nikcadez.com

Personal portfolio and blog platform. React + Express + SQLite, deployed via Docker on a Raspberry Pi behind Cloudflare Tunnel.

Live: nikcadez.com

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	React 19, Vite 6, Tailwind CSS v4, Framer Motion
Backend	Express 4, TypeScript, better-sqlite3
Auth	JWT + bcrypt
Email	Resend
Infrastructure	Docker, Cloudflare Tunnel, GitHub Actions (self-hosted runner)

Quick Start (Development)

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Create .env from example
cp .env.example .env
# Fill in JWT_SECRET and RESEND_KEY

# Start both frontend and backend
npm run dev:all

# Frontend: http://localhost:3000
# API:      http://localhost:3001

The Vite dev server proxies /api and /uploads to the Express server automatically.

Scripts

Command	Description
npm run dev	Start Vite dev server (port 3000)
npm run dev:server	Start Express API with hot reload (port 3001)
npm run dev:all	Start both in parallel
npm run build	Build frontend for production
npm start	Start production server
npm run seed	Seed database with sample data
npm run user -- <action> <args>	Manage users (see below)
npm run lint	TypeScript type-check

User Management

# Create a regular user
npm run user -- create alice password123

# Create an admin
npm run user -- create admin securepass --admin

# Reset password
npm run user -- reset alice newpassword

# Promote to admin
npm run user -- promote alice

# Delete user
npm run user -- delete alice

# List all users
npm run user -- list

Production (Docker)

# Build and start
docker compose up -d --build

# Create admin user
docker exec -it nikpro node --import tsx server/manage-user.ts create <user> <pass> --admin

# View logs
docker logs -f nikpro

Persistent Data

Path	Content
data/	SQLite database
uploads/	User-uploaded images
.env	Environment variables (secrets)

These are excluded from git and must be transferred manually to the server.

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Default
JWT_SECRET	Yes	-
RESEND_KEY	Yes	-
API_PORT	No	3001
APP_URL	No	http://localhost:3000
MAIL_FROM	No	nikcadez.com <blog@nikcadez.com>
MAIL_REPLY_TO	No	gmail@nikcadez.com
MAIL_CONTACT_FROM	No	nikcadez.com Contact <contact.me@nikcadez.com>
MAIL_CONTACT_TO	No	gmail@nikcadez.com

Generate a JWT secret: openssl rand -hex 32

Documentation

Detailed documentation is in the docs/ folder:

• Architecture - System design, request flow, and tech choices
• API Reference - All endpoints, request/response formats
• Database - Schema, tables, and backup procedures
• Frontend - Components, routing, and styling
• Deployment - Docker, Cloudflare Tunnel, CI/CD, and operations
• Security - Auth, rate limiting, input validation, and hardening

Project Structure

.
|-- src/                    # React frontend
|   |-- components/         # Navbar, Footer, LavaLampBackground
|   |-- pages/              # Route pages (Experience, Work, Blog, Contact, Admin, Register)
|   |-- lib/                # API client, utilities
|   |-- types.ts            # TypeScript interfaces
|   |-- constants.ts        # Static resume data
|   |-- index.css           # Global styles and theme tokens
|-- server/                 # Express backend
|   |-- index.ts            # Main server, routes, middleware
|   |-- auth.ts             # JWT, bcrypt, middleware
|   |-- db.ts               # SQLite setup and schema
|   |-- mail.ts             # Resend email functions
|   |-- manage-user.ts      # CLI user management
|   |-- seed*.ts            # Database seed scripts
|-- docs/                   # Project documentation
|-- data/                   # SQLite database (gitignored)
|-- uploads/                # Uploaded images (gitignored)
|-- Dockerfile              # Multi-stage production build
|-- docker-compose.yml      # Container orchestration
|-- .github/workflows/      # CI/CD pipeline

License

All rights reserved.