Quick Start Guide

Get up and running with the NS Internship Portal in minutes.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ and npm
• Supabase account (for PostgreSQL database)
• Razorpay account (for payment processing - optional for testing)
• Resend SMTP account (for email sending - optional for testing)
• Cloudinary account (for file storage - optional for testing)

Step 1: Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/ns-software-solutions/internship-portal.git
cd internship-portal

Step 2: Install Dependencies

npm install

Step 3: Configure Environment Variables

Copy .env.example to .env and fill in your values:

cp .env.example .env

Required environment variables:

# Supabase Configuration (REQUIRED)
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project.supabase.co
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=your-anon-key
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=your-service-role-key

# JWT Secret (REQUIRED - app will not start without it)
JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-jwt-key-generate-with-openssl-rand-base64-32

# Optional but recommended
NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL=https://internships.yourdomain.com

# Email (optional - for production)
EMAIL_HOST=smtp.resend.com
EMAIL_PORT=587
EMAIL_USER=resend
EMAIL_PASS=re_your-key

# Payment (optional - for production)
RAZORPAY_KEY_ID=rzp_your-key
RAZORPAY_KEY_SECRET=your-secret

# Storage (optional - for production)
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your-cloud-name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your-api-key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your-api-secret

# Google OAuth (optional)
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id.apps.googleusercontent.com
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret

# Cron Job Secret (REQUIRED for cron endpoints)
CRON_SECRET=your-cron-secret-generate-with-openssl-rand-base64-32

Step 4: Set Up the Database

1. Create a new database in Supabase
2. Run migrations in the following order:
   • supabase/schema.sql (core tables)
   • supabase/schema_extensions.sql (milestones, coupons, etc.)
   • All files in supabase/migrations/ in chronological order
3. Enable Row Level Security (RLS) on tables

Step 5: Start the Development Server

npm run dev

The application will be available at http://localhost:3000

Step 6: Test the Application

Use test credentials from md/TEST_CREDENTIALS.md to log in:

Role	Email	Password
Super Admin	superadmin@nss.dev	SuperAdmin@2026
Admin	admin@nss.dev	Admin@2026
Student	student@nss.dev	Student@2026

Common Development Commands

# Build for production
npm run build

# Start production server
npm start

# Run linting
npm run lint

# Run all tests
npm test

# Run specific test suite
npm run test:auth
npm run test:student
npm run test:admin
npm run test:api

What's Next?

• Read Installation for detailed setup
• Read Architecture to understand system design
• Read API Reference for integration
• Read Database Schema for data structure