The Problem

Linkedin notes only allow a maximum of 200 characters for initial connection requests. But some pitches take more than 200 characters

The Real Problem

I don't want to pay for Linkedin Premium, and I needed an excuse to learn how to use hono

The Solution

QuickNote, a simple way to send markdown notes to anyone.

Think pastebin, but customizable short slugs that lead to a landing page with your note.

The Product

Auth

• Basic email, password auth with a JWT stored locally.
• A way to recover lost accounts
• update passwords
• password reset

Notes

• A markdown editor, then we store the text in a mongoDB collection with it's slug and metadata (timestamps, userID)

Note

Most of the UI is vibe coded

Installation

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed on your system:

• Bun - JavaScript runtime and package manager
• MongoDB - Database (local installation or MongoDB Atlas)
• Git - Version control

Getting Started

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/JoeEverest/quicknote.git
   cd quicknote

Backend Setup

1. Navigate to the backend directory

2. Install dependencies

3. Environment Configuration

   Create a .env file in the backend directory with the following variables:

   MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/quicknote
   JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-jwt-key-here
   PORT=3000

   Note: Replace the values with your actual configuration:

   • MONGO_URI: Your MongoDB connection string (local or Atlas)
   • JWT_SECRET: A secure random string for JWT token signing
   • PORT: Port number for the backend server (default: 3000)

4. Start the development server

   The backend API will be available at http://localhost:3000

Frontend Setup

1. Open a new terminal and navigate to the frontend directory

2. Install dependencies

3. Start the development server

   The frontend application will be available at http://localhost:5173

Database Setup

Option 1: Local MongoDB

1. Install MongoDB locally following the official installation guide
2. Start MongoDB service
3. The application will automatically create the necessary collections

Option 2: MongoDB Atlas (Cloud)

1. Create a free account at MongoDB Atlas
2. Create a new cluster
3. Get your connection string and update the MONGO_URI in your .env file

Verification

To verify everything is working correctly:

1. Visit http://localhost:5173 in your browser
2. Register a new account
3. Create your first note
4. Share the note using the generated slug

Building for Production

Backend

cd backend
bun run build  # If build script exists, otherwise the app runs directly

Frontend

cd frontend
bun run build

The built files will be in the frontend/dist directory, ready for deployment.

Tech Stack

Backend

• Hono - Fast, lightweight web framework
• Bun - JavaScript runtime and package manager
• MongoDB - NoSQL database with Mongoose ODM
• Zod - TypeScript-first schema validation
• JWT - JSON Web Tokens for authentication
• TypeScript - Type safety and better developer experience

Frontend

• React 19 - UI library with TypeScript
• React Router - Client-side routing
• TanStack Query - Data fetching and caching
• Tailwind CSS - Utility-first CSS framework
• Shadcn/UI - Component library built on Radix UI
• Motion (Framer Motion) - Animations
• React Markdown - Markdown rendering with GitHub Flavored Markdown
• Vite - Build tool and development server

Development

Project Structure

quicknote/
├── backend/          # Hono API server
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── routes/   # API routes
│   │   ├── utils/    # Helper functions
│   │   └── index.ts  # Server entry point
│   └── package.json
└── frontend/         # React frontend
    ├── src/
    │   ├── components/ # Reusable components
    │   ├── pages/      # Page components
    │   ├── services/   # API services
    │   └── lib/        # Utilities
    └── package.json

API Endpoints

• POST /app/auth/register - User registration
• POST /app/auth/login - User login
• GET /app/notes - Get user's notes
• POST /app/notes - Create new note
• PUT /app/notes/:id - Update note
• DELETE /app/notes/:id - Delete note
• GET /app/note/:slug - Get public note by slug

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.