Forge Careers Backend

The Forge Careers backend powers the APIs and business logic behind Forge Careers, a platform that helps high school students explore skilled-trades careers through interactive learning experiences.

It supports the client application by delivering structured career content, pathway information, simulation-related data, and application workflows.

Overview

Forge Careers is designed to make skilled-trades career exploration more practical and engaging for students.

This backend provides the server-side foundation for the Forge Careers client application.

Responsibilities

• Provide career and pathway data to the client application
• Support simulation-related content and workflows
• Deliver structured API endpoints
• Validate incoming requests and handle errors
• Connect the application to its data sources

Tech Stack

• Node.js
• Express
• JavaScript
• REST API architecture

Add your database, ORM, authentication provider, and deployment platform here only after confirming they are used in this repository.

Local Setup

git clone https://github.com/Forge-IDSP/Backend.git
cd Backend
npm install
npm run dev

Environment Variables

Create a .env file based on .env.example.

PORT=3000
CLIENT_URL=http://localhost:3000

Never commit API keys, database credentials, or production secrets.

Client Application

The backend supports the Forge Careers client application:

Forge Careers Client

Project Structure

src/
  controllers/    Request handling
  routes/         API endpoints
  services/       Business logic
  middleware/     Validation and error handling

Update this section to match the actual folders in the repository.

Future Improvements

• API documentation with Swagger or OpenAPI
• Automated tests
• CI/CD workflow
• Improved validation and error handling
• Analytics and reporting endpoints