Environment Variables Setup Guidelines

This document provides a step-by-step guide to setting up the required .env files for both the frontend and backend. These variables are essential for the application to function properly.

Backend `.env` Variables

DBURL (Mongo URL)
- Description: The MongoDB connection string.
- How to Obtain:
  1. Go to MongoDB Atlas and sign up or log in.
  2. Create a new cluster if you don't have one already.
  3. Navigate to Database Access and create a new database user with the appropriate permissions (e.g., readWrite).
  4. In the Network Access tab, allow connections from your IP address (or use 0.0.0.0/0 for all IPs for testing).
  5. Go to Clusters, click on Connect, and select Connect your application.
  6. Copy the connection string provided (it should look like mongodb+srv://<username>: <password>@cluster0.mongodb.net/test?retryWrites=true&w=majority).
  7. Replace and with the credentials you created in step 3.
  8. Set the DBURL variable in your env file with the full MongoDB Atlas URL.
  For a local MongoDB setup, you can install MongoDB locally and use mongodb://localhost:27017/your-database-name
HOST_EMAIL (NodeMailer)
- Description: The email used as the sender in NodeMailer.
- How to Obtain:
  1. Go to Google's App Passwords.
  2. Select Mail as the app and Other as the device.
  3. Generate a new password and copy it.
  4. Set HOST_EMAIL to your email address (e.g., youremail@gmail.com) and PASSWORD to the generated app password.
```
HOST_EMAIL=youremail@gmail.com
PASSWORD=your_app_password
PORT=587
```
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY
- Description: The app password for the email account used with NodeMailer.
- How to Obtain:
  1. Go to Stripe Dashboard.
  2. In the Developers section, find API keys.
  3. Copy the Secret Key (start with sktest for test environments).
  4. Set the STRIPE_SECRET_KEY in the env file.
  STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=your_stripe_secret_key
DOMAIN (Backend Server after Deployment)
- Description: This is the domain where your backend will be hosted. If you're deploying to a platform like Heroku, Vercel, or any cloud service, use the public domain provided.
For example:

DOMAIN=https://yourdomain.com
SECRET (JWT Secret for Encryption)
- Description: This is a secret key used for encoding JWT tokens. You can generate a random string using a tool like Random.org or by using Node.js:
require('crypto').randomBytes(64).toString('hex');

Set this in your .env file:

SECRET=your_secret_key
TWILIO_WHATSAPP_ACCOUNT_SID
- Description: The Account SID (unique identifier) for your Twilio account.
- How to Obtain:
  1. Log in to your Twilio Console.
  2. On the Account Dashboard, go to the For You tab.
  3. Scroll down to the Account Info section to find your Account SID.
  4. Copy the Account SID and set it as TWILIO_WHATSAPP_ACCOUNT_SID in your .env file.
  TWILIO_WHATSAPP_ACCOUNT_SID=ACXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
TWILIO_WHATSAPP_AUTH_TOKEN
- Description: The authentication token used to verify and authenticate requests to Twilio.
- How to Obtain:
  1. Log in to your Twilio Console.
  2. On the Account Dashboard, go to the For You tab.
  3. Scroll down to the Account Info section.
  4. Click on the show icon to reveal the Auth Token.
  5. Copy the token and set it as TWILIO_WHATSAPP_AUTH_TOKEN in your .env file.
  TWILIO_WHATSAPP_AUTH_TOKEN=your_auth_token
TWILIO_WHATSAPP_FROM
- Description: The Twilio WhatsApp-enabled phone number used to send messages.
- How to Obtain:
  1. Log in to your Twilio Console.
  2. In the Twilio Console, go to the Develop Tab.
  3. Navigate to Messaging → Try it Out → Send WhatsApp Message.
  4. To enable the WhatsApp Sandbox for testing follow the provided instructions to send a test message to Twilio's sandbox number and verify your phone for sandbox use.
  5. Twilio will send a WhatsApp-enabled sandbox number to your WhatsApp in the format whatsapp:+1234567890.
  6. Copy the number and set it as TWILIO_WHATSAPP_FROM in your .env file.
  TWILIO_WHATSAPP_FROM=whatsapp:+1234567890
- Optional steps(To verify your sandbox participants):
  1. In the Twilio Console - Develop Tab, navigate to Messaging → Try it Out → Send WhatsApp Message.
  2. Under the Sandbox Settings tab, scroll to Sandbox Participants to view all numbers registered in the sandbox.
FIREBASE_GOOGLE_AUTH
- Description: This JSON object contains authentication credentials required for Firebase's Google authentication provider in the backend. It is used to authenticate and authorize API requests securely.
- How to Obtain:
  1. Go to Firebase Console:
    - Visit Firebase Console.
    - Select your project or create a new one (Keep the all options furthur default)
  2. Navigate to Service Accounts:
    - In the left sidebar, go to Project Overview and click on the Settings (⚙️) icon.
    - Select the Service Accounts tab.
  3. Generate Private Key:
    - Under the Firebase Admin SDK section, click on Generate new private key.
    - A JSON file will be downloaded to your system.
  4. Set Environment Variables:
    - Open the downloaded JSON file and add each value from it one at a time to your .env file, following this format:
    - Note: The entire JSON object should be wrapped as a string under the variable FIREBASE_GOOGLE_AUTH in your .env file.
```
 FIREBASE_TYPE=service_account
 FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID=your-project-id
 FIREBASE_PRIVATE_KEY_ID=your-private-key-id
 FIREBASE_PRIVATE_KEY=-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\\nyour-private-key\\n-----END PRIVATE KEY-----\\n
 FIREBASE_CLIENT_EMAIL=firebase-adminsdk-xxxxx@your-project-id.iam.gserviceaccount.com
 FIREBASE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
 FIREBASE_AUTH_URI=https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth
 FIREBASE_TOKEN_URI=https://oauth2.googleapis.com/token
 FIREBASE_AUTH_PROVIDER_CERT_URL=https://www.googleapis.com/oauth2/v1/certs
 FIREBASE_CLIENT_CERT_URL=https://www.googleapis.com/robot/v1/metadata/x509/firebase-adminsdk-xxxxx%40your-project-id.iam.gserviceaccount.com
 FIREBASE_UNIVERSE_DOMAIN=googleapis.com
```
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME

Description: Your unique Cloudinary cloud name used to identify your account.
How to Obtain:
1. Log in to your Cloudinary Account.
2. Click on the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
3. In the left panel, select the API Keys tab.
4. Locate the Cloud Name field.
5. Copy the Cloud Name and set it in your .env file:
```
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your-cloud-name
```

CLOUDINARY_API_KEY

Description: A unique API key used to authenticate requests to Cloudinary.
How to Obtain:
1. Log in to your Cloudinary Account.
2. Click on the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
3. In the left panel, select the API Keys tab.
4. If no API key is present, click Generate New API Key.
5. Copy the API Key and set it in your .env file:
```
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your-api-key
```

CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET

Description: A private API secret used for secure authentication with Cloudinary services.
How to Obtain:
1. Log in to your Cloudinary Account.
2. Click on the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
3. In the left panel, select the API Keys tab.
4. Copy the corresponding API Secret to your API Key and set it in your .env file:
```
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your-api-secret
```
Storing PDF and ZIP Files on Cloudinary

By default, Cloudinary does not allow storing PDF and ZIP files unless explicitly permitted. Follow these steps to enable this feature:
1. Log in to your Cloudinary Account.
2. Click on the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
3. In the left panel, select the Security tab.
4. Scroll down to the last section labeled "PDF and ZIP files delivery".
5. Check the option and save changes.
Once enabled, you will be able to upload and store PDF and ZIP files in Cloudinary.

Frontend `.env` Variables

VITE_PUBLICATION_KEY
- Description: The public Stripe key for client-side payment processing.
- How to Obtain:
  1. Log in to the Stripe dashboard.
  2. Navigate to the Developers section.
  3. Click on API Keys.
  4. Copy the Publishable Key (starts with pktest for test environments).
  5. Set the VITE_PUBLICATION_KEY variable in your env file with the copied key.
  VITE_PUBLICATION_KEY=your_stripe_publishable_key
VITE_JAAS_APP_ID
- Description: The key for integrating Jitsi Meet video conferencing.
- How to Obtain:
  1. Go to the Jitsi developer portal.
  2. Sign up or log in to your account.
  3. Navigate to the API section.
  4. Create a new application if you don't have one.
  5. Copy the App ID provided.
  6. Set the VITE_JAAS_APP_ID variable in your env file with the copied App ID.
  VITE_JAAS_APP_ID=your_jaas_app_id
VITE_API_KEY
- Description: The API key for Chat-Bot
- How to Obtain:
  1. Go to the Google AI Studio.
  2. Sign in with your Google account.
  3. Once logged in, you should see an interface for managing projects and API keys (If prompted, create a new project or select an existing one).
  4. Now In the API Key section, look for an option to Generate API Key & click on it to create a new API key
  5. Once the key is generated, it will be displayed on the screen.
  6. Copy the API key.
  7. Open your .env file in frontend folder.
  8. Replacing your_api_key with the key you copied: VITE_API_KEY = your_API_key
VITE_FIREBASE_CONFIG
- Description: These credentials allow the frontend to interact with Firebase services, such as authentication and Firestore.
- How to Obtain:
  1. Go to Firebase Console:
    - Visit Firebase Console.
    - Select your project.
  2. Add a Web App (if not added already):
    - In the Project Overview, click on the </> Web icon to add a new web app.
    - Follow the setup instructions provided by Firebase to configure your web app.
    - Do not select Firebase Hosting during the setup process.
  3. Find Firebase Configurations:
    - After setting up the web app, click on the Project Overview Settings (⚙️) icon in the left sidebar.
    - Scroll down to the Your Apps section under "General".
    - Click on your web app (or create one if not already added).
  4. Copy the Firebase Configuration Object:
    - Locate the Firebase SDK snippet and copy the firebaseConfig object values.
  5. Set Environment Variables:
    - Add each value from the firebaseConfig one at a time to your .env file in the following format:
    - Note: The entire firebaseConfig object should be wrapped as a string under the variable VITE_FIREBASE_CONFIG in your .env file.
```
VITE_FIREBASE_API_KEY=your-api-key
VITE_FIREBASE_AUTH_DOMAIN=your-auth-domain
VITE_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID=your-project-id
VITE_FIREBASE_STORAGE_BUCKET=your-storage-bucket
VITE_FIREBASE_MESSAGING_SENDER_ID=your-messaging-sender-id
VITE_FIREBASE_APP_ID=your-app-id
VITE_FIREBASE_MEASUREMENT_ID=your-measurement-id
```
  1. Enabling Authentication
    - On your project console, left side bar click on Authetication & enable with google (email/password)
    - Give your project name(your choice) & support email, then click save.

Important Notes

Always keep .env files private and do not expose them in version control systems like GitHub.
Use environment variable management tools like dotenv in development or configure the deployment environment with these variables.
Ensure secure storage and limited access to keys, passwords, and tokens.

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