How to Build a Referral Program with Node.js

A referral program is a great way to acquire new users and retain existing ones by encouraging them to share your service. In this article, we will walk through building a simple referral system using Node.js, Express, and MongoDB. Prerequisites Before we begin, ensure you have the following installed: Node.js MongoDB Postman (optional for API testing) Project Setup First, create a new Node.js project and install the necessary dependencies: mkdir referral-program cd referral-program npm init -y npm install express mongoose uuid jsonwebtoken dotenv express : Web framework for Node.js. mongoose : MongoDB object modeling tool. uuid : Generates unique referral codes. jsonwebtoken : Handles authentication. dotenv : Loads environment variables. Create a .env file for storing environment variables: PORT = 5000 MONGO_URI = your_mongodb_connection_string JWT_SECRET = your_jwt_secret Setting Up the Server Create an index.js file and set up an Express server: require ( ' dotenv ' ). config (); co