Not LinkedIn. Not Instagram. Not WhatsApp groups.
A dedicated space where students connect, share, and grow — verified college identity only.
Every Indian college student lives across 5 different platforms — WhatsApp for updates, Instagram for photos, LinkedIn for fake achievements, Telegram for notes, and Google Forms for events. None of them are built for students.
CampusZen is a student-only social network where you need a verified college email to join. Real identity. Real campus community. No recruiters, no ads, no noise — just your college, your people, and your content.
| 🎯 Target | 📍 Focus | 👨💻 Built By |
|---|---|---|
| 40M+ Indian Students | IGNOU & DTU | Solo Developer (Ayush) |
 Verified Identity |
 Smart Feed |
 Real-time Chat |
| College Email + OTP ✅ | AI-ranked posts 📊 | Pusher-powered 💬 |
 Admin Panel |
 PWA Ready |
 Dark Theme |
| Full moderation tools 🛡️ | Install on mobile 📱 | #0f0f0f optimized 🌙 |
College Email → OTP Sent → Verified Badge ✓
Only real students get in. No fake accounts, no outsiders. Verified badge shows on every post and profile.
Posts are ranked by a weighted score — not just chronological order:
Feed Score = (Likes × 1.5) + (Comments × 2) + (Views × 0.5)
+ Recency Boost + Connection Boost
Students see relevant content from their college first, trending content second.
- Live notifications — instant alerts for likes, comments, follows
- Notification sound — toggle on/off
- Trending sidebar — top posts updating live
- View counts — see how many students viewed your post
Full admin dashboard to manage content, users, and reports — keeping the campus feed clean and safe.
| Feature | Status |
|---|---|
| Student email verification + OTP | ✅ |
| Verified badge on profiles | ✅ |
| JWT auth with HTTP-only cookies | ✅ |
| Post feed with image upload | ✅ |
| Like, comment, share on posts | ✅ |
| View count per post | ✅ |
| Smart feed algorithm | ✅ |
| Real-time notifications (Pusher) | ✅ |
| Notification sound toggle | ✅ |
| Trending posts sidebar | ✅ |
| Community rooms | ✅ |
| User profiles + account settings | ✅ |
| 3-dot post menu (edit/delete/report) | ✅ |
| Admin moderation panel | ✅ |
| Forgot password flow | ✅ |
| PWA (installable on Android) | ✅ |
| SEO optimized pages | ✅ |
| Mobile responsive | ✅ |
| Dark theme (#0f0f0f) | ✅ |
graph LR
A[Next.js 16] --> B[App Router]
A --> C[API Routes]
B --> D[React 19]
C --> E[MongoDB Atlas]
C --> F[Pusher]
C --> G[UploadThing]
| Layer | Technology | Badge |
|---|---|---|
| ⚡ Framework | Next.js 16 App Router |  |
| ⚛️ UI Library | React 19 |  |
| 🗄️ Database | MongoDB + Mongoose |  |
| 🔐 Authentication | Better Auth + JWT |  |
| ⚡ Real-time | Pusher Channels |  |
| 📦 File Upload | UploadThing |  |
| 🎨 Styling | Tailwind CSS 4 |  |
| ✨ Animations | Framer Motion + GSAP |  |
| 🎯 Components | shadcn/ui + Radix |  |
| ☁️ Deployment | Vercel |  |
campusx/
├── app/
│ ├── (auth)/
│ │ ├── login/
│ │ ├── register/
│ │ └── verify/ # OTP verification
│ ├── (main)/
│ │ ├── feed/ # Smart algorithm feed
│ │ ├── communities/ # Community rooms
│ │ ├── notifications/ # Real-time notifications
│ │ └── profile/[id]/ # User profiles
│ ├── admin/ # Moderation panel
│ └── api/ # All API routes
├── components/
│ ├── ui/ # shadcn components
│ ├── feed/ # Feed specific components
│ ├── post/ # Post card, actions
│ └── shared/ # Navbar, sidebar, etc.
├── lib/
│ ├── db.js # MongoDB connection
│ ├── auth.js # JWT helpers
│ └── utils.js
└── models/ # Mongoose schemas
├── User.js
├── Post.js
├── Community.js
└── Notification.js
- Node.js 18+
- MongoDB Atlas account (free tier)
- Pusher account (free tier)
- UploadThing account (free tier)
# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/ayush0x00/campusx.git
cd campusx
# Install dependencies
npm install
# Create environment file
cp .env.example .env.local# MongoDB
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://...
# JWT
JWT_SECRET=your_super_secret_key
# Pusher
PUSHER_APP_ID=
PUSHER_KEY=
PUSHER_SECRET=
PUSHER_CLUSTER=
NEXT_PUBLIC_PUSHER_KEY=
NEXT_PUBLIC_PUSHER_CLUSTER=
# UploadThing
UPLOADTHING_SECRET=
UPLOADTHING_APP_ID=
# App
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=http://localhost:3000# Start development server
npm run devOpen http://localhost:3000
CampusX is built with security as a first principle:
- HTTP-only cookies — JWT tokens never accessible via JavaScript
- College email verification — OTP-based, blocks fake signups
- Rate limiting on auth routes — prevents brute force
- Input sanitization on all API routes
- Admin-only routes protected by role middleware
- No sensitive data in client — all secrets server-side only
Indian college students have no dedicated digital home:
- WhatsApp groups — chaotic, no content discovery, admin-controlled
- Instagram — algorithm hides college content, not student-specific
- LinkedIn — professional pressure, no casual peer connection
- Telegram — anonymous, unsafe, no verified identity
CampusX gives students a verified, safe, college-first social space.
Target market: 40 million+ college students in India.
Initial focus: IGNOU (4M students) and DTU, Delhi.
- College-specific sub-feeds
- Anonymous confession board (verified but anonymous posts)
- Study group finder
- Campus events calendar
- Internship/placement board (student-to-student, not corporate)
- Notes and resource sharing
- Push notifications (Web Push API)
- iOS PWA improvements
- Multi-college expansion
Live on dual deployment for maximum reliability:
| Platform | URL | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Vercel (Primary) | campus-x-rho.vercel.app | ✅ |
| Netlify (Backup) | campus-x-rho.netlify.app | ✅ |
Both deployments pull from the same GitHub repo — if one goes down, the other handles traffic.
CampusX is in active development. If you're a student or developer who wants to contribute:
- Fork the repo
- Create a branch:
git checkout -b feature/your-feature - Commit:
git commit -m "add your feature" - Push:
git push origin feature/your-feature - Open a Pull Request
MIT License — see LICENSE for details.
Made with ❤️ in Delhi, India 🇮🇳
Built by Ayush — self-taught full stack developer. Every line of code, every design decision — solo.