ENVIRONMENT_SETUP.md

Environment Setup for API Keys

Important Security Note 🔒

API keys have been moved to environment variables for security. The actual keys are stored in the .env file which is NOT tracked by git.

Setup Instructions

1. Copy Environment Template

cd express
cp .env.example .env

2. Update API Keys

Edit the .env file and replace the placeholder values with your actual API keys:

# API Keys - REPLACE WITH YOUR ACTUAL KEYS!
GEMINI_API_KEY=your_actual_gemini_api_key_here
YOUTUBE_API_KEY=your_actual_youtube_api_key_here

3. Getting API Keys

Gemini API Key:

1. Go to Google AI Studio
2. Create a new API key
3. Copy and paste it into your .env file

YouTube API Key:

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project or select existing one
3. Enable YouTube Data API v3
4. Create credentials (API Key)
5. Copy and paste it into your .env file

4. Environment Variables Used:

• GEMINI_API_KEY - For AI-powered recommendations
• YOUTUBE_API_KEY - For fetching video resources
• MONGODB_URI - Database connection string
• SESSION_SECRET - Session encryption key
• NODE_ENV - Environment mode
• SKIP_SEEDING - Skip database seeding on startup

Security Best Practices ✅

• ✅ API keys are in .env file (not tracked by git)
• ✅ .env.example provided as template
• ✅ Validation warnings for missing keys
• ✅ No hardcoded credentials in source code