Gearshift Car Rentals API

Overview

Gearshift API is the backend REST API for the Gearshift Rentals platform. It provides endpoints for Cars CRUD, Bookings management, and image uploads, backed by a MySQL database.

The API includes Swagger documentation (OAS 3.0) so all endpoints can be tested and understood quickly.

Key API Features

• Cars Management (CRUD)

  • Add cars with images
  • Fetch all cars
  • Get car details by ID
  • Update car details
  • Delete cars

• Bookings System

  • Create bookings with customer details + uploaded image
  • Fetch active bookings
  • Move a booking to completed bookings
  • Fetch completed bookings

• Uploads + Storage

  • Upload handling via Multer
  • AWS S3 integration using multer-s3

• Swagger Docs

  • Proper endpoint grouping (Cars / Bookings)
  • In-browser testing through Swagger UI

Why I Built This

Most backend projects stop at CRUD. A car rental backend becomes meaningful only when you implement:

• booking flows,
• customer input management,
• file upload support,
• and real database-based operations.

This API project was built to support real product operations for Gearshift Rentals.

Tech Stack

• Node.js
• Express.js
• MySQL + mysql2
• Swagger docs (OAS 3.0)
• Multer + AWS S3 uploads
• Render Deployment
• Dotenv + CORS

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API Routes (Swagger)

Cars Routes

• GET /api/v1/all-cars

  • Get all cars

• GET /api/v1/single-car/{idd}

  • Get single car by ID

• POST /api/v1/insert-car

  • Insert a new car (with images)

• PATCH /api/v1/edit-car/{id}

  • Edit existing car data

• DELETE /api/v1/delete-car/{id}

  • Delete car by ID

Bookings Routes

• POST /api/v1/book-car

  • Create a new car booking with customer details and uploaded image

• GET /api/v1/book_car

  • Fetch all active car bookings

• DELETE /api/v1/delete-booking/{delete_id}

  • Move booking to completed table and delete from active bookings

• GET /api/v1/bookings_completed

  • Fetch all completed bookings

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Implementation Highlights

• Database Layer

  • Cars stored in MySQL inventory table
  • Bookings stored in active bookings
  • Completed bookings stored separately for better tracking and history

• Upload System

  • Car upload endpoints support images
  • Booking endpoint supports customer image upload
  • AWS S3 ensures scalable file storage

• Documentation

  • Swagger OAS 3.0 docs improve API usability and professionalism

Challenges

• Maintaining a clean workflow between:
  • active bookings → completed bookings
• Handling file uploads safely while keeping endpoints simple
• Keeping Swagger docs synchronized with code changes
• Ensuring deployment works smoothly with env variables + CORS rules

Learnings

• API documentation is a huge advantage in real development teams
• File uploads are deceptively complex (validation + storage + security)
• Schema design matters: active vs completed tables made booking lifecycle clearer
• Deployment forces you to build more production-ready logic

Future Plans

• Add Authentication + Roles (Admin vs Customer)
• Add validation layer for payloads (Zod/Joi)
• Add availability / double-booking prevention logic
• Add pagination + filtering for cars and booking lists
• Add structured error responses and rate limiting