SkillConnect

SkillConnect is a virtual internship platform where students complete practical company projects, employers manage opportunities and submissions, mentors give feedback, and administrators monitor the platform.

Demo Video

https://youtu.be/RowoXTLyiCc

Project structure

SkillConnect/
├── backend/       Flask API, SQLAlchemy models, migrations, and pytest tests
├── frontend/      React application built with Vite
└── Procfile       Production Gunicorn process command

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9 or newer
• Node.js 20 or newer
• npm
• MySQL for normal development and production

The backend tests use an in-memory SQLite database, so MySQL is not required to run the automated test suite.

Run the project locally

The backend and frontend run as separate processes. Open two terminals from the repository root.

Admin Account

Email: admin.demo@skillconnect.test Password: Demo_Admin@2026 Role: admin Admin portal: /admin

1. Configure and run the backend

cd backend
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
cp .env.example .env

On Windows PowerShell, activate the environment with:

.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

Edit backend/.env and replace the example secrets and database connection:

SECRET_KEY=replace-with-a-random-secret
JWT_SECRET_KEY=replace-with-another-random-secret
DATABASE_URL=mysql+pymysql://user:password@localhost:3306/skillconnect

Create the MySQL database if it does not exist, then apply the checked-in migrations:

flask --app run.py db upgrade

Start the API:

python run.py

The API runs at http://127.0.0.1:8000. Useful checks:

• Health check: http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/health
• API documentation: http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/docs

2. Install and run the frontend

In the second terminal:

cd frontend
npm ci
npm run dev

Open the URL printed by Vite, normally http://localhost:5173. During local development, Vite proxies /api requests to http://127.0.0.1:8000.

To use a backend at another address:

VITE_BACKEND_URL=http://localhost:9000 npm run dev

Test and verify the project

Backend tests

Install the development dependencies once:

cd backend
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

Run the complete backend test suite:

python -m pytest -q

For verbose output:

python -m pytest -v

The tests create an isolated in-memory SQLite database and do not modify the database configured in backend/.env.

Frontend verification

The frontend does not currently have an automated component test suite. Use the production build as the required verification check:

cd frontend
npm ci
npm run build

Optionally serve the generated production build:

npm run preview

Then manually verify login, role navigation, opportunities, student tasks, employer reviews, mentor assessments, the Community directory, and admin user management.

Production server

From the repository root, the included Procfile starts Gunicorn with:

gunicorn --chdir backend --bind 0.0.0.0:$PORT run:app

When running directly from backend/, use:

gunicorn --bind 0.0.0.0:${PORT:-8000} run:app

Set secure SECRET_KEY, JWT_SECRET_KEY, and DATABASE_URL environment variables in the deployment environment. For lower API latency, deploy the backend in the same region as the database.

Common commands

Task	Command
Start backend	cd backend && python run.py
Apply migrations	cd backend && flask --app run.py db upgrade
Run backend tests	cd backend && python -m pytest -q
Start frontend	cd frontend && npm run dev
Build frontend	cd frontend && npm run build

Team

• Rene Guido Kayigamba — Frontend Developer
• Aldrick Kalisa — System Architect
• David Irihose — Backend Engineer
• Kizito Imena — Database Engineer
• Ganza Gavin — Documentation Lead
• Butera Irebe Asnath — UI/UX