TechHatch - Job Portal for Tech Talent

A full-stack job portal connecting tech professionals with companies. Built with Spring Boot, React, and MySQL, deployed with Docker, GitHub Actions CI/CD, Railway (backend), and Vercel (frontend).

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📋 Overview

TechHatch is a monorepo containing both backend and frontend applications:

• Backend: Java Spring Boot REST API with JWT authentication, job management, and application tracking
• Frontend: React 18 single-page application with advanced job search and dual-role dashboards
• Database: MySQL 8.0 hosted on Railway
• Deployment: GitHub Actions CI/CD pipeline with Docker containerization

Key Features

• Authentication: JWT-based login with role-based access (Candidate, Recruiter)
• Job Management: Create, search, filter, and manage job postings
• Advanced Search: Filter by location, job type, experience level, and salary range with pagination
• Application Tracking: Multi-stage workflow (Applied → Under Review → Interview → Offered/Rejected)
• Recruiter Dashboard: Manage posted jobs, review applications, update candidate status
• Candidate Dashboard: Track applications, view job recommendations, manage profile

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Backend:

• Java 21
• Spring Boot 3.2
• Spring Security (JWT)
• Spring Data JPA
• MySQL 8.0
• Docker
• Maven

Frontend:

• React 18
• React Router v6
• Tailwind CSS
• Axios
• React Hook Form
• Context API

DevOps:

• GitHub Actions (CI/CD)
• Docker & Docker Compose
• Railway (Backend + MySQL)
• Vercel (Frontend)
• GHCR (Docker Registry)

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📚 Project Structure

techhatch/
├── backend/
│   ├── src/main/java/com/techhatch/
│   │   ├── config/           # Security & CORS config
│   │   ├── controller/       # REST endpoints
│   │   ├── service/          # Business logic
│   │   ├── repository/       # Data access
│   │   ├── model/            # JPA entities
│   │   ├── dto/              # Request/response DTOs
│   │   └── exception/        # Error handling
│   ├── src/main/resources/
│   │   ├── application.properties
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   └── pom.xml
│
├── frontend/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/       # Reusable components
│   │   ├── pages/            # Page components
│   │   ├── context/          # Auth context
│   │   ├── services/         # API calls
│   │   ├── hooks/            # Custom hooks
│   │   └── utils/            # Helpers
│   ├── .env.local
│   └── package.json
│
├── docker-compose.yml
├── .github/workflows/
│   └── deploy.yml            # CI/CD pipeline
└── README.md

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🔌 API Endpoints

Authentication

• POST /api/v1/auth/register - Register new user (Candidate/Recruiter)
• POST /api/v1/auth/login - Login and get JWT token
• GET /api/v1/auth/me - Get current user info

Jobs

• GET /api/v1/jobs - List all jobs with filters (public)
• GET /api/v1/jobs/{id} - Get job details
• POST /api/v1/jobs - Create job (Recruiter only)
• PUT /api/v1/jobs/{id} - Update job (owner only)
• DELETE /api/v1/jobs/{id} - Delete job (owner only)
• GET /api/v1/jobs/recruiter/my-jobs - Get recruiter's posted jobs

Applications

• POST /api/v1/applications - Apply to job (Candidate only)
• GET /api/v1/applications/candidate/my-applications - Get candidate's applications
• GET /api/v1/applications/recruiter/job/{jobId} - Get applications for a job (Recruiter)
• PATCH /api/v1/applications/{id}/status - Update application status (Recruiter only)

Profiles

• GET /api/v1/profile/candidate/{userId} - Get candidate profile
• PUT /api/v1/profile/candidate - Update candidate profile
• GET /api/v1/profile/recruiter/{userId} - Get recruiter profile
• PUT /api/v1/profile/recruiter - Update recruiter profile

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🧪 Testing

Manual API Testing with Postman

1. Import the Postman collection from /postman directory
2. Set environment variables:
   • baseUrl: http://localhost:8080/api/v1
   • token: (auto-populated after login)
3. Test all endpoints with provided example requests

Test Coverage:

• Authentication flows (register, login, token validation)
• Job CRUD operations with authorization checks
• Job search with multiple filters
• Application workflow (apply, prevent duplicates, update status)
• Role-based access control

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🐳 Deployment

GitHub Actions CI/CD Pipeline

On every push to main branch:

1. Build - Compile and build Docker images for backend
2. Push - Push image to GHCR (GitHub Container Registry)
3. Deploy - Railway automatically deploys from GHCR image

Pipeline File: .github/workflows/maven-publish.yml

Backend (Railway)

• Backend URL: https://techhatch-backend.up.railway.app
• Auto-deploys on GHCR image update

Frontend (Vercel)

• Frontend URL: https://techhatch.vercel.app
• Auto-deploys on GitHub push

Database (Railway MySQL)

• Hosted on Railway as an active service with no downtime
• Connection string provided in Railway dashboard
• Schema auto-migrates on application startup, with a initialize.sql file

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📝 Environment Variables

Backend (application-prod.properties):

spring.datasource.url=${DATABASE_URL}
spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=update
jwt.secret=${JWT_SECRET}
jwt.expiration=86400000
client.url={CLIENT_URL}

Frontend (.env.production):

REACT_APP_API_URL=https://your-backend-url/api/v1

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🔐 Security

• Passwords encrypted with BCrypt (strength 12)
• JWT tokens with 24-hour expiration
• Spring Security role-based access control
• Protected routes on frontend with automatic redirect to login
• CORS configured for production domains only
• Secrets managed through GitHub Secrets and platform dashboards

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📊 Database Schema

7 interconnected entities:

• users - Authentication & roles
• candidate_profiles - Candidate details & skills
• recruiter_profiles - Company information
• jobs - Job postings
• applications - Job applications with workflow stages

Constraints:

• Unique (job_id, candidate_id) on applications table to prevent duplicates
• Cascade delete for referential integrity

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👤 Author

Sanjay S K GitHub | LinkedIn

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Deployed Applications:

• Live app : TechHatch
• GitHub Repository: Repo URL