adds db connectivity and saving, need to process user messages still

models/dbConnect.js

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+const mongoose = require('mongoose');
+const MONGO_URI = process.env.MONGO_URI;
+
+if (!MONGO_URI) {
+  throw new Error('Please define the MONGO_URI environment variable inside .env.local');
+}
+
+/**
+ * Global is used here to maintain a cached connection across hot reloads
+ * in development. This prevents connections growing exponentially
+ * during API Route usage.
+ */
+let cached = global.mongoose;
+
+if (!cached) {
+  cached = global.mongoose = { conn: null, promise: null };
+}
+
+async function dbConnect() {
+  if (cached.conn) {
+    return cached.conn;
+  }
+
+  if (!cached.promise) {
+    const opts = {
+      useNewUrlParser: true,
+      useUnifiedTopology: true,
+      bufferCommands: false,
+      // bufferMaxEntries: 0,
+      // useFindAndModify: true,
+      // useCreateIndex: true
+    };
+
+    cached.promise = mongoose.connect(MONGO_URI, opts).then((mongoose) => {
+      return mongoose;
+    });
+  }
+  cached.conn = await cached.promise;
+  return cached.conn;
+}
+
+module.exports = dbConnect;