Table of Contents

1. Project Overview
2. Objectives
3. Tech Stack
4. System Architecture
5. Project Folder Structure
6. Environment Setup
7. Backend Development
   • 7.1 Initialize the Backend
   • 7.2 Create the Entry Point
   • 7.3 Configure Environment Variables
   • 7.4 Database Models
   • 7.5 Authentication Routes
   • 7.6 Auth Middleware
   • 7.7 Attendance Routes
   • 7.8 Run the Backend Server
8. Database Setup — MongoDB Atlas
9. Frontend Development
   • 9.1 Initialize the Frontend
   • 9.2 App Entry and Routing
   • 9.3 Login Page
   • 9.4 Dashboard Page
   • 9.5 Run the Frontend
10. API Reference
11. Testing the API
12. Cloud Deployment
    • 12.1 Deploy Backend to Render
    • 12.2 Deploy Frontend to Vercel
13. Features Summary
14. Potential Improvements
15. Conclusion

1. Project Overview

This project is a cloud-based attendance tracking system built as part of an internship assignment at Pinnaclelab. The goal is to replace manual attendance record-keeping with an automated, web-accessible system that allows employees to check in and check out digitally, while giving administrators a centralized view of all attendance data in real time. The system is built using a React frontend, a Node.js and Express backend, and a MongoDB Atlas cloud database. Authentication is handled securely using JSON Web Tokens (JWT) and password hashing with bcrypt. Once completed, the application is deployed on the cloud using Render for the backend and Vercel for the frontend, making it accessible from any device with a browser.