Build a Real-Time Voting System with Strapi & Instant DB: Part 1

In this tutorial, we will learn how to build a simple poll application using Strapi as the backend API and Instant DB for real-time data synchronization. We'll create custom controllers, middleware, and integrate Instant DB into our Strapi project. First, let's set up our development environment: 1. Install Node.js (https://nodejs.org/en/) if you haven't already. 2. Create a new directory for your project and navigate to it in the terminal. 3. Run `npx create-strapi-app@latest` to initialize a new Strapi project. Follow the prompts to set up your project. 4. Install Instant DB Admin SDK by running `npm i @instantdb/admin`. 5. Set up environment variables for Instant DB in your .env file: ``` INSTANT_APP_ID=your-app-id INSTANT_ADMIN_TOKEN=your-admin-token ``` 6. Modify the src/index.ts file to initialize the Instant DB instance and export it as db. 7. Create a new extension for users-permissions by running `npm run strapi generate:extension users-permissions`. 8. Customize the Users & Permissions Plugin Controllers in the ./src/extensions/users-permissions/strapi-server.ts file to include InstantDB token creation during user registration and login. 9. Create custom middleware for the Vote API in the ./src/api/vote/middlewares/on-vote-create.ts file to create real-time vote entries on behalf of authenticated users using Instant DB. 10. Run `npm run develop` to start your Strapi backend and access it at http://localhost:1337. Now that we have our backend set up, let's move on to the frontend development. We will use React for this tutorial. 1. Create a new directory for your frontend project and navigate to it in the terminal. 2. Run `npx create-react-app` to initialize a new React app. Follow the prompts to set up your project. 3. Install Axios for making API requests by running `npm install axios`. 4. Create a Poll component that will fetch poll data from our Strapi backend and display it on the screen. 5. Create a Vote component that will handle user authentication, fetch real-time vote data from Instant DB, and submit votes to our Strapi backend. 6. Integrate your frontend components with your custom backend API by making Axios requests to the appropriate endpoints (e.g., GET /polls for poll data, POST /votes for submitting votes). 7. Test your application by creating a new poll and voting on it using your frontend. You should see real-time updates in Instant DB as well as changes in your Strapi backend's database. By following these steps, you will have built a simple poll application with real-time data synchronization using Strapi and Instant DB. This tutorial serves as an introduction to extending Strapi 5 functionality and integrating it with other services like Instant DB for more advanced use cases.