FridgeIQ

FridgeIQ is a MERN app for tracking fridge items, expiration dates, scanned labels, grocery imports, and meal suggestions.

Live site: fridge-iq-seven.vercel.app

Team Cool Cats - CIS4930

Name	Role
Lucas Mach	Team Captain
Jaedon Taylor	Full-Stack
Eric Wang	Full-Stack
Taebok Joseph Kim	Full-Stack
Pablo Sabogal	Full-Stack

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Stack

• Frontend: React (Vite), React Router, CSS Modules
• Backend: Node.js, Express.js
• Database: MongoDB (Mongoose)
• Auth: JWT (Bearer token)

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Project Structure

FridgeIQ/
├── client/                   # React frontend (Vite)
│   └── src/
│       ├── components/
│       │   ├── common/       # Navbar, ProtectedRoute, LoadingSpinner
│       │   ├── fridge/       # FridgeShelf, FridgeItem, AddItemModal, ItemDetailModal
│       │   ├── scanner/      # ImageUploader, ScanResults
│       │   ├── expiration/   # ExpirationAlert
│       │   └── meals/        # MealCard
│       ├── context/          # AuthContext, FridgeContext
│       ├── pages/            # One file per route
│       ├── services/         # Axios wrappers for each API area
│       └── utils/            # dateHelpers
│
└── server/                   # Express backend
    ├── config/               # MongoDB connection
    ├── controllers/          # Business logic per feature
    ├── middleware/            # JWT auth, error handler
    ├── models/               # User, Fridge, FridgeItem (Mongoose)
    ├── routes/               # Express routers
    ├── services/             # grocerySimulator
    └── utils/                # sendEmail (Nodemailer)

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Pages / Routes

Route	Page	Auth
/login	Login	Public
/register	Register	Public
/fridge	Fridge View	Protected
/scan	Food Scanner	Protected
/expiration	Expiration Alerts	Protected
/meals	Meal Planner	Protected
/import	Grocery Import	Protected
/profile	Profile	Protected

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API Endpoints

Method	Path	Description
POST	/api/auth/register	Create account
POST	/api/auth/login	Sign in
GET	/api/auth/me	Current user
GET	/api/fridge	Get fridge + all items
POST	/api/fridge/items	Add item
PUT	/api/fridge/items/:id	Update item
DELETE	/api/fridge/items/:id	Remove item
POST	/api/scanner/scan	Scan food label image
GET	/api/expiration/alerts	Get expiration alert groups
GET	/api/meals/suggestions	Get meal suggestions
GET	/api/grocery/orders	Get simulated grocery orders
POST	/api/grocery/import	Bulk-import items from order
POST	/api/grocery/connect	Connect grocery account
POST	/api/grocery/disconnect	Disconnect grocery account

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Full stack with MongoDB Atlas

Create an Atlas cluster, create a database user, allow your IP in Network Access, then set MONGO_URI in .env:

MONGO_URI=mongodb+srv://USERNAME:PASSWORD@cluster0.enjs5ra.mongodb.net/fridgeiq?retryWrites=true&w=majority&appName=Cluster0
JWT_SECRET=replace_this_with_a_long_random_secret
JWT_EXPIRE=7d
PORT=5000

Then run:

npm install
npm run install:all
npm run dev

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Authentication flow

1. Register at /register or sign in at /login.
2. The backend returns a JWT and the current user.
3. The client stores the JWT in localStorage under token.
4. Axios sends Authorization: Bearer <token> automatically on API requests.
5. Refreshing the page restores the session through /api/auth/me.

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Current MongoDB-backed features

• User accounts
• Login sessions via JWT
• Fridge creation on registration
• Fridge item CRUD
• Expiration alerts
• Meal suggestions derived from fridge items
• Grocery connection state and imports
• Scanner upload metadata

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Environment Variables

Required:

MONGO_URI=
JWT_SECRET=
JWT_EXPIRE=7d
PORT=5000

Optional integrations:

NUTRITION_API_KEY=
NUTRITION_API_HOST=trackapi.nutritionix.com
EMAIL_HOST=
EMAIL_PORT=587
EMAIL_USER=
EMAIL_PASS=
EMAIL_FROM=noreply@fridgeiq.com

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Integration notes

• Food Scanner (server/controllers/scannerController.js) - uses Vision + UPC lookups.
• Meal Planner (server/controllers/mealController.js) - uses Spoonacular based on fridge ingredients.
• Grocery Import (server/services/grocerySimulator.js) - currently uses simulated order data.
• Expiration Emails (server/utils/sendEmail.js) - sent with Nodemailer from the backend scheduler.
• Shared Fridges - data model exists (Fridge.members), UI/invite flow still needed.