SmartNotes Backend

Active development happens on develop branch. The main branch contains stable release code.

Backend service for SmartNotes, a personal project that enables smart note-taking with AI integration to help individuals have a better experience in note-taking, organizing, and revising knowledge.

SmartNotes Frontend Repository: https://github.com/pvdev1805/SmartNotes

Table of Contents

• Project Info
  • Tech Stack
  • Branching Strategy with CI/CD
• Supported Features
  • User Authentication
  • AI-Powered Quiz Generation
  • CRUD Management Features
• Project Setup
  • Prerequisites
  • HuggingFace API
  • Environment Variables
• How to Test
  • Test Commands
  • Test Structure
  • Test Notes
• Contributors

Project Info

Tech Stack

• Java 17 + Spring Boot 3.5.5 for backend services
• Maven for build and dependency management
• HuggingFace API for AI quiz generation
• MySQL for database and persistence
• Redis for caching and session management
• Docker for containerization
• Cloud and Deployment: AWS (planned)
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions

Branching Strategy with CI/CD

For detail documentation about CI/CD process, please refer to another dedicated README

• main: stable, production‑ready code
• develop: integration branch with the latest completed features
• feature/*: branches for individual features or fixes, merged into develop via pull requests

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Supported Features

1. User Authentication

• Register, login, logout, and refresh tokens
• JWT-based secure authentication
• Secure access to user profile information

2. AI-Powered Quiz Generation

• Generate quizzes from notes using HuggingFace models
• Sample endpoint for testing without authentication

3. CRUD Management Features

Document Management (CRUD): All types of documents including notes, flashcards, and quizzes:

• List all documents by user, or delete specific document

Note Management:

• Create, update, retrieve, and delete notes

Flashcard & Flashcard Sets Management:

• Create, update, retrieve, and delete flashcards
• Organize flashcards into sets

Quiz & Quiz Sets Management:

• Create, update, retrieve, and delete quizzes
• Organize quizzes into sets
• Track quiz attempts and scores

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Project Setup

Prerequisites

• Java 17 or higher
• MySQL
• Docker
  • For integration tests with Testcontainers
  • For Redis (optional for local development on Windows)
• HuggingFace Account (for AI features)

HuggingFace API

• Create a HuggingFace account
• Create Access Token:
  • Click on your profile icon and select Access Token
  • Click Create New Token
  • Enable the Make calls to inference provider permission
• Accept Model Usage Conditions:
  • Navigate to the model's page, select a model you wish to use
  • Review and accept the conditions to use the model

Environment variables

In project root directory, create .env file and paste your ACCESS TOKEN here

# AI INFERENCE
API_TOKEN=<YOUR-TOKEN-HERE>
API_URL=<YOUR-INFERENCE-PROVIDER>
MODEL=<YOUR-SELECTED-MODEL>

AI_API_USER_ROLE=user
AI_API_SYSTEM_ROLE=system
AI_API_TEMPERATURE=<YOUR-CUSTOM-VALUE>
AI_API_TOP_P=<YOUR-CUSTOM-VALUE>

# Database
DB_PORT=<YOUR-DATABASE-PORT>
DB_NAME=<YOUR-DATABASE-NAME>
DB_USERNAME=<YOUR-DATABASE-DB_USERNAME>
DB_PASSWORD=<YOUR-DATABASE-DB_PASSWORD>

# JWT Config
JWT_KEYSTORE_PASSWORD=<YOUR-KEYSTORE>
JWT_KEY_PASSWORD=<YOUR-PASSWORD>

# Redis Config
REDIS_HOST=<YOUR-HOST>
REDIS_PORT=<YOUR-PORT>

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How to test

Test commands (Windows)

Run all tests

# Run all tests (unit + integration)
./mvnw.cmd verify

Run specific type of test

# Run specific test file
./mvnw.cmd test -Dtest=NoteServiceTest

# Run all unit tests (service tests with mocks)
./mvnw.cmd test -Punit-test

# Run all integration tests (repository + controller with containers)
./mvnw.cmd verify -Pintegration-test

Run specific test group with tag, use boolean expression for tags combination

# Run test with "note" tag
./mvnw.cmd test -Dgroups="note"

# Run tests with "note" or "document" tags
./mvnw.cmd test -Dgroups="note | document"

# Combine with test type: run all unit tests with "note" tag
./mvnw.cmd test -Punit-test -Dgroups="note | document"

Test Structure

src/test/java/
├── unit/                       # Fast tests (Surefire)
│   └── service/                # Service unit tests with mocked dependencies
│
└── integration/                # Slower tests (Failsafe)
    ├── repository/             # Repository tests with H2
    └── controller/             # Full-stack tests with MySQL + Redis containers

Test Notes

• Unit tests run with Surefire and use mocked dependencies
• Integration tests run with Failsafe and use Testcontainers
• Docker must be running for integration tests (uses MySQL and Redis containers)
• First integration test run may take longer (downloads container images)

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Contributors

Project Maintainers: This project (both frontend and backend) is developed and maintained by:

• Alice Tat (@TUT888)
• Phu Vo (@pvdev1805)

Project Repositories:

• Backend: SmartNotes Backend
• Frontend: SmartNotes Frontend

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