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Glossary of Technical Terms

This glossary defines important terms used in the backend project to help understand the architecture and flow.

Firebase Token​

A JWT (JSON Web Token) generated by Firebase after user authentication.
Used to authenticate API requests from the frontend.

  • Sent in HTTP header:
    Authorization: Bearer <token>

Metadata sent with HTTP requests (e.g. Authorization, Content-Type, x-api-key).

Middleware​

A function that intercepts HTTP requests before reaching the route handler.
Used to check auth tokens or API keys.

API Token​

A secret key defined in .env used to protect sensitive public routes.

  • Sent in HTTP header:
    x-api-key: <token>

UID​

The unique Firebase User ID.
Used to identify the user in MongoDB (firebaseId field).

MongoDB ObjectId​

MongoDB’s default ID format used as primary key in users and profiles.

REST API​

A set of HTTP endpoints (GET, POST, etc.) that allow communication between the frontend and backend.

Environment Variables​

Sensitive values loaded from .env files or secret managers.

Examples:

API_TOKEN=xxx
FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID=your-id
MONGO_DB_URI=...

Cloud Run​

Google's serverless platform used to deploy and host the backend with autoscaling and HTTPS.

Postman​

A tool used to manually test HTTP routes by sending custom requests and headers.

Last updated: 2025-04-01