ConnectX Backend API

The official backend REST API for the ConnectX mobile application, powering matchmaking, real-time discovery, and seamless networking.

Key Features • Tech Stack • Getting Started • Deployment • Documentation

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🚀 Key Features

• Advanced Authentication: Secure passwordless login via WhatsApp & Email OTP, alongside standard Social OAuth integrations (Google, Apple, LinkedIn).
• Dynamic Onboarding Engine: A robust, sequential 5-stage registration flow ensuring high-quality profile data collection.
• Matchmaking & Discovery: A highly optimized swipe-based feed algorithm utilizing Geo-location (Haversine formula), deep Tag/Skill matching, and Role compatibility scoring. Supports transactional Swipe Right (Connect) and Swipe Left (Skip) actions.
• AI-Powered Match Analysis: Automated background queues that generate JSON-based AI compatibility insights whenever a mutual match occurs.
• Real-time Chat Integration: 1-on-1 direct messaging capabilities synchronized directly with Supabase Realtime Broadcast for instantaneous mutual-match communication.
• Scalable Architecture: Architected to handle high-concurrency requests typical of mobile application usage.

🛠 Tech Stack

• Framework: Laravel 11 (PHP)
• Database: PostgreSQL (hosted on Supabase Cloud)
• Real-time Engine: Supabase Realtime
• API Documentation: OpenAPI 3.0 via L5-Swagger
• Deployment: Linux VPS / Docker (Nginx + PHP-FPM)

💻 Getting Started

Prerequisites

Ensure you have the following installed on your local development machine:

• PHP >= 8.2
• Composer
• Node.js & NPM
• A PostgreSQL database (or a local Supabase instance)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-org/getconnect-x.git
   cd getconnect-x

2. Install PHP dependencies:

   composer install

3. Configure Environment Variables: Copy the example environment file and configure your local settings, especially your database credentials and Supabase keys.

   cp .env.example .env
   php artisan key:generate

4. Run Database Migrations:

   php artisan migrate

5. Serve the Application:

   php artisan serve

☁️ Deployment (VPS)

This application is designed to be deployed on a standard Linux Virtual Private Server (VPS).

Recommended Stack

• Web Server: Nginx or Apache
• PHP: PHP 8.2+ with PHP-FPM
• Process Monitor: Supervisor (for Laravel Queues)
• SSL: Let's Encrypt

Ensure you run the standard Laravel deployment commands during your CI/CD pipeline or manual setup:

composer install --optimize-autoloader --no-dev
php artisan config:cache
php artisan event:cache
php artisan route:cache
php artisan view:cache

📚 Documentation

The backend provides an interactive Swagger UI for testing endpoints and reviewing the API contracts for the mobile frontend team.

• Local Sandbox: http://localhost:8000/api/documentation
• Production Sandbox: https://your-production-domain.com/api/documentation

For detailed technical notes on the initial authentication flow, refer to the Auth Technical Guide.

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Built with ❤️ by the ConnectX Engineering Team.