sidvijay2004 / budget-tracker-backend

Budget Tracker App (BackEnd)

Welcome to the Budget Tracker App! This application is designed to help users manage their budgets effectively by providing a guided step-by-step process to input financial data and receive budget analysis based on user-provided information using AI tools.

To set up the FrontEnd, follow instructions in the read.me file for this repository.

Overview

Budget Prompter is a web-based application that offers users the ability to:

• Answer budget-related prompts to receive personalized feedback.
• Utilize OpenAI GPT-3.5 for text-based insights.
• Generate relevant images through DALL-E integration.
• Store and manage budget plans.
• View and delete saved plans.

Architecture Overview

The application follows a client-server architecture:

Frontend (Client)

• React: The frontend is developed using React to create an interactive user interface with a multi-step form structure.
• React Router: Utilizes React Router for managing different steps of the form and navigation within the application.
• API Interaction: Communicates with backend APIs for processing user data and displaying budget analysis and generated images.
• State Management: Utilizes React's state and hooks (e.g., useState) to manage user input data throughout the form flow.
• PORT 3000

Backend (Server)

• Node.js and Express: The backend is built on Node.js, leveraging the Express framework to handle API requests and serve endpoints for processing user data.
• OpenAI Integration: Interacts with the OpenAI API for generating budget analysis based on user-provided financial details.
• Image Generation: Utilizes a separate API endpoint for generating images that visualize budget-related data.
• Database Interaction: Incorporates MongoDB to store and retrieve user plans and information for persistence.
• PORT 3001

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v20.10.0) - Install Node.js or Yarn Install Yarn
• MongoDB - [Follow Steps Below]

Getting Started

1. Clone the backend repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/budget-prompter-backend.git

2. Navigate to the backend directory:

   cd budget-tracker-backend

3. Install dependencies:

   npm install
   # OR using Yarn
   yarn install

4. Update OpenAI API key:

   • Locate the index.js file in the project.
   • Find the section where the OpenAI API key is required.
   • Replace YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY with your actual OpenAI API key. If you don't have a key, you can generate one using the docs here Generate OpenAI API Key

5. Start the backend server:

   node index.js
   # OR using Yarn
   yarn node index.js

Connecting MongoDB Compass to Node.js Backend

To connect MongoDB Compass to your Node.js backend, follow these steps:

1. Install MongoDB Compass:

If you haven't already installed MongoDB Compass, download and install it from the official MongoDB website.

2. Find MongoDB Connection String:

Create a new Database and Collection in MongoDB. Once you do this:

1. Replace databaseName variable with your created DataBase name (in db.js)
2. Replace uri variable with your connection string (in db.js)
3. Replace collectionName variable with your collection name (in index.js)

Usage

1. The backend server manages API connections using Express.
2. It interfaces with OpenAI's GPT-3.5 to process budget-related prompts.
3. MongoDB is utilized for database functionalities such as storing and retrieving budget plans.

Contact

For any queries or support regarding the backend part of this project, feel free to contact [Siddharth Vijayasankar] at [[e-mail]].