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JavaScript Express.js MongoDB Sample MFlix Application

This is a full-stack movie browsing application built with Express.js and Next.js, demonstrating MongoDB operations using the sample_mflix dataset. The application showcases CRUD operations, aggregations, and MongoDB Search using the native MongoDB Node.js driver.

Project Structure

├── README-JAVASCRIPT-EXPRESS.md
├── client/                 # Next.js frontend (TypeScript)
└── server/js-express/      # Express.js backend
    ├── src/
    ├── package.json
    ├── .env.example
    └── tsconfig.json

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 22 or higher
  • MongoDB Atlas cluster or local deployment with the sample_mflix dataset loaded
  • npm (included with Node.js)
  • Voyage AI API key (For MongoDB Vector Search)

Getting Started

1. Configure the Backend

Navigate to the Express server directory:

cd server/js-express

Create a .env file from the example:

cp .env.example .env

Edit the .env file and set your MongoDB connection string:

# MongoDB Configuration
# Replace with your MongoDB Atlas connection string
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://<username>:<password>@<cluster>.mongodb.net/sample_mflix?retryWrites=true&w=majority

# Server Configuration
PORT=3001
NODE_ENV=development

# CORS Configuration (frontend URL)
CORS_ORIGIN=http://localhost:3000

# Optional: Enable MongoDB Search tests
# Uncomment the following line to enable Search tests
# ENABLE_SEARCH_TESTS=true

Note: Replace <username>, <password>, and <cluster> with your actual MongoDB Atlas credentials.

2. Install Backend Dependencies

From the server/js-express directory, run:

npm install

3. Start the Backend Server

From the server/js-express directory, run:

# Development mode with hot reloading
npm run dev

# Or production mode
npm run build
npm start

The server will start on http://localhost:3001. You can verify it's running by visiting:

4. Configure and Start the Frontend

Open a new terminal and navigate to the client directory:

cd client

Install dependencies:

npm install

Start the development server:

npm run dev

The Next.js application will start on http://localhost:3000.

5. Access the Application

Open your browser and navigate to:

Features

  • Browse Movies: View a paginated list of movies from the sample_mflix dataset
  • CRUD Operations: Create, read, update and delete movies by using the MongoDB Node.js driver
  • Search: Search movies with filters by using MongoDB Search
  • Vector Search: Search movie plots with similar search terms by using MongoDB Vector Search
  • Aggregations: View data aggregations and analytics built with aggregation pipelines

Development

Backend Development

The Express.js backend uses:

  • Express.js 5 for REST API
  • MongoDB Node.js Driver for database operations
  • TypeScript for type safety
  • Swagger for API documentation
  • Jest for testing

To run tests:

cd server/js-express
npm test

To run tests with coverage:

cd server/js-express
npm run test:coverage

Frontend Development

The Next.js frontend uses:

  • React 19 with TypeScript
  • Next.js 16 with App Router
  • Turbopack for fast development builds

Development Mode

For active development with hot reloading and fast refresh:

cd client
npm run dev

This starts the development server on http://localhost:3000 with Turbopack for fast rebuilds.

Production Build

To create an optimized production build and run it:

cd client
npm run build  # Creates optimized production build
npm start      # Starts production server

The production build:

  • Minifies and optimizes JavaScript and CSS
  • Optimizes images and assets
  • Generates static pages where possible
  • Provides better performance for end users

Linting

To check code quality:

cd client
npm run lint

Issues

If you have problems running the sample app, please check the following:

  • Verify that you have set your MongoDB connection string in the .env file.
  • Verify that you have started the Express server.
  • Verify that you have started the Next.js client.
  • Verify that you have no firewalls blocking access to the server or client ports.

If you have verified the above and still have issues, please open an issue on the source repository mongodb/sample-app-nodejs-mflix.
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