File Sharing Application

A modern, full-stack file sharing application built with React, Express, and MongoDB. Instantly upload files and share secure download links with anyone.

Live Demo: https://file-sharing-application-sigma.vercel.app/

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✨ Features

• Easy File Upload: Upload any file and get a unique, shareable download link.
• Download Tracking: Each file's download count is tracked.
• Modern UI: Clean, responsive React interface with drag-and-drop, copy link, and open link.
• Progress & Validation: Upload progress bar and client-side size validation (25MB default).
• REST API: Robust backend with Express and MongoDB.

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🖥️ Tech Stack

• Frontend: React, Vite, Axios
• Backend: Node.js, Express, Multer, Mongoose
• Database: MongoDB

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🚀 Getting Started

1. Clone the repository

git clone <your-repo-url>
cd File-sharing-application

2. Install dependencies

Backend

cd server
npm install

Frontend

cd ../client
npm install

3. Set up environment variables

Create a .env file in the server directory:

MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
# Optional: public URL of your API (used to build download links)
PUBLIC_BASE_URL=https://your-api.example.com
# Optional: comma-separated list of allowed origins for CORS
CORS_ORIGINS=https://your-app.vercel.app,http://localhost:5173

Create a .env.local file in the client directory:

VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:8000

4. Start the servers

Backend

cd server
npm run dev

Frontend

cd ../client
npm run dev

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📦 Project Structure

File-sharing-application/
├── client/         # React frontend
│   └── src/
│       ├── App.jsx
│       └── service/api.js
├── server/         # Express backend
│   ├── controller/
│   │   └── image-controller.js
│   ├── models/
│   │   └── file.js
│   ├── routes/
│   │   └── routes.js
│   ├── utils/
│   │   └── upload.js
│   ├── database/
│   │   └── db.js
│   └── server.js

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🛠️ API Endpoints

• POST /upload — Upload a file (multipart/form-data, field: file)
• GET /file/:fileId — Download a file by its unique ID

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☁️ Deployment

This setup deploys the frontend to Vercel and the backend to a host with persistent storage (e.g., Render/Railway/Fly/VM). Vercel serverless is not ideal for local-disk uploads.

Backend (e.g., Render)

• Root directory: server
• Build command: npm install
• Start command: node server.js
• Environment variables: MONGO_URI, PUBLIC_BASE_URL, CORS_ORIGINS (and optionally PORT)
• If using persistent disk for uploads, ensure server/uploads/ is writable or configure a mounted disk.

Frontend (Vercel)

• Root directory: client/
• Build command: npm run build
• Output directory: dist
• Environment variables: set VITE_API_URL to your backend URL (e.g., https://your-api.example.com)
• Optional vercel.json at repo root (already included) builds from client/.

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🔒 Notes on Production Hardening

• Replace local multer disk with S3/Cloudinary for reliable storage on serverless/free tiers.
• Add password-protected and expiring links.
• Restrict CORS to your deployed domains via CORS_ORIGINS.
• Validate file types and size on both client and server.

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🤝 Contributing

Pull requests are welcome! For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

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📄 License

© 2025 Abhiswant Chaudhary.
All rights reserved.
This project and its source code cannot be copied, modified, or distributed without explicit permission from the author.