SkillMatch — Skill Recommendation System

A full-stack web application that helps learners identify which skills to learn next based on their existing knowledge and target career role.

Built using Node.js, Express.js, EJS, and MySQL, this project follows a modular MVC architecture and implements secure authentication, role-based access control, and a custom recommendation engine.

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🚀 Features

👤 Learner

• Register and login securely
• Create and update profile
• Select known skills
• Set a target role
• Get personalized skill recommendations
• Browse skill details

🛠️ Admin

• Manage skill catalogue (CRUD operations)
• Manage categories
• Access all learner features

🧠 Recommendation Engine

Skills are ranked based on:

• Category Match – similarity with existing skills
• Target Role Relevance – keyword-based matching
• Difficulty Level – ensures progressive learning

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🏗️ Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Backend	Node.js, Express.js
Frontend	EJS (Server-side rendering)
Database	MySQL
Authentication	Express Sessions + bcrypt
Architecture	MVC Pattern

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📁 Project Structure

SkillMatch/
|-- app.js
|-- backend/
|   |-- config/
|   |-- controllers/
|   |-- middleware/
|   |-- models/
|   |-- routes/
|   `-- utils/
|-- frontend/
|   |-- views/
|   `-- public/
|-- database/
|-- tests/
|-- package.json
`-- README.md

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🔄 Request Flow

Browser → Routes → Controllers → Models → MySQL
Browser ← Views / JSON ← Controllers ← Models

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🗄️ Database Design

Tables: users, skills, categories, user_skills (junction table)

users 1---* user_skills *---1 skills *---1 categories

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🔐 Security & Best Practices

• ✅ Password hashing using bcrypt
• ✅ Session-based authentication
• ✅ Role-based access control
• ✅ Parameterized SQL queries
• ✅ Server-side validation
• ✅ Centralized error handling

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⚙️ Production Enhancements

• helmet for secure HTTP headers
• compression for faster responses
• express-rate-limit for API protection
• express-mysql-session for persistent sessions
• Health check endpoint at /api/health
• Static asset caching

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📡 REST API

Method	Endpoint	Access
GET	/api/health	Public
GET	/api/categories	Public
GET	/api/skills	Public
GET	/api/skills/:id	Public
POST	/api/skills	Admin only
PUT	/api/skills/:id	Admin only
DELETE	/api/skills/:id	Admin only
GET	/api/recommendations	Authenticated

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🛠️ Setup Instructions

1. Install dependencies

npm install

2. Setup MySQL database

mysql -u root -p < database/mysql.sql

3. Create .env file

PORT=3000
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_USER=your_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_password
DB_NAME=skills_db
SESSION_SECRET=your_secret_key

4. Run the application

npm start

Visit: http://localhost:3000

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🧪 Testing & Checks

npm run check
npm test

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🌟 Highlights

• ✅ Clean and scalable MVC architecture
• ✅ Secure authentication system
• ✅ Personalized recommendation logic
• ✅ Full CRUD operations with role-based access
• ✅ Production-ready backend practices

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🔮 Future Improvements

• Machine learning-based recommendations
• Skill roadmap visualization
• Integration with job platforms
• User progress tracking

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👨‍💻 Author

Harsh Pandey · github.com/harshpandeyz