Cache

Cache is a personal digital archiving system. It lets you save, organize, and retrieve links, media embeds, and plain-text markdown notes.

The live application is hosted at: https://cache.sampreeth.in

Codebase Structure

├── .github/workflows/    # Database backup workflows
├── backend/              # Node.js Express server, Mongoose models, and API routes
├── frontend/             # React app, Tailwind CSS, and state management
├── backups/              # Automated database backup location
└── scripts/              # Backup execution scripts

Features

• Quick-add links and notes: Paste a URL or write a note directly into the dashboard.
• Auto-parsing: The backend scraper extracts metadata and titles for added links.
• Interactive previews: Previews for YouTube, Spotify, Reddit, and Instagram items are rendered directly.
• Hierarchical collections: Organize items inside folders and subfolders.
• Tag indexing: Categorize items using tags and filter them instantly.
• Global search: Search by title, tag, note, description, or URL.
• Responsive design: Brutalist styled interface that scales well across mobile and desktop devices.
• Local and session storage: Group settings under a single namespace for privacy and workspace boundary constraints.
• Automated backups: A backup workflow to commit database snapshots directly to the repository.

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React 19, Vite 8, Tailwind CSS v4, and Lucide React.
• Backend: Node.js, Express, and MongoDB (via Mongoose). Can also run in a zero-dependency in-memory mock database mode when no database URI is supplied.

Installation

Prerequisites

You need Node.js and npm installed on your system.

Steps

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/sam-sampreeth/cache-app.git
   cd cache-app

2. Set up the backend:

   cd backend
   npm install

   Create a .env file in the backend folder and add:

   PORT=5000
   MONGODB_URI=mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/cache-app
   JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret
   ADMIN_EMAIL=[email protected]
   ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin123

   To run in mock database mode (in-memory, no MongoDB required), add MOCK_DB=true to the .env file.

3. Start the backend server:

   npm start

4. Set up the frontend:

   cd ../frontend
   npm install

   Create a .env file in the frontend folder and add:

   VITE_API_BASE=http://localhost:5000

5. Start the frontend development server:

   npm run dev

   Open http://localhost:5173 in your browser.

Database Backups

The project includes a GitHub Actions workflow that runs database backups on the 1st of every month (or manually via workflow dispatch). The backup script dumps non-demo collections to backups/backup.json and commits it to the repository.

To configure backups:

1. Go to repository Settings on GitHub.
2. Select Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions.
3. Add a Repository secret named MONGODB_URI containing your database connection string.