💡 Feature: Idea Submission (Create & View) — Phase 1 Foundation

Summary

Implement the core Idea Submission feature for PicoForge. This enables authenticated users to submit startup ideas and lets anyone (or authenticated users—your choice) view ideas in a basic list and detail view.

This is the first real product feature and unlocks future functionality like validation, collaboration, and workspaces.

---

Goals

By the end of this issue, users should be able to:

• Submit a startup idea through a form
• View a list of submitted ideas
• View individual idea details
• See who submitted the idea
• Access idea data through protected APIs

Out of scope: voting, comments, collaboration, workspaces.

---

Scope of Work

1) Backend — Idea API

Idea Model

Create an Idea schema with:

• title
• problem
• proposedSolution
• targetAudience
• tags (array)
• createdBy (User reference)
• createdAt

API Endpoints

• POST /ideas

  • Auth required
  • Creates a new idea

• GET /ideas

  • Public or auth-based (your choice)
  • Returns all ideas (basic fields)

• GET /ideas/:id

  • Returns full idea details

Backend Requirements

• Auth middleware protection on create
• Input validation
• Proper error handling
• Clean controller + service structure
• Mongoose population for createdBy

---

2) Frontend — Idea Submission UI

Pages to Create

Submit Idea Page

• Path: /submit-idea
• Form fields:
  • Idea title
  • Problem description
  • Proposed solution
  • Target audience
  • Tags (comma-separated or multi-select)

Requirements:

• Controlled inputs
• Form validation
• Error & success feedback
• Redirect after submission

Explore Ideas Page (Basic)

• Path: /ideas
• Display idea cards with:
  • Title
  • Short problem summary
  • Creator name
  • Tags

Interaction: click a card → idea detail page

Idea Detail Page

• Path: /ideas/:id
• Display:
  • Full idea content
  • Creator profile link
  • Creation date

---

UI Guidelines

• Match existing PicoForge design
• Reusable card components
• Responsive layout
• No inline styles
• Tailwind / ShadCN friendly

---

Acceptance Criteria

• Authenticated users can submit ideas
• Ideas persist in the database
• Ideas list loads without errors
• Idea detail page renders correctly
• UI works on desktop and mobile
• Code is clean and readable
• No console errors

---

Branch Naming

• feature/idea-submission

---

Assignment

Open for contributors.

Once claimed:

• Assign the issue
• Create a dedicated PR branch

---

Why This Matters

This feature turns PicoForge from a concept into a functioning incubator. Everything else builds on this.

---

What Comes Next (Not In This Issue)

• Community validation (votes + ratings)
• Comments
• Collaboration requests
• Idea workspaces