Docker setup

[Avdhesh-Varshney]

Pull Requests Review Criteria

Caution

PRs that fail to meet these review standards will be automatically flagged and may be rejected by maintainers.

• Filled out this PR template properly
• Did not commit directly to main
• Limited commits (max 3–4 unless permitted by Admin/Mentors)
• Added comments in complex parts of code

Closes: #472

Describe the add-ons or changes you've made 📃

• Dockerize the FE & BE seprately
• Dockerize the full project combinedly
• Update the npm scripts

[vercel]

The latest updates on your projects. Learn more about Vercel for GitHub.

Project	Deployment	Preview	Comments	Updated (UTC)
code-a2z	Ready	Preview	Comment	Nov 20, 2025 4:51pm
code-a2z-server	Ready	Preview	Comment	Nov 20, 2025 4:51pm

[github-actions]

Thank you for submitting your pull request! We'll review it as soon as possible. For further communication, join our discord server https://discord.gg/tSqtvHUJzE.

[Copilot]

Pull Request Overview

This PR implements a comprehensive Docker setup for the Code A2Z project, enabling containerized development and deployment. The Docker configuration supports three modes: backend-only (server + MongoDB), frontend-only (client), and full-stack (client + server + MongoDB). The setup includes multi-stage Dockerfiles for both client and server, docker-compose configurations at multiple levels, and extensive documentation in a new DOCKER.md file. Additionally, it corrects a documentation error regarding the VITE_SERVER_DOMAIN configuration and updates CORS settings for better Docker compatibility.

Key Changes:

• Added multi-stage Dockerfiles for client (React/Vite) and server (Node.js/Express) with separate development and production builds
• Created docker-compose configurations at root, client, and server levels for flexible development workflows
• Added mongo-express service for database management and inspection
• Corrected VITE_SERVER_DOMAIN documentation (removed incorrect /api suffix)

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 14 out of 14 changed files in this pull request and generated 14 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
server/src/server.js	Modified CORS configuration from origin: '*' to origin: true and updated methods/headers arrays
server/package.json	Added Docker-related npm scripts (docker:up, docker:down, docker:logs, etc.)
server/docker-compose.yaml	Complete rewrite: added development build target, env_file, volumes, mongo-express service, and named volumes/networks
server/Dockerfile	Multi-stage Dockerfile with separate development and production stages using node:20-alpine
server/.dockerignore	Comprehensive ignore file excluding dependencies, env files, logs, IDE files, and Docker-related files
package.json	Renamed install:all to install and added extensive Docker scripts for root, client, and server
docs/SETUP.md	Fixed VITE_SERVER_DOMAIN documentation (removed /api suffix)
docs/DOCKER.md	New comprehensive Docker setup guide (1094 lines) covering all three development modes, troubleshooting, and MongoDB interaction
docker-compose.yaml	New root-level full-stack compose file with client, server, mongo, and mongo-express services
client/package.json	Added Docker-related npm scripts matching server pattern
client/nginx.conf	New nginx configuration for production builds with gzip, security headers, and React Router support
client/docker-compose.yaml	New frontend-only compose file for UI development
client/Dockerfile	Multi-stage Dockerfile with development (Vite), build, and production (nginx) stages
client/.dockerignore	Comprehensive ignore file excluding build outputs, dependencies, and environment files

[Avdhesh-Varshney]

@copilot do all the changes in this pull request to apply changes based on the comments in this thread

[Copilot]

@Avdhesh-Varshney I've opened a new pull request, #1330, to work on those changes. Once the pull request is ready, I'll request review from you.