Behind the Scenes of LexiFlash Backend - My Flashcard API Project

LexiFlash Backend - Simple CSV-Based Flashcard Loader and API

LexiFlash is my side project for learning with flashcards.
This repo - LexiFlash-backend - is a lightweight backend that powers the app.
It loads flashcards from a CSV file into a MongoDB database and serves them through a simple API.

What problem does it solve?

I wanted a fast way to:

Define flashcards in a human-readable format (CSV)
Bulk-load them into a proper database
Expose the data via a clean, minimal REST API for a front-end client

It’s not a full-featured backend with auth or admin panel - just the essentials to drive learning logic from structured data.

How it works

📦 Data Source: A .csv file with question, answer, deck, category columns
💾 Database: MongoDB for cards, decks, categories
🧪 Loader: Node.js script that reads CSV and inserts rows using pg-promise
🌐 API: Simple Express app exposing endpoints like /cards, /decks

Example CSV input

question,answer,deck,category
What is the capital of France?,Paris,Geography,Europe
2 + 2?,4,Math,Basics

Sample endpoint

GET /cards

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "question": "What is the capital of France?",
    "answer": "Paris",
    "deck": "Geography",
    "category": "Europe"
  },
  ...
]

Why build it this way?

I wanted to focus on content first, not UI or full stack complexity.

CSV is easy to edit, version, and generate.
MongoDB gives me structured querying (e.g. filter by deck or category).
Express + pg-promise was fast to set up without overengineering.

What’s next?

Add endpoint filtering (e.g. by deck/category)
Add randomizer logic for practicing
Possibly switch to SQLite for offline local mode
Add validation and error handling to the import process
Expose /stats endpoint (cards per deck, etc.)

Final thoughts

LexiFlash-backend isn’t fancy, but it solves a real need:
Get structured flashcard data from CSV into an API quickly.

It’s a clean foundation I can build on - and perfect for early prototyping.

👉 Check it out on GitHub