Stay in the Loop (LOOP)

Your neighborhood hub for local events, real-time safety updates, and community conversations.

Stay in the Loop (LOOP) is a community platform that combines incident reports, local events, and real-time chat into a single application. Get live updates about incidents near you, discover local happenings, and connect with your community — all in one place.

Whether it's a transit delay, a street closure, an emergency alert, or a neighborhood meetup, LOOP keeps you informed and involved.

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Live Demo

Link here: click me

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Features

• Real-Time Incident Reports
  Live updates on safety incidents, transit delays, road closures, and emergencies reported by other users.

• Local Events
  Discover and share community events, meetups, and activities.

• Global & Event-Based Chat
  Engage with the community and event attendees in real time.

• Interactive Map
  Visualize incidents and events on an interactive Google Maps interface.

• User Authentication
  Secure login and registration using JWT authentication.

• User Submissions
  Users can contribute incident reports and events to keep the community informed.

• Onboarding Tutorial
  Interactive walkthrough for new users powered by Intro.js.

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The Tech Stack

Frontend

• React
• Vite
• Google Maps API
• Axios (HTTP requests)
• Socket.io (real-time communication)
• Intro.js (onboarding tutorial)

Backend

• Node.js
• Express 5
• MongoDB with Mongoose
• AWS SDK v3 (cloud storage)
• Multer (file uploads)
• Socket.io (real-time communication)
• JWT (authentication & authorization)
• Bcrypt (password hashing)
• CORS

Development Tools

• ESLint
• Dotenv

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Installation & Setup

1. Clone the repository and navigate to project directory:

   git clone https://github.com/fabiolaliwu/CapstoneFall2025
   cd CapstoneFall2025/website

2. Download the dependencies in package.json in both website and server:

   npm install
   cd server
   npm install

3. Create .env files for both frontend and backend and add required API keys.

4. Start the development server on frontend

   cd website
   npm run dev

5. In another terminal, run the backend

   cd website/server
   node backend.js

Local Development URLs

Frontend: http://localhost:5173 Backend API: http://localhost:4000

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Group Members

• Fabiola

• Angela

• Guan

• Reina