📦 Node.js + Express + MongoDB API with Image Upload

✅ Tech Stack

• Express
• Mongoose
• Multer
• dotenv
• CORS

📁 Directory Structure

project/
├── uploads/
├── models/
│   └── User.js
├── routes/
│   └── userRoutes.js
├── app.js
├── .env
└── package.json
  

🔧 Step-by-Step Guide

1. Initialize Project & Install Dependencies

npm init -y
npm install express mongoose multer dotenv cors
  

2. .env File

PORT=5000
MONGO_URI=mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/userdb
  

3. Create User Model – models/User.js

const mongoose = require('mongoose');

const userSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
  first_name: { type: String, required: true },
  last_name:  { type: String, required: true },
  email:      { type: String, required: true, unique: true },
  password:   { type: String, required: true },
  image:      { type: String }
}, {
  timestamps: true
});

module.exports = mongoose.model('User', userSchema);
  

4. Create Routes – routes/userRoutes.js

const express = require('express');
const router = express.Router();
const User = require('../models/User');
const multer = require('multer');
const path = require('path');

const storage = multer.diskStorage({
  destination: function (req, file, cb) {
    cb(null, 'uploads/');
  },
  filename: function (req, file, cb) {
    const uniqueName = `${Date.now()}-${file.originalname}`;
    cb(null, uniqueName);
  }
});
const upload = multer({ storage: storage });

router.post('/', upload.single('image'), async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const { first_name, last_name, email, password } = req.body;
    const image = req.file ? req.file.filename : null;

    const newUser = new User({ first_name, last_name, email, password, image });
    await newUser.save();
    res.status(201).json({ message: 'User created successfully', user: newUser });
  } catch (err) {
    res.status(500).json({ error: err.message });
  }
});

router.get('/', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const users = await User.find();
    res.json(users);
  } catch (err) {
    res.status(500).json({ error: err.message });
  }
});

module.exports = router;
  

5. Main App Setup – app.js

const express = require('express');
const mongoose = require('mongoose');
const cors = require('cors');
const dotenv = require('dotenv');
const userRoutes = require('./routes/userRoutes');
const path = require('path');

dotenv.config();
const app = express();

app.use(cors());
app.use(express.json());
app.use('/uploads', express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'uploads')));

app.use('/api/users', userRoutes);

mongoose.connect(process.env.MONGO_URI, {
  useNewUrlParser: true,
  useUnifiedTopology: true
})
.then(() => {
  console.log('MongoDB connected');
  app.listen(process.env.PORT, () => console.log(`Server running on port ${process.env.PORT}`));
})
.catch(err => console.error(err));
  

6. Create uploads/ Directory

mkdir uploads
  

🧪 Test Using Postman

• Method: POST
• URL: /api/users
• Form-data fields:
  • first_name: John
  • last_name: Doe
  • email: john@example.com
  • password: 123456
  • image: Choose file

🎯 Result

You will receive a JSON response confirming user creation and the uploaded image’s filename will be stored in the database.

✨ Optional

• Add JWT Authentication
• Create a React frontend to upload and view users
• Validate inputs using express-validator