JobTrackr

This repository is a Spring Boot job application tracking system with both the backend API and a bundled server-served frontend. It lets a user manage the full lifecycle of a job search in one place: applications, resumes, cover letters, communications, reminders, interviews, attachments, skills, audit history, and reporting-ready metadata.

Status

The repository now implements the documented core workflows, secured API surface, bundled frontend workspace, extended read models, and behavior-focused test suite. The remaining work is mostly operational hardening, browser-level UX polish, or future product expansion, not structural rework.

Core Capabilities

• User signup, login, session/token lifecycle, and profile management
• End-to-end job application tracking from draft to offer or rejection
• Reusable document library for resumes, cover letters, and attachments
• Communication history across email, phone, LinkedIn, and in-person touchpoints
• Scheduling and reminder workflows for interviews, assessments, and follow-ups
• Searchable metadata for sources, locations, and skills
• Auditable CRUD activity and administrator visibility into user/account state
• API-first design that can support additional web, mobile, or automation clients
• Bundled browser workspace for the current backend without requiring a separate frontend toolchain

Documentation Map

• docs/README.md: documentation index
• docs/SYSTEM_FEATURES.md: implemented feature set, expected results, and expansion areas
• docs/ARCHITECTURE.md: current architecture and package responsibilities
• HELP.md: developer quickstart and local setup
• CVREADME.md: concise architecture summary for portfolio or interview use
• scripts/README.md: developer utility scripts

Package-level READMEs are also present under src/main/java/com/nick/job_application_tracker/... for controllers, DTOs, models, repositories, services, configuration, exceptions, handlers, and utilities.

Tech Stack

• Java 17
• Spring Boot 3
• Spring Web
• Spring Security
• Spring Data JPA
• PostgreSQL
• Gradle Kotlin DSL
• OpenAPI / Swagger
• Logback with JSON logging

Frontend Surface

The bundled frontend at src/main/resources/static provides:

• authentication flows against the existing JWT API
• dashboard, analytics, recommendations, and calendar views
• application creation, selection, status updates, and related-record management
• document library and account management views
• admin-only user and audit screens when the signed-in user has ADMIN

Repository Shape

The codebase is organized around standard Spring backend layers:

• controller: HTTP endpoints
• service: business logic and orchestration
• repository: persistence access and ownership-aware query methods
• model: JPA entities and enums
• dto: request and response contracts
• config: security, JWT, OpenAPI, auditing, and filters
• src/main/resources/static: bundled frontend shell, styles, and client-side API integration
• handler: centralized exception handling
• scripts: utility scripts for development and coverage
• docs: product and architecture documentation

Local Development

See HELP.md for the full setup guide. At a minimum, local development expects:

• Java 17
• PostgreSQL
• environment variables or a .env file for:
  • SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE
  • JWT_SECRET
  • POSTGRES_HOST
  • POSTGRES_PORT
  • POSTGRES_DB
  • POSTGRES_USER
  • POSTGRES_PASSWORD

Typical commands:

./gradlew test
./gradlew bootRun

Once the app is running, open http://localhost:8080/ to use the bundled frontend.

For local non-test runs, set JWT_SECRET explicitly so tokens remain valid across restarts.

How To Run

1. Create a .env file in the repository root.

SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE=dev
JWT_SECRET=replace-with-at-least-32-bytes-or-base64
DDL_AUTO=create
POSTGRES_HOST=localhost
POSTGRES_PORT=5432
POSTGRES_DB=jobtrackr
POSTGRES_USER=postgres
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres

2. Make sure PostgreSQL is running and the POSTGRES_DB database already exists.

If you are starting with a fresh database, DDL_AUTO=create is the simplest local option for the first run. If you are pointing at an older pre-UUID database, do not use update: Hibernate cannot safely migrate the old integer/identity schema to UUID columns.

3. Start the application.

./gradlew bootRun

4. Open the app in your browser.

http://localhost:8080/

5. Optional: run the automated tests in a separate shell.

./gradlew test

Useful local URLs:

• http://localhost:8080/: bundled frontend
• http://localhost:8080/swagger-ui/index.html: Swagger UI

Legacy database note:

• If your local PostgreSQL database was created before the UUID refactor, either drop and recreate that database for local use or perform an explicit SQL migration.
• The app now defaults DDL_AUTO to none when the variable is not set so it does not keep attempting invalid integer-to-UUID schema mutations on startup.

Product Direction

The system is more than a CRUD demo. It already operates as an end-to-end job-search workspace and is positioned for incremental expansion:

• a single source of truth for every application
• fewer missed follow-ups and deadlines
• consistent document reuse and version tracking
• cleaner historical records for reflection, analytics, and reporting
• a foundation for deeper dashboards, exports, and AI-assisted features