FoodTok

FoodTok is a full-stack web application that enables users to discover restaurants, save favorites, and manage reservations all in one place. The application is built with a Next.js frontend and Django backend, orchestrated locally via Docker Compose and the primary Makefile, while AWS CDK handles programmatic infrastructure deployment to the cloud.

Prerequisites

• Docker (20+ recommended)
• Docker Compose (bundled with recent Docker Desktop/CLI)
• GNU Make
• AWS CLI configured with credentials/region for cloud deploys
• Frontend Environment Configuration: Create a .env file in FoodTok_Frontend/ with the following structure:

  BACKEND_API_URL=http://backend:8080/api
  NEXT_PUBLIC_USE_MOCKS=false
  NEXT_PUBLIC_RESTAURANT_SOURCE=yelp
  NEXT_PUBLIC_YELP_CLIENT_ID=your_yelp_client_id
  YELP_API_KEY=your_yelp_api_key
  

  Get your Yelp Client ID and API key at https://www.yelp.com/developers/v3/manage_app.

Local Development

The stack uses Docker Compose with orchestrated targets in the Makefile to manage both frontend and backend services together. Use the combined targets below to run the full stack locally.

Running the Full Stack

Once running, the backend API is available at http://localhost:8080 and the frontend is served at http://localhost:3000. DynamoDB Admin GUI is being served at http://localhost:8001.

• make build-all — build both backend and frontend images.
• make up-all — start the complete stack.
• make down-all — stop and remove all services and volumes.
• make ps-all — list all running containers.

Backend Health Checks

• make check — run Django system checks to validate configuration and detect common issues.
• make test — execute the Django test suite to verify backend functionality.
• make smoke — run a basic smoke test that imports the project inside the container to verify the environment is properly configured.

Cloud Deployment

Infrastructure and services are defined with AWS CDK (TypeScript) and driven by the same Makefile.

• make bootstrap — one-time CDK bootstrap for a new AWS account/region.
• make deploy — synthesize and deploy the CDK stack
• make destroy — remove the deployed stack (irreversible for data).
• make clean — remove local CDK artifacts (cdk.out).
• Before deploying, ensure AWS credentials, the target region, and any required environment variables are set via the AWS cli; the Makefile uses the PROFILE and AWS_REGION variables if you need to override defaults. Use USE_SUDO=1 if your Docker setup requires sudo (e.g., make up-all USE_SUDO=1).

Documentation

Comprehensive project documentation is available in docs/:

• FoodTok-Final-Report.pdf — Complete academic project report covering problem statement, solution architecture, technology stack, deployment strategy, testing approach, technical challenges, and key achievements
• FoodTok-Final-Presentation.pdf — Concise final slides used for our demo
• foodtok-general-overview.md — High-level overview of FoodTok's features, business logic, and technology choices
• foodtok-technical-overview.md — Deep dive into technical implementation details including race condition prevention, hold system architecture, and match scoring algorithm
• backend-overview.md — Complete backend API documentation with all 18 endpoints, request/response schemas, and error handling
• backend-endpoint-schemas.md — Detailed API schemas and data models for backend endpoints
• backend-test.md — Backend testing strategy, pytest configuration, and coverage requirements
• frontend-test.md — Frontend testing approach with Jest and React Testing Library
• loadtest.md — Load testing methodology using Locust, performance benchmarks, and results analysis