SkillSwap 🔁

A Peer-to-Peer Skill Exchange Platform using Time Credits

SkillSwap is a full-stack MERN application that allows users to exchange skills with each other using time credits instead of money. Users teach what they know, earn time credits, and spend those credits to learn new skills from others — promoting collaborative and fair learning.

---

🎥 Working Demo / Tutorial

👉 Complete working walkthrough:
https://youtu.be/WthbLqcGbcM

---

🚀 Features

👤 Authentication & User Profiles

• Secure user registration and login using JWT authentication
• Persistent authentication using /api/auth/me
• User profiles displaying skills, exchanges, and time credits

---

🧠 Skill Marketplace

• Create and delete skill posts
• Browse and explore skills offered by other users
• Each skill is valued using time credits, not currency

---

🔄 Skill Exchange System

• Send skill exchange requests to other users
• Accept or reject incoming requests
• Track exchange status and history
• Exchange logic ensures fair credit-based transactions

---

💬 Real-Time Chat (Socket.IO)

• Real-time one-to-one messaging between exchange participants
• Implemented using Socket.IO for low-latency bi-directional communication
• Chat rooms scoped to individual exchange requests
• Enables smooth coordination before and during skill exchanges

---

💬 Community Interaction

• Comment system on skill posts
• Encourages discussion, clarification, and engagement

---

🔐 Protected Routes

• Route-level access control for authenticated users
• Prevents unauthorized access to private pages

---

🛠️ Tech Stack

Frontend

• React.js
• Plain CSS (no UI frameworks)
• Axios for API communication
• React Router for navigation
• Socket.IO Client for real-time chat

Backend

• Node.js
• Express.js
• MongoDB + Mongoose
• Socket.IO
• JWT-based Authentication

---

⚙️ Core APIs

• POST /api/auth/register
• POST /api/auth/login
• GET /api/auth/me
• Skill CRUD APIs
• Exchange Request APIs
• Comment APIs
• Socket.IO events for real-time chat

---

🧠 Engineering Highlights

• Designed a time-credit based system to eliminate monetary dependency
• Implemented real-time communication using Socket.IO with room-based messaging
• Clean separation of concerns using MVC architecture
• RESTful API design with proper validation and error handling
• Scalable backend structure for future growth

---

📈 Future Enhancements

• Skill ratings & reviews
• Notifications for exchange updates
• Admin dashboard
• Deployment using Docker & CI/CD
• Search & recommendation system

---

🧑‍💻 Author

Sneha
2nd Year Computer Science Student
Focused on Full-Stack Development & Problem Solving

---

⭐ Support

If you like this project, consider giving it a ⭐
Contributions and feedback are welcome!