VU Backend

NestJS backend for the VU platform — authentication, job/mock management, candidate pipeline, and AI service integration.

Tech Stack

Component	Technology	Purpose
Framework	NestJS 11	API server, dependency injection, modules
ORM	TypeORM 0.3	PostgreSQL data access
Database	PostgreSQL 16	Primary data store
Auth	JWT Bearer tokens	User authentication
Service Auth	API Key (X-API-Key header)	AI service → backend calls
Validation	class-validator + class-transformer	DTO validation, forbidNonWhitelisted
API Docs	Swagger (swagger-ui-express)	Auto-generated OpenAPI docs

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• PostgreSQL 16+
• npm

Install

git clone https://github.com/vu-app-dev/vu-backend.git
cd vu-backend
npm install
cp .env.example .env   # edit with your database + secrets

Run

npm run start:dev
# Runs on http://localhost:3000
# Swagger docs at http://localhost:3000/docs

Run with Docker

docker build -t vu-backend .
docker run -p 3000:3000 --env-file .env vu-backend

For the full stack (AI + backend + frontend + PostgreSQL), see the vu-app orchestration repo.

Modules

Module	Path	Description
Auth	auth-base/	Registration, login, JWT, email verification
Users	auth-base/user/	User entity, profile management
Session	auth-base/session/	Session management
Companies	companies/	Company entity, team members
Jobs	jobs/	Job postings, configuration, mock attachment
Mocks	mocks/	Interview mock templates, questions
Candidates	candidates/	Candidate pipeline, AI results, performance
File	core/file/	File upload handling
Helper	core/helper/	Auth helpers, JWT utilities

API Endpoints

Auth

Method	Path	Description
POST	/auth/register_manager	Register company manager
POST	/auth/login	Login
POST	/auth/logout	Logout
POST	/auth/code_verify_request	Request verification code
POST	/auth/verify_email	Verify email

Mocks

Method	Path	Description
GET	/mock/get/:mockId	Get mock details (questions + config)
GET	/mock/get_paginated	List mocks with filters
POST	/mock/create	Create mock template
PATCH	/mock/update/:mockId	Update mock
DELETE	/mock/delete/:mockId	Delete mock

Candidates

Method	Path	Description
GET	/candidates/get/:candidateId	Get candidate with AI results
GET	/candidates/get_paginated	List candidates with filters
POST	/candidates/apply/:companyId/:jobId	Apply for job → returns { candidateId }
PATCH	/candidates/update/:candidateId	Update candidate status

AI Service Endpoints (API Key auth — X-API-Key header)

Method	Path	Description
POST	/candidates/:id/performance	Create performance record
POST	/candidates/:id/cv-analysis	Create CV analysis
POST	/candidates/:id/questions	Create Q&A record
PATCH	/candidates/:id/performance	Update cheat status

Swagger docs: http://localhost:3000/docs

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
DB_HOST	Yes	localhost	PostgreSQL host
DB_PORT	No	5432	PostgreSQL port
DB_USER	Yes	postgres	PostgreSQL username
DB_PASSWORD	Yes	postgres	PostgreSQL password
DB_NAME	Yes	vu	PostgreSQL database name
PORT	No	3000	Server port
NODE_ENV	No	development	development or production
JWT_SECRET	Yes	—	JWT signing secret (use a strong random string in production)
AI_SERVICE_API_KEY	Yes	—	Shared secret for AI service auth (must match AI service's BACKEND_API_KEY)
AI_SERVICE_URL	No	http://localhost:8000	AI service URL
FRONTEND_URL	No	http://localhost:5173	Frontend URL (CORS)
EMAIL_HOST	Optional	localhost	SMTP host (for email verification)
EMAIL_PORT	Optional	587	SMTP port
EMAIL_USERNAME	Optional	—	SMTP username
EMAIL_PASSWORD	Optional	—	SMTP password

Notes

• TypeORM synchronize: true — schema is auto-synced on startup. No migration files needed. Disable in production for safety (or keep if you trust it during early development).
• Validation Pipe: forbidNonWhitelisted: true + whitelist: true — unknown fields in request bodies are rejected with 400.
• CORS: In development mode, all origins are allowed. In production, only *.vuapp.dev origins are allowed.

Tests

npm test
npm run test:cov   # with coverage

Project Structure

vu-backend/
├── src/
│   ├── main.ts                    # Bootstrap, Swagger, CORS, validation pipe
│   ├── app.module.ts              # Root module
│   ├── common/
│   │   ├── database/              # TypeORM config
│   │   ├── guards/                # API key guard
│   │   ├── decorators/            # API key auth decorator
│   │   ├── filters/               # Exception filter
│   │   └── interceptors/          # Logger interceptor
│   └── modules/
│       ├── app/                   # Business modules
│       │   ├── auth-base/         # Auth, users, sessions
│       │   ├── candidates/        # Candidates + AI results
│       │   ├── companies/         # Companies + team
│       │   ├── jobs/              # Jobs
│       │   └── mocks/             # Mock templates
│       └── core/                  # Infrastructure modules
│           ├── file/              # File handling
│           └── helper/            # Auth helpers
├── Dockerfile
└── package.json

Related Repos

• vu-app — Full-stack deployment (docker-compose)
• vu-ai — AI service (FastAPI)
• vu-frontend — React frontend

License

MIT