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SGA Senator Application, Nomination, and Audit System

The purpose of this application is to streamline the application and nomination processes for senators at SGA (Student Government Association).

Technologies

Frontend & Backend:

Database:

UI Components:

Architecture

This is a modern Next.js 16 application with:

  • No API routes - All data access happens server-side
  • Server Functions - Direct database queries from React Server Components
  • Server Actions - Form submissions with 'use server' directive
  • Prisma ORM - Type-safe database access
/
├── app/                    # Next.js App Router
│   ├── layout.tsx         # Root layout
│   ├── page.tsx           # Home page
│   └── (pages)/           # Application pages (to be migrated)
├── lib/                    # Server-side code
│   ├── db.ts              # Prisma client singleton
│   ├── data/              # Data access layer
│   │   ├── applications.ts
│   │   ├── nominations.ts
│   │   └── users.ts
│   └── actions/           # Server actions for mutations
│       ├── applications.ts
│       └── nominations.ts
├── components/            # React components (to be migrated)
├── prisma/
│   └── schema.prisma     # Database schema
└── package.json

Database Schema

The application manages three main entities:

  • Applications - Senator applications from students
  • Nominations - Nominations for senator candidates
  • Users - System users with roles (Admin, Applicant, Standard)

Setting up the development environment

Prerequisites

  1. Node.js (v18 or higher)

  2. Docker Desktop (for local database)

    • Required for running the local PostgreSQL database
    • To check if it's installed: docker --version

Installation

  1. Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/b-at-neu/nomination-system.git
cd nomination-system
  1. Install dependencies:
npm install
  1. Set up your environment variables:
cp .env.example .env.local

The .env.example file comes pre-configured with local database settings. For local development, you can use these defaults as-is.

For production or if you want to use a different database:

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@host:port/database"
DIRECT_URL="postgresql://user:password@host:port/database"
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL="your-supabase-project-url"
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY="your-supabase-anon-key"
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY="your-supabase-service-role-key"

To get your Supabase credentials:

  • Create a project at Supabase
  • Go to Project Settings > API
  • Copy the Project URL and anon/public key
  • Copy the service_role key (this is needed for user management - keep it secret!)

Local Development Database

This project uses Docker to run a local PostgreSQL database for development. This allows you to test database schema changes locally before deploying to production.

Prerequisites

  • Docker Desktop must be installed and running
  • Ensure port 5432 is available on your machine

Initial Setup

  1. Make sure you have copied .env.example to .env.local:
cp .env.example .env.local

The default local database connection is already configured in .env.example:

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/senate_path_dev?schema=public"
DIRECT_URL="postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/senate_path_dev?schema=public"
  1. Start the local PostgreSQL database:
npm run db:start
  1. Run Prisma migrations to create the database schema:
npm run prisma:migrate

You're now ready to develop! The local database will persist data between restarts.

Common Commands

Command Description
npm run db:start Start the Docker PostgreSQL container in the background
npm run db:stop Stop the Docker container (data is preserved)
npm run db:reset Stop container, remove all data, start fresh, and run migrations
npm run prisma:migrate Create and apply a new Prisma migration (will prompt for migration name)
npm run prisma:studio Open Prisma Studio to visually browse and edit your local database
npm run prisma:generate Regenerate Prisma client after schema changes

Development Workflow

  1. Create a new branch for your work:
git checkout -b 123-add-new-feature
  1. Start the local database (if not already running):
npm run db:start

  1. Make changes to your Prisma schema in prisma/schema.prisma

  2. Create and apply the migration:

npm run prisma:migrate

Prisma will prompt you for a migration name (e.g., "add_user_role_field")

  1. Test your changes locally using Prisma Studio or your application:
npm run prisma:studio  # Visual database browser
npm run dev            # Start Next.js dev server
  1. Commit both your schema changes AND the migration files:
git add prisma/schema.prisma prisma/migrations/
git commit -m "#123 add new feature"
git push

Troubleshooting

Port 5432 already in use

  • Mac/Linux: Check if PostgreSQL is running: sudo lsof -i :5432
  • Windows: Check port usage: netstat -ano | findstr :5432
  • Stop the existing PostgreSQL service or change the port in docker-compose.yml

Container won't start

  • Make sure Docker Desktop is running
  • Check Docker logs: docker logs senate-path-db
  • Try removing the container: docker compose down -v then npm run db:start

Database connection errors

  • Verify the container is running: docker ps
  • Check your .env.local file has the correct DATABASE_URL
  • Try restarting the container: npm run db:stop && npm run db:start

Need to start fresh

  • Use npm run db:reset to completely reset your local database
  • This will delete all data and re-run migrations

Migration conflicts

  • If you have uncommitted migrations, you may need to reset: npm run db:reset
  • Delete problematic migration folders from prisma/migrations/ and re-create them

Database Deployment Notes

  • Local database is completely separate from production/staging databases
  • Migration files in prisma/migrations/ are version controlled
  • Migrations run automatically on deployment when merged to dev or main branches

Running the app

For development:

npm run dev

The application will be available at http://localhost:3000/

For production build:

npm run build
npm start

Available Scripts

Development

  • npm run dev - Start development server
  • npm run build - Build for production
  • npm start - Start production server
  • npm run lint - Run ESLint

Database Management

  • npm run db:start - Start local Docker PostgreSQL container
  • npm run db:stop - Stop local Docker container
  • npm run db:reset - Reset local database (removes all data and re-runs migrations)

Prisma

  • npm run prisma:generate - Generate Prisma client
  • npm run prisma:migrate - Create and apply database migrations
  • npm run prisma:studio - Open Prisma Studio for database inspection

Key Features

  • Application Submission - Students can submit their senator applications
  • Nomination System - Constituents can nominate candidates
  • Admin Dashboard - View and manage all applications and nominations (protected by authentication)
  • Nomination Approval System - Admins can review and approve/reject nominations
    • Dedicated nominations management page at /admin/nominations
    • Filter nominations by status (Pending, Approved, Rejected) or by specific nominee
    • Search across all nomination fields (nominee, nominator, email, college, major)
    • Sort nominations by date, nominee name, or status
    • Bulk approve or reject multiple nominations at once
    • View statistics: total, pending, approved, rejected nominations and unique nominees
    • New nominations are created with PENDING status and require admin approval
  • User Management - Admin page to create and remove authentication accounts
    • Create new admin users with email and password
    • Delete existing users (cannot delete your own account)
    • View all registered users and their activity
  • Authentication - Secure password-based login via Supabase Auth
    • Email and password authentication
    • Admin pages are protected and only accessible to logged-in users
    • Admin link only visible in navbar for authenticated users
  • Constituency Validation - Ensures nominators and nominees are in the same constituency
  • Duplicate Prevention - Prevents duplicate nominations and applications

Authentication

The application uses Supabase Auth with email and password for authentication:

  1. Users click "Login" in the navbar
  2. They enter their email address and password
  3. Once authenticated, users can access the Admin Dashboard and User Management
  4. Admin users can create new accounts from the User Management page (/admin/users)

The admin page (/admin) is protected by middleware and requires authentication to access.

Deployment

This Next.js application can be deployed to:

  • Vercel (recommended)
  • Netlify
  • Any Node.js hosting platform
  • Docker container

Make sure to set the following environment variables in your deployment platform:

  • DATABASE_URL - PostgreSQL database connection string
  • DIRECT_URL - Direct PostgreSQL connection string (for Prisma migrations)
  • NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL - Supabase project URL
  • NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY - Supabase anonymous/public key
  • SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY - Supabase service role key (required for user management)

Development Notes

  • All data fetching uses React Server Components
  • Form submissions use Next.js Server Actions
  • No client-side API calls needed
  • Prisma provides full type safety from database to UI
  • Database migrations are managed through Prisma Migrate