Innovation Lab

Where Ideas Meet AI — No Coding Required.

Innovation Lab is a platform that empowers students to build functional tools and systems using AI-assisted development. Students compete with their AI-built projects, companies discover and acquire solutions, and everyone wins. The next billion-rand idea is in a student's mind — not in their ability to code.

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Backend	Java 21, Spring Boot 3.4, Spring Data JPA
Database	PostgreSQL 16
Frontend	React 19, Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui
Auth	Spring Security + JWT (jjwt)
Build	Maven (backend), CRA/craco (frontend)

Prerequisites

• Java 21+
• Maven 3.9+
• Node.js 20+
• PostgreSQL 16+
• DBeaver CE or pgAdmin 4 (for database management)

Setup

1. Database

# Create the database (via DBeaver CE, pgAdmin, or psql)
psql -U postgres -f database/setup.sql

Or run the SQL commands in database/setup.sql manually.

2. Backend

cd backend

# Copy and configure environment
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your database credentials and JWT secret

# Build and run
mvn clean package -DskipTests
java -jar target/innovation-lab-1.0.0.jar

# Or with Maven
mvn spring-boot:run

The API starts at http://localhost:8181.

3. Frontend

cd frontend

# Copy and configure environment
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env if needed (defaults to localhost:8181)

# Install and start
npm install
npm start

The UI starts at http://localhost:3000.

4. Seed Data

# After backend is running, seed the database
curl -X POST http://localhost:8181/api/seed

Environment Variables

Backend (backend/.env)

Variable	Description	Default
DATASOURCE_URL	PostgreSQL JDBC URL	jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/innovationlab
DATASOURCE_USER	Database user	innovationlab
DATASOURCE_PASSWORD	Database password	(required)
JWT_SECRET	JWT signing secret	(required)
ALLOWED_ORIGINS	CORS allowed origins	http://localhost:3000

Frontend (frontend/.env)

Variable	Description	Default
REACT_APP_BACKEND_URL	Backend API URL	http://localhost:8181
REACT_APP_POSTHOG_KEY	PostHog analytics key	(optional)

API Overview

Method	Endpoint	Auth
POST	/api/auth/register	No
POST	/api/auth/login	No
GET	/api/auth/me	Yes
GET	/api/projects	No
GET	/api/projects/grouped	No
GET	/api/projects/{id}	No
POST	/api/projects	Yes
PUT	/api/projects/{id}	Yes
DELETE	/api/projects/{id}	Yes
POST	/api/projects/{id}/vote	Yes
GET	/api/projects/{id}/comments	No
POST	/api/projects/{id}/comments	Yes
POST	/api/projects/{id}/bookmark	Yes
GET	/api/bookmarks	Yes
GET	/api/categories	No
GET	/api/tracks	No
GET	/api/sponsors	No
GET	/api/blog	No
GET	/api/leaderboard	No
GET	/api/hall-of-fame	No
GET	/api/stats	No
GET	/api/search?q=	No
POST	/api/seed	No
GET	/api/admin/dashboard	Admin
GET/PUT/DELETE	/api/admin/users	Admin
GET/DELETE	/api/admin/projects	Admin
POST/PUT/DELETE	/api/admin/blog	Admin
POST/PUT/DELETE	/api/admin/sponsors	Admin

Project Structure

PeerPush/
  backend/                        # Spring Boot API
    src/main/java/com/innovationlab/
      Application.java
      config/                     # Security, CORS, exception handling
      controller/                 # REST controllers
      model/
        entity/                   # JPA entities
        dto/                      # Request/response DTOs
      repository/                 # Spring Data repositories
      security/                   # JWT provider and filter
      service/                    # Business logic
    src/main/resources/
      application.properties      # App configuration
  frontend/                       # React SPA
    src/
      components/                 # Reusable UI components
      pages/                      # Page components
      context/                    # Auth context
      services/                   # API client
      data/                       # Static data
  database/
    setup.sql                     # PostgreSQL setup script
  netlify.toml                    # Netlify deployment config
  render.yaml                     # Render deployment config
  docs/superpowers/
    plans/                        # Implementation plans
    specs/                        # Design specifications

## Deployment

### Frontend → Netlify

1. Push to GitHub
2. Connect repo on [netlify.com](https://netlify.com)
3. Settings:
   - **Build command**: `cd frontend && npm install --legacy-peer-deps && npm run build`
   - **Publish directory**: `frontend/build`
   - **Environment**: `REACT_APP_BACKEND_URL` = your Render backend URL
4. `netlify.toml` handles SPA redirects automatically

### Backend → Render

1. Push to GitHub
2. Create **Web Service** on [render.com](https://render.com)
3. Settings:
   - **Runtime**: Docker
   - **Build**: Auto-detect (`render.yaml` or `backend/Dockerfile`)
   - **Environment variables**: `DATASOURCE_URL`, `DATASOURCE_USER`, `DATASOURCE_PASSWORD`, `JWT_SECRET`, `ALLOWED_ORIGINS`
4. Or use **render.yaml** for Blueprint deploy

### Shared Database (Universal)

The PostgreSQL database can be shared across multiple projects:
- Each project uses a **different database name** in `DATASOURCE_URL`:

jdbc:postgresql://shared-host:5432/innovationlab # this project jdbc:postgresql://shared-host:5432/otherproject # another project

- Or use **separate schemas**: `spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.default_schema=innovationlab`
- For Render: Create one PostgreSQL instance, reference it from multiple services with different database names
- Port 8181 for backend, 3000 for frontend dev