Gsoc 25 Week 12 update by Nikhil (#400)

* Gsoc 25 Week 12 update by Nikhil

* add:removed file

* fix:changes

Author: BeNikk

public/assets/Developers/Nikhil/project-flow.webp

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+---
+title: "GSoC '25 Week 12 Update by Nikhil Bhatt"
+excerpt: "Summarizing my Google Summer of Code project — Git backend for MusicBlocks. Highlights include implementing fork/PR workflows, writing detailed backend + frontend docs, and ensuring future contributors can onboard easily."
+category: "DEVELOPER NEWS"
+date: "2025-08-25"
+slug: "2025-08-25-gsoc-25-nikhilbhatt-week12"
+author: "@/constants/MarkdownFiles/authors/nikhil-bhatt.md"
+tags: "gsoc25,sugarlabs,final,nikhilbhatt"
+image: "assets/Images/GSOC.webp"
+---
+
+<!-- markdownlint-disable -->
+
+# Google Summer of Code 2025 Final Report by Nikhil Bhatt
+
+**Project:** [Git backend for MusicBlocks](https://github.com/benikk/musicblocks-backend)  
+**Mentors:** [Walter Bender](https://github.com/walterbender), [Sumit Srivastava](https://github.com/sum2it)  
+**Duration:** August 18, 2025 – August 25, 2025  
+
+---
+
+## Project Summary
+
+The goal of my project was to **replace the legacy Planet server** with a modern **Git-backed backend** for [MusicBlocks](https://github.com/sugarlabs/musicblocks). This enables projects to be version-controlled, forked, shared, and collaborated on seamlessly via GitHub workflows.  
+
+I worked on two main areas:  
+
+1. **Backend (Node.js + Express + TypeScript)** — building APIs for `create`, `edit`, `fork`, `commitHistory`, `create-pr`, etc., with GitHub App integration.  
+2. **Frontend (MusicBlocks client)** — integrating the new APIs into the user interface, enabling forking, PR workflows, project history browsing, and ZIP downloads.  
+
+Additionally, I created **comprehensive documentation** for both backend and frontend to ensure long-term maintainability.
+
+---
+
+## Major Contributions
+
+###  **Backend Implementation**
+- Designed and built APIs for:
+  - **Project creation/editing** with Git-backed persistence.  
+  - **Forking & fork history tracking**.  
+  - **Commit history retrieval** at both project and commit levels.  
+  - **Pull request creation & approval workflows**.  
+- Added **metadata structures** (`projectData.json`, `metaData.json`) for project state and authentication.  
+- Implemented **security checks** and configuration options via `.env`.  
+- Wrote tests for major endpoints and validated responses.  
+
+###  **Frontend Integration**
+- Integrated backend APIs into the MusicBlocks client.  
+- Added UI flows for:
+  - Forking a project and tracking its history.  
+  - Browsing and restoring older commits.  
+  - Creating pull requests from the frontend.  
+  - Downloading projects as ZIP archives.  
+- Managed **localStorage keys** for state persistence.  
+- Ensured smooth transition from legacy server → GitHub workflows.  
+
+###  **Documentation & Developer Experience**
+- Wrote **backend README** with setup steps, API docs, environment variables, and deployment instructions.  
+- Documented **frontend integration**: API contracts, UI flows, and troubleshooting.  
+- Added **manual testing checklist** to validate project workflows.  
+- Created a **contributor’s guide** for future developers.  
+- Improved onboarding experience with **diagrams, examples, and standardized conventions**.  
+
+---
+
+## Testing & Results
+
+- Verified all API endpoints with **manual tests and Postman collections**.  
+- Conducted **end-to-end tests** by linking backend ↔ frontend flows.  
+- Confirmed project history, forks, and PRs behave consistently with GitHub repos.  
+- Ran multiple **real-world test scenarios** (student forking a project, teacher reviewing PR, restoring commits) — all successful.  
+
+---
+
+## Challenges & Solutions
+
+- **Complex Git workflows** were hard to explain. → I solved this with request/response examples and flow diagrams.  
+- **Maintaining parity between backend and frontend** was tricky. → I standardized API naming conventions and cross-referenced docs.  
+- **Time management** balancing documentation + coding. → Broke tasks into milestones and focused on one layer (backend/frontend) at a time.  
+
+---
+
+## Key Learnings
+
+- Learned to design **GitHub-integrated APIs** using Node.js, Express, and Octokit.  
+- Understood the importance of **clear documentation** as a first-class contribution.  
+- Gained experience in **frontend-backend integration** with real-world workflows.  
+- Improved skills in **project management and time prioritization**.  
+
+---
+
+## Code & Documentation
+
+- [MusicBlocks Frontend (Branch)](https://github.com/BeNikk/musicblocks/tree/git-musicblocks-frontend)  
+- [MusicBlocks Backend](https://github.com/benikk/musicblocks-backend)  
+- [API Documentation (Backend README)](https://github.com/benikk/musicblocks-backend/blob/main/README.md) 
+- [Final Report](https://github.com/benikk/GSoC-2025) 
+
+---
+
+## Future Work
+
+- Add **CI/CD pipelines** for backend + frontend.  
+- Improve **automated testing** coverage.  
+- Extend backend for **more Git features** (branching, rebasing, merging).  
+- Expand contributor guides with **video tutorials and walkthroughs**.  
+
+---
+
+## Acknowledgments
+
+A big thank you to my mentors **Walter Bender** and **Sumit Srivastava** for their continuous guidance, and to the **Sugar Labs community** for reviews, feedback, and encouragement.  
+
+This project has been an incredible journey — not only building new features, but also ensuring MusicBlocks is more maintainable, collaborative, and future-ready.  
+
+---