CareerQuest 🚀

AI-powered career guidance platform helping students discover their ideal career paths with personalized recommendations, expert mentorship, and visual analytics.

🏗️ Architecture

• Frontend: Next.js 14 (React 18) with TypeScript
• Backend: Node.js/Express with RESTful API
• AI: Groq (Llama 4) for career guidance
• Styling: Tailwind CSS with custom design system
• State Management: React Context API

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• npm or yarn
• (Optional) Docker & Docker Compose

Development Setup

1. Clone the repository

git clone <repository-url>
cd CarrerQuest

2. Backend Setup

cd Webapp/server
npm install
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your API keys
npm run dev

3. Frontend Setup

cd Webapp
npm install
cp .env.example .env.local
# Edit .env.local with backend URL
npm run dev

4. Access the application

• Frontend: http://localhost:3000
• Backend API: http://localhost:5001
• Health Check: http://localhost:5001/api/health

🐳 Docker Deployment

Using Docker Compose (Recommended)

# Create .env file in root directory
cp Webapp/server/.env.example .env

# Edit .env with your production values
# Then run:
docker-compose up -d

Individual Containers

Backend:

cd Webapp/server
docker build -t careerquest-backend .
docker run -p 5001:5001 --env-file .env careerquest-backend

Frontend:

cd Webapp
docker build -t careerquest-frontend .
docker run -p 3000:3000 -e NEXT_PUBLIC_BACKEND_URL=http://localhost:5001 careerquest-frontend

📦 Production Build

Frontend

cd Webapp
npm run build
npm start

Backend

cd Webapp/server
NODE_ENV=production npm start

🌐 Deployment

Vercel (Frontend)

1. Push code to GitHub
2. Import project in Vercel
3. Set environment variables:
   • NEXT_PUBLIC_BACKEND_URL
4. Deploy

Railway/Render (Backend)

1. Connect GitHub repository
2. Set build command: cd Webapp/server && npm install
3. Set start command: cd Webapp/server && npm start
4. Add environment variables from .env.example
5. Deploy

🔐 Environment Variables

Frontend (.env.local)

NEXT_PUBLIC_BACKEND_URL=http://localhost:5001

Backend (.env)

PORT=5001
NODE_ENV=production
GROQ_API_KEY=your_groq_api_key
JWT_SECRET=your_secret_key
FRONTEND_URL=https://yourdomain.com

📁 Project Structure

CarrerQuest/
├── Webapp/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── app/          # Next.js app router pages
│   │   ├── components/   # React components
│   │   ├── contexts/     # React contexts (Auth, etc.)
│   │   └── lib/          # Utilities
│   ├── server/
│   │   ├── controllers/  # Route controllers
│   │   ├── routes/       # API routes
│   │   ├── middleware/   # Auth, validation, etc.
│   │   └── db/           # JSON database files
│   └── public/           # Static assets
├── ML/                   # Machine learning models
└── Docs/                 # Documentation

🧪 Testing

# Frontend
cd Webapp
npm run lint

# Backend
cd Webapp/server
npm test  # (when tests are added)

🔒 Security Features

• JWT authentication with refresh tokens
• Rate limiting on API endpoints
• CORS protection
• Helmet.js security headers
• Password hashing with bcrypt
• Input validation and sanitization
• Error boundary handling

📝 API Documentation

See Docs/API.md for detailed API documentation.

🤝 Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for contribution guidelines.

📄 License

Apache-2.0 License

👥 Team

FeedMind Team - Smart India Hackathon 2024

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Built with ❤️ for students navigating their career journey