Building a secure authentication api
#folder structure secure-auth-api/ ├── src/ │ ├── config/ # Environment variables & DB connection │ │ ├── db.js # Database connection logic │ │ └── config.js # Loads .env variables safely │ ├── controllers/ # The logic (Functions that take req, res) │ │ └── authController.js │ ├── middlewares/ # The Security Guards │ │ ├── authMiddleware.js # Checks for valid JWT │ │ ├── validate.js # Checks input (Zod/Joi) │ │ ├── rateLimiter.js # Prevents spam attacks │ │ └── errorHandler.js # Clean error messages (Cybersecurity requirement) │ ├── models/ # Database Schemas │ │ ├── User.js │ │ └── Token.js │ ├── routes/ # API Endpoints │ │ └── authRoutes.js │ ├── utils/ # Helper functions │ │ ├── jwt.js # Token generation logic │ │ └── logger.js # Winston logger setup │ └── app.js # Express app setup (Middlewares, Routes) ├── .env # Secrets (NEVER push to GitHub) ├── .gitignore # Ignore node_modules & .env ├── package.json └── server.js # Entry point (Starts the server)