VAT-Gate

A web based tool too allow senders to easily compare delivery routes based on cost and time parameters. Front end will be basically let user choose to and from places then calulate the best route showing him time and route also mode of transport and tracking options

Deployment

This project uses docker to run all components in a containerized manner

• Step 1: Install docker on your deployment location. For help installing, refer to Docker Desktop or Docker Engine
• Step 2: create a docker-compose.yaml file

services:
  # Python Service
  python:
    image: ghcr.io/somerandomdude-a/vat-gate:main
    container_name: python-container
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      MYSQL_HOST: db
      MYSQL_USER: root
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: example
      MYSQL_DATABASE: VAT_database
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - backend

  # PHP myadmin
  phpmyadmin:
    image: phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin
    container_name: phpmyadmin-container
    environment:
      PMA_HOST: db
      PMA_USER: root
      PMA_PASSWORD: example
    ports:
      - "8081:80"
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    networks:
      - backend

    restart: unless-stopped

  # MariaDB Service
  db:
    image: mariadb:latest
    container_name: mariadb-container
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: example
      MYSQL_DATABASE: VAT_database
    volumes:
      - VAT_database:/var/lib/mysql
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - backend
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "healthcheck.sh", "--connect", "--innodb_initialized"]
      start_period: 10s
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 3

volumes:
  VAT_database:
    driver: local

networks:
  backend:
    driver: bridge

• Step 3: Run docker compose up --build

Note

For development purpose, the docker compose file in ./backend/Docker can be used instead. It will build from local context as opposed to pulling from the repository packages.

• Step 4: Open a web browser and navigate to localhost:8080 for the website itself.

Navigate to localhost:8081 to access PHPmyadmin portal

Important

It is recomended to change the credentials used for the repo and to use a seperate netowrk for the PHPmyadmin portal. This can be achieved by giving the portal its own network and using a reverse proxy. Further, if you do not require the database admin portal, you can simply remove it from the docker-compose file.

Database

Structure

vatgate-integrated/
  backend/    # Flask API and database models
  frontend/   # React (Vite) web application
  backend_README.md  # Original README from VAT‑Gate
  The Digital Bretton Woods, Gaurev Ajwani, Aijaz Ahmed Shaikh.pdf

Backend

The backend is a Flask application exposing a REST API. It uses SQLAlchemy to talk to a database. By default the application reads MySQL connection details from the following environment variables:

• MYSQL_USER
• MYSQL_PASSWORD
• MYSQL_DATABASE
• MYSQL_HOST (optional, defaults to db in Docker)

If these variables are not provided the server build fails

Note

This repo uses python 3.14. It may also work on other builds on python but stability and operation is not guaranteed.

Alternatively you can use the provided Docker Compose file backend/Docker/docker-compose.yml which spins up MariaDB, phpMyAdmin and the Python API. When using Docker Compose the API will be exposed on http://localhost:8080 and the database credentials are already configured in the compose file.

cd backend/Docker
docker compose up --build

Frontend

The frontend is a React application built with Vite and TypeScript. Authentication and API calls have been wired up to the Flask backend via a lightweight wrapper located at frontend/src/lib/api.ts. A sample .env file is provided with the base URL for API requests. By default it points to http://localhost:8080 which matches the configuration in the Docker Compose file. If you run the backend on a different port or host adjust VITE_API_BASE_URL accordingly.