Installation

Install and set up SkillRise locally with Node.js, npm, and MongoDB

Prerequisites

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

Node.js 20+

Required for running both client and server

npm or yarn

Package manager for JavaScript dependencies

MongoDB

Local instance or MongoDB Atlas cluster

Git

For cloning the repository

Recommended Setup: Node.js 20.x LTS, npm 10.x, MongoDB 8.x or MongoDB Atlas free tier

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Verification

Verify your Node.js and npm versions:

node --version
# Expected: v20.x.x or higher

npm --version
# Expected: 10.x.x or higher

Expected output

v20.11.0
10.2.4

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Clone the Repository

1. Clone from GitHub

   Clone the SkillRise repository to your local machine:

   git clone https://github.com/pv-pushkarverma/skillrise.git
   cd skillrise
   

   Expected output

   Cloning into 'skillrise'...
   remote: Enumerating objects: 1247, done.
   remote: Counting objects: 100% (1247/1247), done.
   remote: Compressing objects: 100% (892/892), done.
   remote: Total 1247 (delta 678), reused 1104 (delta 589)
   Receiving objects: 100% (1247/1247), 2.34 MiB | 5.21 MiB/s, done.
   Resolving deltas: 100% (678/678), done.
   
2. Verify project structure

   Check that the repository was cloned successfully:

   ls -la
   

   You should see:

   client/
   server/
   docker-compose.yml
   README.md
   .github/
   

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Install Dependencies

The client and server have separate package.json files. You must install dependencies for both.

Backend (Server)

1. Navigate to server directory

   cd server
   
2. Install npm packages

   npm install
   

   This installs all dependencies including:

   • express (v5.1.0) - Web framework
   • mongoose (v8.13.2) - MongoDB ODM
   • @clerk/express (v1.4.8) - Authentication
   • cloudinary (v2.6.0) - Media uploads
   • groq-sdk (v0.34.0) - AI chat
   • razorpay (v2.9.6) - Payments

   Full installation output

   added 247 packages, and audited 248 packages in 12s
   
   38 packages are looking for funding
     run `npm fund` for details
   
   found 0 vulnerabilities
   
3. Verify installation

   Check that node_modules was created:

   ls -d node_modules
   # Output: node_modules
   

Frontend (Client)

1. Navigate to client directory

   cd ../client
   
2. Install npm packages

   npm install
   

   This installs all dependencies including:

   • react (v19.0.0) - UI library
   • react-router-dom (v7.5.1) - Routing
   • @clerk/clerk-react (v5.28.2) - Auth UI
   • axios (v1.8.4) - HTTP client
   • tailwindcss (v3.4.17) - Styling
   • vite (v6.3.1) - Build tool

   Full installation output

   added 312 packages, and audited 313 packages in 15s
   
   102 packages are looking for funding
     run `npm fund` for details
   
   found 0 vulnerabilities
   

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MongoDB Setup

Choose one of the following MongoDB setup options:

MongoDB Atlas (Recommended)

Use MongoDB Atlas (Free Cloud Database)

1. Create Atlas account

   1. Go to mongodb.com/cloud/atlas
   2. Sign up for a free account
   3. Create a new cluster (M0 free tier)
2. Configure network access

   1. Go to Network Access → Add IP Address
   2. Click Allow Access from Anywhere (0.0.0.0/0)
   3. Confirm

   For production, restrict to specific IPs only

3. Create database user

   1. Go to Database Access → Add New Database User
   2. Choose Password authentication
   3. Username: skillrise
   4. Generate a secure password
   5. Grant Read and write to any database permission
4. Get connection string

   1. Click Connect on your cluster
   2. Choose Connect your application
   3. Copy the connection string:

   mongodb+srv://skillrise:<password>@cluster0.xxxxx.mongodb.net
   

   4. Replace <password> with your database user password

Local MongoDB

Install MongoDB Locally

macOS

# Install via Homebrew
brew tap mongodb/brew
brew install mongodb-community@8.0

# Start MongoDB
brew services start mongodb-community@8.0

# Verify it's running
mongosh

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Import MongoDB GPG key
curl -fsSL https://www.mongodb.org/static/pgp/server-8.0.asc | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-8.0.gpg

# Add MongoDB repository
echo "deb [ arch=amd64,arm64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-8.0.gpg ] https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu jammy/mongodb-org/8.0 multiverse" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-8.0.list

# Install MongoDB
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y mongodb-org

# Start MongoDB
sudo systemctl start mongod
sudo systemctl enable mongod

# Verify
mongosh

Windows

1. Download MongoDB Community Server from mongodb.com/try/download/community
2. Run the installer (.msi file)
3. Choose Complete installation
4. Install MongoDB as a Windows Service
5. Open Command Prompt and verify:

mongosh

Local MongoDB will be available at mongodb://localhost:27017

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Third-Party Service Setup

SkillRise requires API keys from the following services:

Clerk

User authentication and webhooks

Razorpay

Payment processing for course purchases

Cloudinary

Media uploads (thumbnails, course content)

Groq

AI chatbot and roadmap generation

Quick signup links

• Clerk: dashboard.clerk.com/sign-up
• Razorpay: dashboard.razorpay.com/signup (India) or use Stripe for international
• Cloudinary: cloudinary.com/users/register_free
• Groq: console.groq.com (sign in with Google/GitHub)

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Verify Installation

Before proceeding to configuration, verify that all components are installed:

# Check Node.js
node --version

# Check npm packages (from server directory)
cd server && npm list --depth=0

# Check npm packages (from client directory)
cd ../client && npm list --depth=0

# Check MongoDB connection (if local)
mongosh --eval "db.version()"

Installation complete! You’re ready to proceed to Configuration.

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Troubleshooting

npm install fails with permission errors

Solution: Avoid using sudo with npm. Instead, configure npm to use a different directory:

mkdir ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'
echo 'export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Node version mismatch

Error: The engine "node" is incompatible with this module

Solution: Use nvm to install Node.js 20:

nvm install 20
nvm use 20
node --version

MongoDB connection refused

For local MongoDB:

# Check if MongoDB is running
sudo systemctl status mongod  # Linux
brew services list            # macOS

# Start MongoDB if stopped
sudo systemctl start mongod   # Linux
brew services start mongodb-community@8.0  # macOS

For MongoDB Atlas: Verify network access settings allow your IP address.

Port 3000 or 5173 already in use

Error: EADDRINUSE: address already in use :::3000

Solution: Find and kill the process using the port:

# Find process on port 3000
lsof -ti:3000 | xargs kill -9

# Or use a different port
PORT=4000 npm run server

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Next Steps

Configuration

Set up environment variables and API keys

Docker Setup

Run SkillRise with Docker Compose