RealAdvisor Agent Dashboard

Full-stack demo: Node.js + TypeScript + GraphQL backend, PostgreSQL database, React + TypeScript frontend, JWT authentication, portfolio analytics, and basic fake-listing detection.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+ (or 22+; project tested with current LTS)
• PostgreSQL (local Docker, managed instance, or Neon)

Repository layout

Path	Description
Backend/	GraphQL API, migrations, seed script
Frontend/	Vite + React SPA

Backend setup

cd Backend
cp .env.example .env

Edit Backend/.env:

• DATABASE_URL — PostgreSQL connection string.
  Important: wrap the value in double quotes if it contains & (e.g. Neon query params), or variables may not load.

  DATABASE_URL="postgresql://USER:PASSWORD@HOST/dbname?sslmode=require"
  JWT_SECRET="at_least_8_characters_long"
  PORT=4000

• JWT_SECRET — any random string ≥ 8 characters (required in production; dev defaults exist only when NODE_ENV is not production).

Install dependencies and apply schema:

npm install
npm run migrate
npm run seed

Start the API (default http://localhost:4000):

npm run dev

Production-style run:

npm run build
npm start

GraphQL endpoint: POST /graphql (GraphQL over HTTP JSON). Health check: GET /health.

Seed data

npm run seed creates:

• 2 agencies, 3 agents (password for all seeded agents: password123)
• 20–30 properties per agent, mixed statuses
• View history (bulk insert) and 3 intentionally suspicious listings
• Auto scam-detection flags where rules match

Example login: alice@realadvisor.dev / password123.

Frontend setup

cd Frontend
npm install
npm run dev

By default Vite serves the app (e.g. http://localhost:5173) and proxies /graphql to http://127.0.0.1:4000.

Start the backend first, otherwise the proxy will log connection errors.

Optional: set VITE_API_PROXY_TARGET in Frontend/.env (see Frontend/.env.example) if the API runs elsewhere.

Build:

npm run build
npm run preview   # optional: test production build

Docker (full stack)

Requires Docker and Docker Compose v2.

From the repository root:

docker compose build
docker compose up -d

The backend container runs AUTO_MIGRATE migrations on each start (SQL uses IF NOT EXISTS, so this is safe). Load demo data once:

docker compose exec backend node dist/data-access/seed.js

Then open http://localhost:8080 — nginx serves the SPA and proxies /graphql to the backend. Postgres is published on localhost:5433 → container 5432 (avoids conflict with a local Postgres on 5432). Credentials: realadvisor / realadvisor, database realadvisor.

Service	Role
postgres	PostgreSQL 16
backend	API on port 4000 (internal to Compose)
frontend	nginx on 8080 → static files + GraphQL proxy

Security: edit JWT_SECRET (and DB credentials) in docker-compose.yml before any public deployment.

Disable auto-migrate (optional): set AUTO_MIGRATE=0 on the backend service environment.

External database (e.g. Neon): remove or stop the postgres service, point backend.environment.DATABASE_URL at your URL (quoted if it contains &), and keep depends_on only where needed or start backend after the DB is reachable.

Documentation

• SOLUTION.md — schema rationale, architecture, scam detection, dashboard SQL, improvements
• CODE_REVIEW.md — review of the challenge’s sample dashboardStats snippet

Challenge reference

See RealAdvisor_Technical_Challenge.md for the original specification.