Coinlect - Crypto Learning Platform

A Next.js application for crypto education, community learning, and Web3 onboarding.

Open Source & Community

Coinlect welcomes contributions from developers, educators, and crypto enthusiasts.

• Contribution guide: CONTRIBUTING.md
• License: LICENSE
• Environment template: .env.example

We follow a pull-request workflow with maintainer review and approval. Direct pushes to main are not allowed.

Run Locally

Prerequisites: Node.js 18+

1. Install dependencies:

   npm install

2. Copy the environment template and update your local values:

   cp .env.example .env.local

3. Set your local environment variables in .env.local (including GEMINI_API_KEY and your PostgreSQL connection string):

   DATABASE_URL=postgresql://username:password@localhost:5432/coinlect_db
   JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-jwt-key
   NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=http://localhost:3000
   NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id.apps.googleusercontent.com
   GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id.apps.googleusercontent.com
   GEMINI_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

4. Run the development server:

   npm run dev

5. Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

Build for Production

npm run build
npm start

Backend Setup

Coinlect is designed to run with a PostgreSQL database and environment variables supplied at runtime. For an open-source repo, the backend configuration stays private and should never be committed to Git.

Typical setup:

1. Provision a PostgreSQL database.
2. Copy .env.example to .env.local and fill in your values.
3. Run Prisma migrations:

   npx prisma generate
   npx prisma migrate dev

4. Start the app with your local or deployment environment secrets loaded.

Production deployment options:

• Vercel or similar hosting for the Next.js app
• Managed PostgreSQL database (for example Neon, Supabase, Railway, or a standard Postgres provider)
• Platform environment variables or secret manager for DATABASE_URL, JWT_SECRET, OAuth credentials, and GEMINI_API_KEY

Do not commit real credentials, API keys, or database URLs. Keep them in .env.local for local development and in your hosting platform's secret store for production.

Environment Variables

Copy .env.example to .env.local and fill in the required values:

cp .env.example .env.local

Required variables:

• DATABASE_URL - PostgreSQL connection string
• JWT_SECRET - Secret key for JWT tokens
• NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL - Your application URL
• NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID - Google OAuth client ID for the frontend
• GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID - Google OAuth client ID for server-side auth flows
• GEMINI_API_KEY - API key for the AI chat functionality

See .env.example for the full template.

Database Setup

1. Create a PostgreSQL database
2. Run migrations:

   npx prisma migrate dev

3. Generate Prisma client:

   npx prisma generate

Tech Stack

• Next.js 15 - React framework with App Router
• TypeScript - Type safety
• Tailwind CSS - Styling
• Prisma - Database ORM
• PostgreSQL - Database
• React Context - State management (Theme, Auth, Language)