no more 401 error for publicly browsing user

backend/routes/auth.js

@@ -416,4 +416,19 @@ router.post("/logout", (req, res) => {
   res.json({ message: "Logged out successfully" });
 });
 
+// Auth status check endpoint - returns 200 regardless of auth state
+const { optionalAuth } = require("../middleware/auth");
+router.get("/status", optionalAuth, async (req, res) => {
+  if (req.user) {
+    res.json({
+      authenticated: true,
+      user: req.user
+    });
+  } else {
+    res.json({
+      authenticated: false
+    });
+  }
+});
+
 module.exports = router;