate Limiting

📦 Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/umairrx/cortex-backend.git
   cd cortex-backend

2. Install dependencies

   pnpm install
   # or npm install

3. Environment Configuration Create a .env file in the root directory:

   # Server Configuration
   PORT=3000
   NODE_ENV=development
   
   # Database
   MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/cortex_db
   
   # Authentication
   JWT_SECRET=your_super_secret_jwt_key_here
   JWT_EXPIRY=15m
   REFRESH_TOKEN_SECRET=your_super_secret_refresh_key_here
   REFRESH_TOKEN_EXPIRY=7d
   
   # Email Service (for password reset)
   EMAIL_HOST=smtp.example.com
   EMAIL_PORT=587
   EMAIL_USER=your_email@example.com
   EMAIL_PASS=your_email_password

4. Start Development Server

   pnpm dev

📜 Scripts

Script	Description
pnpm dev	Starts the development server with hot-reload (tsx).
pnpm build	Compiles TypeScript code to JavaScript.
pnpm start	Runs the compiled production code from dist/.

🔌 API Overview

The API is structured around resource-oriented endpoints.

Authentication

• POST /api/signup - Register a new admin/user.
• POST /api/signin - Authenticate and receive cookies.
• POST /api/refresh - Rotate access tokens.
• POST /api/logout - Clear session.

Collections (Headless CMS)

• GET /api/collections - List all content models.
• POST /api/collections - Define a new content model.
• GET /api/collections/:id/items - Fetch items for a collection.
• POST /api/collections/:id/items - Create a new item.

🚢 Deployment

1. Build the project: pnpm build
2. Set NODE_ENV=production in your environment.
3. Run the server: pnpm start

Recommended to use a process manager like pm2 for production:

pm2 start dist/index.js --name cortex-backend