PittCSC Alumni Network

A directory of University of Pittsburgh Computer Science Club alumni — where they work, where they interviewed, and how they can help current students (coffee chats, mentorship, referrals, resume reviews).

Tech stack

Backend — FastAPI · SQLModel · SQLite (dev) / Postgres (prod) · JWT + passwordless email OTP · SMTP

Frontend — React 18 · TypeScript · Vite · Tailwind CSS · Zustand · Axios · Lucide

Prerequisites

• Python 3.12
• Node.js 20
• (Prod only) Postgres + an SMTP provider

Local development

The backend runs on SQLite with zero config and seeds a first admin on startup — no database setup needed.

Backend

cd backend
python3.12 -m venv venv && source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
uvicorn app.main:app --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000

• API: http://127.0.0.1:8000 · docs at /docs
• On first boot it creates the tables and the admin from .env (admin@test.com / admin123 by default).
• Load demo alumni: python -m scripts.seed_demo

Frontend

cd frontend
npm install
echo 'VITE_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/v1' > .env.local
npm run dev            # http://localhost:5173

Use 127.0.0.1, not localhost, in VITE_API_URL — some machines resolve localhost to IPv6 while the dev backend binds IPv4, which causes 404s.

Signing in (dev)

• Email OTP (default): enter any @pitt.edu email → the 6-digit code is shown on screen in dev (SMTP is off locally) → sign in. New emails auto-create an account.
• Password: admin@test.com / admin123 (admin), or any seeded alum with pittcsc2025.

Environment variables

• Backend reads the repo-root .env — see .env.example.
• Frontend reads frontend/.env.local — see frontend/.env.example.
• Local dev uses SQLite; set POSTGRES_SERVER (+ POSTGRES_*) to switch to Postgres.
• SMTP is required in production for OTP login to deliver codes (password login works without it).

Deployment

Backend on Render (Docker + managed Postgres), frontend on Netlify, served at alumni.pittcs.wiki. Full runbook: DEPLOYMENT.md (blueprint in render.yaml, config in netlify.toml).

Project structure

backend/
  app/
    api/routes/     # auth (login + OTP), users, companies, interviews,
                    # employment, connections, emails, utils
    core/           # config, db, security
    models.py       # SQLModel tables + schemas
  scripts/seed_demo.py
frontend/
  src/
    components/     # ui/, layout/, alumni/, home/
    pages/          # Home, Alumni list/detail, Profile, Interview Prep, Admin, ...
    services/api.ts # FastAPI client
    store/          # Zustand stores (auth, alumni, connection, profile, admin)

API

REST API under /api/v1. Auth is JWT (Bearer). Browse the full, live API at http://127.0.0.1:8000/docs. Highlights:

• POST /login/access-token, POST /login/otp/request, POST /login/otp/verify
• GET /users/, GET /users/{id}, GET /users/preview (public), PATCH /users/me
• GET /companies/, GET /interviews/, GET /employment/
• POST /connections/, POST /connections/accept/{id}, GET /connections/pending/incoming

Design

CSC blue #1d2758 (the printer-gamut brand blue used on the logo and pittcs.wiki) with gold #FFB81C. Inter for body, Lexend for headings.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Contact

PittCSC — pittcsc.org