Parallax

Free, open-source planning poker for agile teams. No sign-up required.

Features • Tech Stack • Getting Started • Architecture • Contributing • License

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Parallax is a real-time planning poker tool that lets agile teams estimate stories together without accounts, passwords, or friction. Create a board, share the link, and start voting — all powered by WebSocket-based live sync.

Features

• Real-Time Voting — See who has voted instantly via WebSocket presence sync. No polling, no page refreshes.
• Multiple Estimation Decks — Fibonacci, Modified Fibonacci, T-Shirt Sizes, Powers of 2, or build your own custom deck.
• Issue Management — Add stories manually, paste Jira links (auto-parsed), or bulk import multiple issues at once.
• Facilitator Controls — Start/reveal/reset votes, manage participants, save estimates, change deck type mid-session.
• Spectator Mode — Stakeholders can watch the session without influencing estimates.
• Built-in Timer — Configurable countdown timer synced across all participants to keep sessions moving.
• No Sign-Up Required — Zero accounts, zero data collection, zero friction. Device-based identity only.
• Auto-Cleanup — Sessions automatically expire after 24 hours of inactivity.
• Re-voting — Change your vote at any time during voting, or re-estimate previously estimated issues.
• Responsive — Works on desktop, tablet, and mobile with an adaptive layout.

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Framework	Nuxt 4 (Vue 3)
Database & Realtime	Supabase (Postgres + Realtime WebSockets)
Styling	Tailwind CSS v4 via @tailwindcss/vite
Deployment	Vercel (serverless)
Language	TypeScript (end-to-end)

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• A Supabase project (free tier works)

1. Clone & Install

git clone https://github.com/whoisarjen/Parallax.git
cd Parallax
npm install

2. Configure Environment

Copy the example env file and fill in your Supabase credentials:

cp .env.example .env

Variable	Description
NUXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL	Your Supabase project URL
NUXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY	Supabase anonymous/public key
NUXT_SUPABASE_SERVICE_KEY	Supabase service role key (server-side only)
NUXT_CRON_SECRET	Secret for the cleanup cron endpoint

3. Set Up the Database

Open supabase/migrations/001_initial_schema.sql and execute it in your Supabase project's SQL Editor. This creates:

• 4 tables (boards, participants, issues, votes)
• Row Level Security policies (vote hiding until reveal)
• Realtime publication for live sync
• Auto-updating timestamps

4. Enable Realtime

In your Supabase Dashboard, go to Database > Replication and ensure the supabase_realtime publication includes boards, participants, and issues. The migration handles this, but verify it's active.

5. Run

npm run dev

The app will be available at http://localhost:3000.

Architecture

How It Works

Create Board  →  Share Link  →  Team Joins  →  Vote  →  Reveal  →  Discuss  →  Save Estimate

1. Create — Set a session name, choose an estimation deck, enter your display name
2. Share — Share the board URL or invite code with your team
3. Join — Teammates enter their display name and join (no account needed)
4. Vote — Facilitator starts voting on an issue; everyone selects a card independently
5. Reveal — Facilitator reveals all votes simultaneously with stats (average, median, mode, agreement %)
6. Save — Discuss outliers, re-vote if needed, then save the final estimate

Data Flow

┌─────────────┐     HTTP (initial load)      ┌──────────────┐     service_role     ┌──────────┐
│   Browser    │ ───────────────────────────> │  Nuxt Server │ ──────────────────>  │ Supabase │
│  (Vue SPA)   │                              │  (API routes)│                      │ Postgres │
│             │ <─────────────────────────── │              │ <────────────────── │          │
│             │     WebSocket (all updates)   │              │                      │          │
│             │ <══════════════════════════>  │              │                      │          │
│             │     Supabase Realtime         │              │                      │          │
└─────────────┘                               └──────────────┘                      └──────────┘

• Initial load — Single HTTP fetch for board + participants + issues
• All subsequent updates — Pure WebSocket via Supabase Realtime (zero HTTP polling)
• Three realtime channels:
  • Presence — Online/offline status for each participant
  • Broadcast — Ephemeral events (vote submitted, votes revealed, timer sync)
  • Postgres Changes — DB row changes pushed to all subscribers (new participants, issue updates, etc.)

Security Model

Concern	Approach
Identity	Device UUID stored in cookie + localStorage (no auth required)
Facilitator auth	Server-generated token, SHA-256 hash stored in DB
Vote hiding	Row Level Security — votes only readable when voting_state = 'revealed'
API writes	All mutations go through Nuxt server routes using service_role key (bypasses RLS)
Input validation	Server-side sanitization on all user inputs (display names, issue titles, Jira URLs)

Project Structure

Parallax/
├── app/
│   ├── assets/css/          # Tailwind CSS v4 theme & utilities
│   ├── components/
│   │   ├── board/           # Board UI (voting area, cards, participants, issues, timer)
│   │   ├── common/          # Shared UI (header, footer, dialogs, toast)
│   │   └── landing/         # Landing page sections
│   ├── composables/         # Vue composables (realtime, voting, timer, identity, etc.)
│   ├── layouts/             # Default + board layouts
│   ├── pages/               # index, my-boards, board/[id]
│   ├── types/               # TypeScript interfaces
│   └── utils/               # Board codes, deck configs, vote stats
├── server/
│   ├── api/boards/          # REST API (CRUD, voting, facilitator actions)
│   ├── api/cron/            # Expired board cleanup
│   └── utils/               # Server Supabase client, input validation
├── shared/                  # Constants shared between client & server
├── supabase/migrations/     # Database schema (single migration file)
└── public/                  # Static assets (logo, favicon)

Key Constants

All configurable limits live in a single file (shared/constants.ts) so they can be changed in one place:

Constant	Default	Description
BOARD_EXPIRY_HOURS	24	Hours before an inactive board expires
HARD_DELETE_AFTER_DAYS	7	Days after soft-delete before permanent removal
MAX_BOARDS_PER_DEVICE	10	Maximum boards a single device can create
MAX_PARTICIPANTS_PER_BOARD	10	Maximum participants per board

Note: The database migration uses a default INTERVAL '24 hours' for expires_at. If you change BOARD_EXPIRY_HOURS, also update the migration or run ALTER TABLE boards ALTER COLUMN expires_at SET DEFAULT (now() + INTERVAL '<new value> hours');.

Deploying to Vercel

1. Push your repo to GitHub
2. Import the repository in Vercel
3. Add all environment variables in project settings
4. Deploy

The vercel.json includes a cron job that runs every 6 hours to clean up expired boards.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/my-feature
3. Make your changes
4. Run npm run build to verify everything compiles
5. Commit and push: git push origin feature/my-feature
6. Open a Pull Request

Ideas for Contributions

• Emoji reactions on vote reveal
• Export estimates to CSV
• Jira/Linear integration for syncing issues
• Custom color themes
• Sound effects on vote reveal
• Analytics dashboard for estimation trends

License

MIT