AFRIKAI User Service

January 24, 2025 View on GitHub Live Demo

Project Overview

The UserService is a core microservice component of the AfrikAI application that handles user management, authentication, and registration functionalities. It provides secure user operations while integrating with email verification and authentication services.

Installation

Prerequisites

Java 17 or higher
Maven
Git

Setup Steps

Clone the repository:

git clone <repo-url>

Navigate to the service directory:

cd <service-registry-directory>

Set proper permissions:

chmod +x mvn

Build and install:

mvn clean install

Run the application:

mvn spring-boot:run

The service will start on port 8081.

Usage

Registration

The register endpoint is publicly accessible and does not require authentication. Upon successful registration, a JWT token is issued for subsequent authenticated requests.

Authentication

All other endpoints require JWT authentication. Tokens can be obtained through:

User registration
Login endpoint

Architecture Design

flowchart TD
    A[Client Side] -->|HTTP Request| B[API Gateway]
    B -->|Route Request| C[UserService]
    
    subgraph UserService Operations
        C -->|User Data| D[(User Database)]
        C -->|Verification Request| E[Email Service]
        C -->|Auth Request| F[Auth Service]
        C -->|CRUD Operations| G[User Management]
    end
    
    E -->|Send Verification| H[User Email]
    F -->|Generate/Validate| I[JWT Tokens]
    
    style A fill:#f9f,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style B fill:#bbf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style C fill:#dfd,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px

Independent Testing

To test the service independently (bypassing the gateway):

Open SecurityConfig.java in the security package
Modify the request/exchange configuration from authenticated() to permitAll()

API Documentation

Interactive API documentation is available via Swagger UI:

URL: http://localhost:8081/swagger-ui.html
Comprehensive endpoint documentation
Request/response examples
Testing interface

Security Features

JWT-based authentication
Role-based access control
Secure password hashing
Token expiration and refresh mechanisms
Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) configuration

Technology Stack

Spring Boot
Spring Security
JWT (JSON Web Tokens)
Swagger UI
Mermaid.js
Maven
MySQL

License

This project is licensed under the ALX Backend Curriculum license.

Contributing

We welcome contributions to improve the UserService. Please follow these steps:

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
Commit your changes
Push to your branch
Open a Pull Request

Contact

Project Maintainer: Nadira3