Redefined Designs

One-of-a-kind item storefront. React + TypeScript + antd frontend (Vite), Express + TypeScript backend, Postgres, PayPal checkout, customer accounts with GDPR-style consent handling, and an authentik-gated admin panel.

Project layout

backend/ Express + TypeScript API, Postgres access, PayPal integration frontend/ React + TypeScript + antd storefront and admin UI (Vite)

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• Docker (for a local, disposable Postgres instance)
• npm

Clone

git clone https://gitea.bermudalamb.synology.me/bermudalamb/redefined-designs.git
cd redefined-designs

Running locally

Commands below are shown for PowerShell (Windows). A bash equivalent is noted wherever the syntax differs.

1. Start a local Postgres instance

The backend needs Postgres to talk to during local development. backend/docker-compose.test.yml spins up a throwaway, tmpfs-backed instance — no data persists between restarts, which is fine for local dev and tests.

cd backend
npm run db:test:up

This starts Postgres on localhost:55432, database redefined_test.

2. Run migrations

PowerShell / bash (same command, cross-platform via Node):

cd backend $env:PGHOST="localhost"; $env:PGPORT="55432"; $env:PGUSER="redefined_test"; $env:PGPASSWORD="redefined_test"; $env:PGDATABASE="redefined_test" npm install npm run migrate:up

This applies every migration in backend/migrations/ in order, tracked in a pgmigrations table so re-running is always safe (already-applied migrations are skipped).

To add a new migration:

npm run migrate:create -- descriptive-name

This generates a timestamped file in backend/migrations/ with exports.up/exports.down stubs — fill in pgm.sql(...) for both directions.

3. Configure environment variables

PowerShell:

$env:PGHOST = "localhost"
$env:PGPORT = "55432"
$env:PGUSER = "redefined_test"
$env:PGPASSWORD = "redefined_test"
$env:PGDATABASE = "redefined_test"
$env:PORT = "3000"
$env:DEMO_MODE = "true"
$env:UPLOADS_DIR = "$env:TEMP\redefined-uploads"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $env:UPLOADS_DIR | Out-Null

bash:

export PGHOST=localhost
export PGPORT=55432
export PGUSER=redefined_test
export PGPASSWORD=redefined_test
export PGDATABASE=redefined_test
export PORT=3000
export DEMO_MODE=true
export UPLOADS_DIR=/tmp/redefined-uploads
mkdir -p /tmp/redefined-uploads

DEMO_MODE=true enables a "Buy Now (Demo)" button on the storefront that completes a purchase without needing real PayPal credentials — useful for local development and for the Playwright tests below. To exercise real PayPal checkout locally, also set PAYPAL_CLIENT_ID, PAYPAL_CLIENT_SECRET, and PAYPAL_ENV=sandbox.

Note (PowerShell): environment variables set with $env: only last for the current terminal session/tab. If you close and reopen VS Code's terminal, you'll need to re-run step 3 before starting the backend again.

4. Run the backend

npm install
npm run dev

Runs on http://localhost:3000 with hot reload.

5. Run the frontend

Open a second terminal tab/window (the backend needs to keep running in the first one):

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Runs on http://localhost:5173 and proxies /api, /uploads, /webhooks to the backend on port 3000.

6. Open it

• Storefront: http://localhost:5173
• Admin: http://localhost:5173/admin

Note: locally, /admin is directly reachable with no login gate — the authentik SSO protection only exists in the deployed environment (Nginx Proxy Manager + authentik forward-auth), not in local dev.

Running tests

Backend unit tests

No database required.

cd backend
npm run test:unit

Backend integration tests

Exercises the real Express app against a real (disposable) Postgres instance via supertest.

cd backend
npm run db:test:up
npm run test:integration
npm run db:test:down   # when finished

Frontend Playwright e2e tests

Needs the backend running against a database with the schema loaded (steps 1–4 above), since these tests drive real registration/login/purchase flows through a live API.

cd frontend
npm install
npx playwright install --with-deps   # first time only — installs browser binaries
npm run test:e2e

CI

Gitea Actions runs two workflows on every push to main and on pull requests:

• SonarQube Analysis (.gitea/workflows/sonarqube.yml) — static analysis scan, plus TypeScript build checks for both backend and frontend
• Tests (.gitea/workflows/tests.yml) — backend unit tests, backend integration tests (against a disposable Postgres service container), and frontend Playwright e2e tests, each posting a results summary to the job's Summary tab in Gitea Actions

Branching and commits

• All changes go on a branch off main, named feature/<short-description> or fix/<short-description> — never commit directly to main
• Commit messages follow Conventional Commits syntax: feat:, fix:, chore:, docs:, test:, ci:, refactor:, etc.
• Branches are automatically deleted after a pull request is merged

Production deployment

Production runs as a single Docker image (multi-stage build — the frontend is built to static files and served directly by the backend), deployed via Portainer behind Nginx Proxy Manager, with authentik forward-auth gating /admin. That infrastructure is homelab-specific and documented separately outside this repo.

The container applies pending migrations before starting the server, so deployed code can never be ahead of the database schema. A failed migration stops the container rather than letting it serve against a schema it doesn't match — check docker logs on the app container if it doesn't come up.