MERN Webapp with Real-Time Auth

I’m ready to move from idea to working product and need the full MERN stack foundation put in place. The core requirements are straightforward:

• Secure user authentication – account creation, login/logout, encrypted passwords, token-based session handling, and role support so I can expand permissions later.
• Real-time data updates – live push of new content or status changes without page refresh, ideally powered by Socket.IO or a similarly lightweight WebSocket solution.

Everything should be built with React on the front end, Express and Node.js for the API layer, and MongoDB to persist data. Clean, well-commented code pushed to a Git repository and instructions for local setup and cloud deployment are part of the hand-off. A minimal responsive UI is fine; the priority is a solid, modular architecture that lets me drop in new features quickly.

Acceptance criteria
– Local install script runs without errors.
– New user flow works end-to-end (register → email/username login → protected route access).
– Opening two browser tabs shows real-time changes instantly.
– README covers environment variables, build commands, and deployment steps.

With this foundation in place I can layer on new modules—payments, analytics, whatever comes next—so clear structure and documentation matter as much as functionality.