MDH

Development

1. Install dependencies (requires Node 18+):

   npm install

2. Run both the Vite client and Express API with one command:

   npm run dev

   • Vite serves the React app on http://localhost:4173.
   • The backend API runs on http://localhost:4000 (override with API_PORT).
3. The client proxies /api/* requests to the backend during development.

Production

npm run build    # bundles the React app to /dist
npm run start    # serves the API and, in production mode, the /dist files

Set VITE_API_BASE_URL if the client needs to call a hosted API that is not the same origin. The backend respects API_PORT or PORT for binding.

Deploying to Vercel

1. Ensure vercel CLI is installed (npm i -g vercel) and run vercel login if needed.
2. Add the required environment variables in the Vercel dashboard or via CLI:
   • DATABASE_URL (and PGSSLMODE if your Postgres host enforces TLS)
   • Optional client vars prefixed with VITE_…
3. Deploy:

   vercel        # first deployment, answers will be stored in .vercel/project.json
   vercel --prod # promote to production

   • Vercel uses npm run build and serves /dist as a static site.
   • The catch-all function api/[...route].js mounts the Express app so /api/* works in both dev and prod.

Database (PostgreSQL)

1. Provision a PostgreSQL database and capture the connection string, e.g. postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/mdh.
2. Export DATABASE_URL before starting the server:

   export DATABASE_URL="postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/mdh"
   export PGSSLMODE=require   # optional, enables SSL with relaxed cert checking

3. Start the backend (npm run dev or npm run start). The API now exposes:
   • /api/health → includes database health metadata if configured.
   • /api/db/time → runs SELECT NOW() to confirm connectivity.