ThoughtSwap

ThoughtSwap is a real-time classroom discussion tool that facilitates anonymous peer review of short answers ("thoughts") using Canvas for authentication.

• Client: React (Vite) + Tailwind CSS
• Server: Node.js (Express) + Socket.io + Prisma (PostgreSQL)

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18+ recommended)
• npm
• Docker & Docker Compose
• A Canvas LMS instance (or a Free-for-Teacher account) for developer keys.

---

🚀 Docker Quickstart

The easiest way to build and deploy ThoughtSwap locally is using Docker Compose. This spins up the Postgres database, API server, and Client UI automatically.

1. Configure Environment: Copy the example environment file to .env:

   cp env.example .env

   Open .env and populate the Canvas Configuration section (Client ID, Secret, URL). You can generally leave the Database and Port configurations at their defaults.

2. Start the Application: Run the following command to build the images and start the services:

   docker-compose up --build

   Note: The server container will automatically apply database migrations upon startup.

3. Access:

   • Client: http://localhost:5173
   • Server: http://localhost:8000

4. Optional: Seed Data To create the "Dev Teacher" account without a real Canvas login, run the seed command inside the running server container:

   docker-compose exec server npx prisma db seed

---

🛠️ Manual Setup & Development

If you prefer to run the Node applications directly on your host machine (while using Docker for the database), follow these steps.

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/victor-hugo-dc/thoughtswap-ts.git
   cd thoughtswap-ts

2. Install dependencies: This will install dependencies for the root, client, and server workspaces.

   npm install

3. Environment Configuration: Create a .env file in the root directory (or packages/server/.env depending on your preference, but the docker setup expects it at root or server level).

   # Server Configuration
   PORT=8000
   DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/thoughtswap?schema=public"
   FRONTEND_URL="http://localhost:5173"
   
   # Canvas OAuth Configuration
   # Obtain these from Canvas Admin -> Developer Keys
   CANVAS_CLIENT_ID="your_client_id"
   CANVAS_CLIENT_SECRET="your_client_secret"
   CANVAS_BASE_URL="https://<your-canvas-instance>.instructure.com"
   
   # IMPORTANT: Must match exactly what is configured in Canvas
   CANVAS_REDIRECT_URI="http://localhost:8000/accounts/canvas/login/callback/"

4. Start the Database

Use Docker to spin up the PostgreSQL database defined in docker-compose.yml.

docker-compose up -d postgres

5. Run Migrations & Seed

Apply the Prisma schema to your database and seed the initial dev user.

# Run from the root
npm run dev --workspace=packages/server
# OR specifically for migrations:
cd packages/server
npx prisma migrate dev
npx prisma db seed

The seed command creates a "Dev Teacher" account (teacher@dev.com) which allows you to test teacher features without a real Canvas login.

6. Start the Application

Run both the client and server concurrently from the root directory.

npm run dev

• Client: http://localhost:5173
• Server: http://localhost:8000