CineCircle

A user-friendly, community-oriented app for South Indian movie fans to stay updated with, discuss, and review / rate Tollywood (Telugu), Kollywood (Tamil), Mollywood (Malayalam), and Sandalwood (Kollywood) cinema.

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Quick Start

Requirements: Docker Desktop

All commands run from root directory. Run npm run to see all available commands.

Dependencies Setup

npm run install:all     # Install all for both backend and frontend

Start Development

npm run backend:start   # Start backend (Docker containers)
npm run frontend:start  # Start frontend (Expo) - in separate terminal

Backend starts:

• Local PostgreSQL database container (postgres:5432)
• Backend API server at http://localhost:3001
• Prisma Studio at http://localhost:5555
• Auto-syncs schema/data from production (with SYNC_FROM_PRODUCTION=true in .env file)

Test backend works: http://localhost:3001/api/ping

Stop backend:

npm run backend:stop

Type Generation System

CineCircle uses auto-generated types from backend to frontend.

npm run backend:types          # Generate frontend types from backend

When to regenerate:

• After adding/modifying API types in backend/src/types/
• After adding new endpoints
• When frontend shows type errors

📖 See TYPES.md for complete documentation

Available Commands

Run npm run from root to see all commands. Key ones:

Backend (Docker)

npm run backend:start          # Start containers
npm run backend:stop           # Stop containers
npm run backend:logs           # View logs
npm run backend:shell          # Shell into container
npm run backend:test           # Run tests
npm run backend:types          # Generate frontend types
npm run backend:lint           # Lint code
npm run backend:clean          # Full cleanup

Database Operations

Get into container shell first, then run database commands:

npm run backend:shell

# Inside container:
npm run db:sync          # Re-sync from production
npx prisma studio        # Open Prisma Studio
npx prisma db push       # Push schema changes
npx prisma generate      # Regenerate client

Frontend (Expo)

npm run frontend:start         # Start Expo dev server
npm run frontend:android       # Run on Android
npm run frontend:ios           # Run on iOS
npm run frontend:clean         # Clean rebuild

Database Usage

In development, you ONLY use local PostgreSQL - production is never touched (😅):

• Local Database: Runs in Docker container (postgres:5432)
• Production Database: Completely separate, read-only for development
• Manual Re-Sync: Run db:sync inside container to sync again

Schema Changes Workflow

# 1. Edit backend/prisma/schema.prisma

# 2. Get into container shell
npm run backend:shell

# 3. Push to local database
npx prisma db push

# 4. Generate new Prisma client
npx prisma generate

# 5. Test your changes
npm test

# 6. When ready, deploy changes (separate process)