This project is configured to work seamlessly in GitHub Codespaces or with VS Code Dev Containers.

1. Click "Code" → "Codespaces" → "Create codespace on main" from the GitHub repo
2. The devcontainer will automatically:
   • Spin up a MongoDB instance (Atlas Local)
   • Install all dependencies
   • Seed sample data

1. Install the Dev Containers extension in VS Code
2. Open the repo locally and run: Ctrl+Shift+P → "Dev Containers: Reopen in Container"
3. VS Code will build the environment and start MongoDB

Once the devcontainer is running:

Once the devcontainer is fully loaded (wait for "Poststart" to complete):

# Terminal 1: Start the Express server
cd mern/server
npm start

# Terminal 2: Start the React dev server
cd mern/client
npm run dev

Then open http://localhost:5173 in your browser.

• Host: mongodb (inside container) or localhost:27017 (from host)
• Username: admin
• Password: mongodb
• Database: employees

The devcontainer automatically seeds sample data on startup. To manually reseed:

cd mern/server
node seed.js

The devcontainer includes these extensions:

• MongoDB for VS Code — Query your MongoDB directly from VS Code
• TypeScript — TypeScript language support
• Prettier — Code formatter

# Check if MongoDB is running
mongosh -u admin -p mongodb --eval "db.adminCommand('ping')"

If ports 5050, 5173, or 27017 are already in use:

• Codespaces: Automatic port forwarding handles this
• Local Dev Container: Modify docker-compose.yml to use different ports

# VS Code: Ctrl+Shift+P → "Dev Containers: Rebuild Container"
# CLI: devcontainer build --workspace-folder .