Welcome to the backend of Chirper, built with Flask and Jinja. This README will guide you through the setup and usage of the application.

To get started with the backend, follow these steps:

1. Clone the repository to your local machine.
2. Install the required dependencies by running: pip install -r requirements.txt.
3. Create a virtual environment (venv) for the project (optional but recommended).
4. Activate the virtual environment.

To start the backend server, run the following command:

• On a newer Mac: flask run -p 5001
• On other computers: flask run

This will start the server on the specified port (usually port 5000) and you can access it at http://localhost:5000.

The backend exposes various API endpoints to interact with the Chirper app. Here are some of the important endpoints:

• '/' (GET): Show homepage:
  • anon users: no messages
  • logged in: 100 most recent messages of followed_users

• '/signup' (GET/POST): Handle user signup. Creates new user and adds to DB. Redirects to home page. If form is not valid, rerender form.
• '/login' (GET/POST): Handle user login and redirect to homepage on success.
• 'logout' (POST): Handle logout of user and redirect to homepage.

• '/users': Page with listing of users.
• '/users/user_id' (GET): Show user profile.
• '/users/user_id/following' (GET): Show list of people this user is following.
• '/users/user_id/followers' (GET): Show list of people that are following this user.
• '/users/follow/follow_id' (GET): Follow a user. Redirect to the following page for the current user.
• '/users/stop-following/follow_id' (POST): Stop following a user. Redirect to the following page for the current user.
• '/users/profile' (GET): Render template for user to edit their profile.
• '/users/profile' (POST): Handle form, check that password is correct, and commit changes to the database.
• '/users/delete' (POST): Delete user. Redirect to signup page.

• '/messages/new' (GET/POST): Show form if GET. If valid, update message and redirect to user page.
• '/messages/message_id' (GET): Show a message.
• '/messages/message_id/delete' (POST): Delete a message.

• '/messages/message_id/like' (POST): Adds liked 'chirp' to the LikedChirp table. Redirects user back to the page that they were currently visiting.
• '/messages/message_id/unlike' (POST): Removes likedWarble instance and removes from the likedWarbles table. Redirects user to the page they were previously on
• '/users/user_id/liked_messages' (GET): Displays user profile and a list of the users liked messages.

Please refer to the backend source code or API documentation for more details on available endpoints and their usage.

The backend uses a PostgreSQL (psql) database to store user accounts, tweets, and other relevant data. Make sure to configure the appropriate database connection settings in the .env file.

The backend includes test cases to ensure its functionality. To run the tests, use the following command:

pytest

Make sure to set up a separate test database and configure the connection settings in the .env file for testing purposes.

For additional information or assistance, please refer to the backend source code and documentation. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further support.