# red head API Server

A Python Flask server that serves data for the red head application.

## Endpoints

- `GET /posts` - Get first 10 posts for initial load
- `GET /posts/more?count=N` - Get next 10 posts, starting from index N
- `GET /posts/total` - Get total number of posts available
- `GET /` - Server status endpoint

## Setup Instructions

1. Install Python 3 if you don't have it already
2. Navigate to the server directory:
   ```bash
   cd /Users/jariancottingham/Projects/redhead/src/server
   ```
3. Create a virtual environment (recommended):
   ```bash
   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows use: venv\Scripts\activate
   ```
4. Install dependencies:
   ```bash
   pip install -r requirements.txt
   ```
5. Run the server:
   ```bash
   python app.py
   ```

6. The server will be available at http://localhost:5000

## Data Format

The server returns JSON data in the same format as used by the frontend:

```json
[
  {
    "id": "1",
    "title": "This is a sample Reddit post title",
    "url": "https://example.com/sample-post",
    "image": "https://picsum.photos/400/300?random=1"
  }
]
```

## Usage with Frontend

Update the frontend's `fetchRedditPosts()` and `fetchMorePosts()` functions to call your server endpoints instead of using mock data:

```javascript
// Replace URLs with your server endpoints
function fetchRedditPosts() {
  return fetch('/posts')
    .then(response => response.json())
}

function fetchMorePosts(currentCount) {
  return fetch(`/posts/more?count=${currentCount}`)
    .then(response => response.json())
}
```

## Example Data

The sample data is stored in `sample_posts.json`. You can replace this with your own data, or connect to a real Reddit API.

To add your own posts:
1. Replace the content of `sample_posts.json` with your data
2. Each post should follow this structure:
   ```json
   {
     "id": "post_id",
     "title": "Post title",
     "url": "https://example.com/post-url",
     "image": "https://example.com/image-url"
   }
   ```

## Running the Server

After installation, run the server with:

```bash
python app.py
```

The server will start on port 5000 and listen for connections from localhost.

## Testing Endpoints

You can test the endpoints directly using curl or a browser:

- `http://localhost:5000/posts` - Get initial posts
- `http://localhost:5000/posts/more?count=10` - Get more posts starting from index 10
- `http://localhost:5000/posts/total` - Get total post count