HomeLink

HomeLink is an integrated online marketplace where customers can buy home improvement products (CCTV, ACs, solar equipment, plumbing, electrical, smart home devices) and book professional installation, maintenance, and repair services — all from one platform.

Features

Customer

• Register, login, and manage profile
• Browse and search products by category
• Shopping cart and secure checkout with promo codes
• Book installation/maintenance services with date/time scheduling
• Track orders and service bookings
• View policies, gallery, and business location

Admin Dashboard

• Manage products, categories, and services
• Process orders and assign technicians to bookings
• Manage users (customers and employees)
• Sales reports and revenue analytics
• Announcements and voucher management

Employee Portal

• View assigned service schedules
• Update job status (Pending → In Progress → Completed)
• Record completion notes

Integrations

• Email API — Order/booking confirmations via Resend (mock mode without Resend config)
• Location API — Google Maps integration for business location
• Payment Gateway — Simulated secure payment processing
• Promos — Holiday discounts, first-time service discount, voucher codes
• AI Assistant (Gemini) — Storefront chat that recommends products and services for a customer's budget, answers questions about HomeLink (delivery, payments, promos, policies, contact), and looks up a signed-in customer's recent orders and bookings. Hidden until GEMINI_API_KEY is set

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React 18, Vite, Tailwind CSS, React Router
• Backend: Node.js, Express, SQLite (better-sqlite3)
• Auth: JWT with role-based access (customer, employee, admin)

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+

Setup

# Install dependencies
cd backend && npm install
cd ../frontend && npm install

# Seed the database with sample data
cd ../backend && npm run seed

# Start backend (terminal 1)
npm run dev

# Start frontend (terminal 2)
cd ../frontend && npm run dev

• Frontend: http://localhost:5173
• Backend API: http://localhost:5000

Demo Accounts

Role	Email	Password	Login URL
Admin	[email protected]	admin123	http://localhost:5173/admin/login
Employee	[email protected]	password123	http://localhost:5173/admin/login
Customer	[email protected]	password123	http://localhost:5173/login

Staff (admin and employee) sign in at the dedicated staff portal, /admin/login, separate from the customer login at /login. Each portal only accepts its own account types — a customer credential entered at /admin/login (or a staff credential entered at /login) is rejected. Logging out of the admin dashboard returns to /admin/login.

The staff portal opens on a role list — the five employee positions, then Administrator — and staff pick theirs before signing in. A correct password for a different role is turned away (before any 2FA code is sent) with a one-click switch to the account's own role. Employees with no position yet, like the demo employee above, can sign in under any employee role.

Promo Codes

• HOMELINK10 — 10% off (min ₱5,000)
• SAVE500 — ₱500 off (min ₱3,000)
• NEWHOME20 — 20% off (min ₱10,000)

First-time service bookings automatically receive 15% off.

Project Structure

homelink/
├── backend/
│   ├── db/           # Database schema & seed
│   ├── routes/       # API routes
│   ├── middleware/   # Auth middleware
│   └── utils/        # Email & promo helpers
└── frontend/
    └── src/
        ├── components/
        ├── context/  # Auth & Cart state
        └── pages/    # Customer, Admin, Employee views

Environment Variables

Copy backend/.env.example to backend/.env and configure:

PORT=5000
JWT_SECRET=your-secret-key
FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:5173
RESEND_API_KEY=your-resend-api-key   # Optional for real emails
EMAIL_FROM=HomeLink <[email protected]>   # sandboxed until a domain is verified
GEMINI_API_KEY=your-gemini-api-key   # Optional; enables the AI assistant (https://aistudio.google.com/apikey)
# GEMINI_MODEL=gemini-3.8-flash       # Optional; comma-separated models to try in order (default: the free Flash models)

License

Built for academic/research purposes.