Challenge — Note Taker API

Objective

Build a REST API for a note-taking app. Notes are persisted to a JSON file. Deploy to Railway.

Endpoints

Method	Path	Description
GET	/api/notes	Return all notes
GET	/api/notes/:id	Return a single note
POST	/api/notes	Create a new note
PATCH	/api/notes/:id	Update a note
DELETE	/api/notes/:id	Delete a note
GET	/health	Health check

Data Shape

interface Note {
  id: string;           // crypto.randomUUID()
  title: string;
  content: string;
  createdAt: string;    // ISO date
  updatedAt: string;    // ISO date
}

type CreateNoteInput = Pick<Note, 'title' | 'content'>;
type UpdateNoteInput = Partial<Pick<Note, 'title' | 'content'>>;

Validation (Zod)

const createNoteSchema = z.object({
  title: z.string().min(1).max(200),
  content: z.string().min(1),
});

const updateNoteSchema = z.object({
  title: z.string().min(1).max(200).optional(),
  content: z.string().min(1).optional(),
}).refine(data => data.title || data.content, {
  message: 'At least one field must be provided',
});

Requirements

• All 5 endpoints working and returning correct status codes
• Zod validation on POST and PATCH
• Returns 404 with descriptive message when note not found
• Custom error handler middleware
• Data persists to data/notes.json
• TypeScript strict mode — zero errors
• CORS enabled for http://localhost:5173
• Deployed to Railway (submit live URL)
• Test all endpoints with Insomnia or Hoppscotch (record a short walkthrough)

Bonus

• Add a simple static HTML/JS frontend that uses your API
• Add basic rate limiting (100 requests per 15 min per IP)
• Add search: GET /api/notes?q=query

Grading

Criteria	Points
All endpoints functional	30
Correct status codes	15
Validation with Zod	20
Custom error handler	10
TypeScript (no errors)	15
Deployed URL submitted	10
Total	100