Formula 1 Chatter

A Formula 1 prediction and discussion platform where users can make predictions about race outcomes and compete with others.

Features

• Race Predictions: Make predictions for upcoming F1 races
• Leaderboard: Compete with other users and see rankings
• Real-time Data: Automatic synchronization with F1 data sources
• User Authentication: Secure login with Facebook OAuth
• Mobile Responsive: Works great on all devices

Tech Stack

Backend

• Kotlin with Spring Boot
• PostgreSQL database
• JPA/Hibernate for data persistence
• Spring Security for authentication
• Scheduled tasks for data synchronization

Frontend

• React with TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS for styling
• Vite for build tooling
• React Router for navigation

API Rate Limiting Configuration

The application uses external APIs (OpenF1 and Jolpica) for F1 data. To prevent rate limiting issues, the following configuration options are available:

OpenF1 API Configuration

Add these settings to your application.yml or environment variables:

openf1:
  api:
    rate-limit:
      delay-between-drivers-ms: 500    # Delay between processing different drivers
      delay-between-calls-ms: 200      # Delay between API calls for the same driver
      max-errors-before-stop: 5        # Stop after this many errors
    startup:
      update-profile-pictures: false   # Disable profile picture updates during startup

Environment Variables

• UPDATE_PROFILE_PICTURES_ON_STARTUP: Set to true to enable profile picture updates during application startup (default: false)

Why These Changes?

The original implementation was making too many API calls to the OpenF1 API during startup, causing 504 Gateway Timeout errors. The improvements include:

1. Configurable delays between API calls to respect rate limits
2. Optional startup updates to prevent startup delays
3. Better error handling to stop when too many errors occur
4. Increased timeouts in RestTemplate configuration
5. Scheduled updates that run weekly instead of during startup

Development Setup

Prerequisites

• Java 17+
• Node.js 18+
• PostgreSQL 13+

Backend Setup

1. Navigate to the backend directory: cd backend
2. Create a PostgreSQL database
3. Update application-dev.yml with your database credentials
4. Run: ./gradlew bootRun

Frontend Setup

1. Navigate to the frontend directory: cd frontend
2. Install dependencies: npm install
3. Start development server: npm run dev

Deployment

The application is configured for deployment on Railway with automatic database provisioning and environment variable management.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests if applicable
5. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.