Getting the API up and running

The API and other necessary services has been set up as a multi-container app. To get the up running locally, the following steps must be performed:

Set up Docker Desktop

1. Install Docker Compose if not already installed. Instructions for your operating system can be found here.
2. If running Windows, it is recommended to run Docker Desktop in WSL2 mode. Follow the guide here.

Set up Laravel

1. Open a new terminal window and change the directory to where the application files have been downloaded

2. Run the following commands:

   docker compose build
   docker compose up -d
   

3. Run docker ps to see a list of all running containers. The following should now be running:

   • test-app
   • test-db
   • test-nginx

4. Next, we have to set up the Laravel dependencies and app key. Run the following in the same terminal:

   docker compose exec app bash
   
   # Install dependancies
   composer install
   
   # Generate the app key and cache app config and settings
   php artisan key:generate
   php artisan optimize:clear
   php artisan optimize
   
   # Seed the DB with mock data
   php artisan migrate:fresh --seed
   

5. Go to http://localhost:8001/. The Laravel Welcome Page should now be loaded.

Using the API

There are 4 request groups namely Auth, Posts, Comments, Stats. The request can be found in the PostMan export.

Auth

Handles all the authentication logic:

• Register: Registers a new Normal type user
• Login: Logs an exiting user into the system
• Logout: Logs the currently logged-in user out

Posts

Handles all the post logic:

• All: Retrieves all posts.
  1. User does not have to be authenticated for this endpoint.
  2. User can specify an order_by_occurrence request parameter to sort the posts by the number of occurrences.
• View: Views a specific post.
  1. Once viewed it will set an environment variable named post_id.
• Create: Creates a new post.
  1. Once created it will set an environment variable named post_id.
  2. A content body parameter also needs to be specified. It needs to be between 150 and 1500 characters.
• Like: Likes a post.
  1. A post_id needs to be specified in the url. By default, it uses the post_id environment variable.
• Flag: Flags a post.
  1. User needs to be an Admin type user to flag posts.
  2. A post_id needs to be specified in the url. By default, it uses the post_id environment variable.

Comments

Handles all the comment logic:

• All: Retrieves all comments.
• View: Views a specific comment.
  1. A comment_id needs to be specified in the url. By default, it uses the comment_id environment variable.
  2. Once viewed it will set the comment_id environment variable.
• Create: Creates a new comment.
  1. A post_id needs to be specified in the request body. By default, it uses the post_id environment variable
  2. A content body parameter also needs to be specified. It needs to be between 20 and 150 characters.
  3. Once created it will set an environment variable named comment_id.

Stats

Handles all the stats logic:

• All: Retrieves the post and comments stats grouped by hour.