Tech stack | learn

Every library below is declared in some workspace manifest — names, version ranges, and categories come from the data, and the build fails if the list drifts. "Used in" points at the folders that import each library. Libraries marked "Declared but not used in source" sit in a manifest but no source file imports them — most notably better-auth, which both manifests declare while authentication actually runs on JWT plus bcrypt.

Language and build

dotenv

Loads local environment files into process.env.

Used in: Backend

Vite

Development server and production bundler.

Used in: Frontend

Vite React plugin

Fast refresh and JSX transform for the Vite build.

Used in: Frontend

@types/nodeDeclared but not used in source

Type declarations for Node.js built-ins.

Used in: Frontend

@types/reactDeclared but not used in source

Type declarations for React.

Used in: Frontend

@types/react-domDeclared but not used in source

Type declarations for React DOM.

Used in: Frontend

Frontend framework

React

UI library behind every page and component.

Used in: Frontend

React DOM

Renders the React tree into the browser.

Used in: Frontend

React Router

Client-side routing with public and protected route groups.

Used in: Frontend

UI and styling

Tailwind CSS

Utility-first styling for the whole interface.

Used in: Frontend

Tailwind Vite plugin

Compiles Tailwind inside the Vite build.

Used in: Frontend

clsx

Conditional class names without string juggling.

Used in: Frontend

tailwind-merge

Merges conflicting Tailwind classes correctly.

Used in: Frontend

class-variance-authority

Variant styles for the shared interface primitives.

Used in: Frontend

Radix Avatar

Accessible profile pictures with fallbacks.

Used in: Frontend

Radix Label

Accessible form labels.

Used in: Frontend

Radix Scroll Area

Styled scroll containers for chat and feeds.

Used in: Frontend

Radix Slot

Polymorphic primitive behind the shared button.

Used in: Frontend

Lucide

Icon set used across pages and components.

Used in: Frontend

React Icons

Brand icons the main set does not carry.

Used in: Frontend

prism-react-renderer

Syntax highlighting for code snippets in posts.

Used in: Frontend

tw-animate-css

Animation utilities for Tailwind v4.

Used in: Frontend

State

Redux Toolkit

Central store plus one slice per feature area.

Used in: Frontend

React Redux

Connects components to the store.

Used in: Frontend

Realtime

Socket.io

Realtime server for chat, typing, presence, and notifications.

Used in: Backend

Socket.io Redis adapter

Shares socket rooms and events across server instances over Redis pub/sub.

Used in: Backend

ioredis

Redis client behind presence and the socket adapter.

Used in: Backend

Socket.io client

Live channel for chat, typing, presence, and notifications.

Used in: Frontend

Backend framework

Express

HTTP framework behind every route module and the app wiring.

Used in: Backend

cors

Cross-origin access for the API and the socket server.

Used in: Backend

express-rate-limit

Per-endpoint request limits against abuse.

Used in: Backend

Database and ODM

Mongoose

Object modeling for every MongoDB collection in the app.

Used in: Backend

File storage

Multer

Parses multipart uploads with size limits and error handling.

Used in: Backend

multer-storage-cloudinary

Sends accepted uploads straight to Cloudinary folders.

Used in: Backend

Cloudinary

Hosted image and document storage with transformations.

Used in: Backend

Email

Nodemailer

Sends the contact form mails over Gmail SMTP.

Used in: Backend

Auth and email

jsonwebtoken

Signs the session token and verifies it on every protected route.

Used in: Backend

bcryptjs

Hashes passwords before they reach the database.

Used in: Backend

better-authDeclared but not used in source

Declared in both manifests but never imported in any source file; authentication is JWT plus bcrypt.

Used in: Backend, Frontend

Validation

validator

Email and URL format checks on profile data.

Used in: Backend

Linting and formatting

ESLintDeclared but not used in source

Static analysis run through the lint script.

Used in: Frontend

ESLint JS config

Recommended rule set for the flat config.

Used in: Frontend

eslint-plugin-react-hooks

Rules of Hooks checks for components.

Used in: Frontend

eslint-plugin-react-refresh

Fast-refresh safety checks for exports.

Used in: Frontend

globals

Environment globals for the flat lint config.

Used in: Frontend

Other

axios

HTTP client behind every API service module.

Used in: Frontend

date-fns

Human-friendly message and post timestamps.

Used in: Frontend

Dependencies as of commit cdef8af.

Sources: backend/package.json, frontend/package.json (documented at commit cdef8af)