💸Centimate API💸

The Centimate API is a Spring Boot-based expense tracker designed to help users manage their financial transactions. It provides secure user authentication with JWT and endpoints for expense management.

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Features

• User authentication with signup and login.
• Expense tracking with CRUD operations.
• Expense categorization (e.g., GROCERIES, HEALTH, LEISURE).
• Integration with PostgresSQL.
• Dockerized for deployment and management.

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Setup Instructions

1. Clone the Repository

git clone git@github.com:nicolendless/centimate.git
cd centimate

2.Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the project root with the following:

POSTGRES_DB=centimate_db
POSTGRES_USER=local
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password
JWT_SECRET=<your-generated-secret>

Important:

• Replace <your-generated-secret> with a securely generated key.

• You can generate a secure key using:

  openssl rand -hex 32
  

3. Build and Run the Application

make build
make run

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Makefile Commands

Command	Description
make build	Build the application and Docker image.
make run	Start the application and services using Docker Compose.
make test	Run all tests with Maven.
make stop	Stop the Docker Compose services.
make clean	Clean project artifacts and remove Docker containers/volumes.
make logs	View the logs for the application service.

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API Usage Overview

To use the Centimate API, follow these steps:

1. Signup: Register a new user via /auth/signup.
2. Login: Obtain an authentication token via /auth/login.
3. Authenticate: Include the token in your requests as a Bearer Token.
4. Access Endpoints: Use the available endpoints to manage expenses.

For detailed API endpoint information, refer to the API Documentation.

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Testing

Run the following command to execute tests:

make test

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Stopping and Cleaning

To stop the services:

make stop

To stop and remove all containers, volumes, and networks:

make clean

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Trade-offs

❌ Expenses are not user-specific -- All users can see all expenses.
✅ Solution: Associate expenses with a user so each user only sees their own expenses.

❌ Tests are incomplete and failing -- The failures are due to a configuration issue, not a logic error.
✅ Solution: Debug the test setup to ensure proper execution.

❌ Users cannot create categories -- Categories are predefined and cannot be customized.
✅ Solution: Allow users to create and manage their own categories.

❌ No logout endpoint -- There's no way to invalidate a user's session.
✅ Solution: Add a logout endpoint to properly handle session termination.

❌ Expense DTO includes unnecessary details -- The DTO returns notes in list views, making responses larger than necessary.
✅ Solution: Use a shorter DTO for lists and include notes only in detailed views.

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Future Improvements

Total Spending API -- Add an endpoint to calculate total spending over a selected period.

Expense Visualization -- Implement charts to display spending trends and insights.

Budgeting Feature -- Introduce a class to set budget limits, helping users track and manage expenses within predefined limits.