MERN-template — React Starter Template

SHA-256: 8981d88e8270afdd38df994d19f5a3402754c763de2dc16ef7c884370643e6e3

2026-10-02T09:16:31.155Z

(I am now *mirroring* to github from my private gitea, because mircrosoft is evil.)

# MERN-template

A website template using the MERN stack. It is geared towards Persistent Browser Based Games (think neopets), but is flexible enough for a number of different uses.

The primary technology involved is:

* React
* Nodejs
* MariaDB (with Sequelize)
* Docker (with docker compose)

This template is designed to support the development of persistent browser based games (PBBGs), but it, and it's component microservices, can be used elsewhere.

This template is released under the zlib license (see LICENSE).

See the [github wiki](https://github.com/krgamestudios/MERN-template/wiki) for full documentation.

# Microservices

There are external components to this template referred to as "microservices". These can be omitted entirely by simply removing the React components that access them. These are also available via [docker hub](https://hub.docker.com/u/krgamestudios).

* News Server: https://github.com/krgamestudios/news-server
* Auth Server: https://github.com/krgamestudios/auth-server
* Chat Server: https://github.com/krgamestudios/chat-server

# Setup Deployment

A clean install is this easy:

```
git clone https://github.com/krgamestudios/MERN-template.git
cd MERN-template
node configure-script.js
docker compose up --build
```

# Setup Development

To set up this template in development mode:

1. Ensure mariadb is running in your development environment
2. Run `mariadb tools/create_database.sql` as the root user
3. Run `npm install`
4. Run `cp .envdev .env` and enter your details into the `.env` file
5. Execute `npm run dev`
6. Navigate to `http://localhost:3001` in your web browser
7. Repeat this process for each microservice (linked above)

# Features List

- Mainly one language across the codebase (JavaScript)
- Full documentation
	- Setup tutorial
- Fully Featured Account System (as a microservice)
	- Email validation
	- Logging in and out
	- Account deletion
	- Password management
	- JSON web token authentication
	- HttpOnly cookies for security
	- Optional post validation hook
- Fully Featured News Blog (as a microservice)
	- Publish, edit or delete articles as needed
	- Secured via admin panel
- Fully Featured Chat System (as a microservice)
	- Available when logged in
	- Chat logs saved to the database
	- Room-based chat (type `/room name` to access a specific room)
- Moderation tools
	- Permanently banning users
	- Chat-muting users for a time period
	- Users reporting offensive chat-content
- Easy To Use Configuration Script
	- Sets up everything via docker
	- A default admin account (if desired)

# Coming Soon

- Full documentation
	- Modding tutorials
- Fully Featured News Blog (as a microservice)
	- Individual pages for news articles

# Coming Eventually

- Fully Featured News Blog (as a microservice)
	- Restore deleted articles
	- Undo edits
- Fully Featured Chat System (as a microservice)
	- Custom emoji
	- Private messaging
	- Broadcasting to all channels
	- Badges next to usernames
- Backend for leaderboards (modding tutorial?)
- Backend for energy systems (modding tutorial?)
- Backend for items, shops, trading and currency (modding tutorial?)