Permit History & Unpermitted Improvement Check — MVP
A standalone web app that runs a records-level permit history diagnostic
against Florida municipal/AHJ data. Enter an address, get a plain-English
realtor-grade report with confidence grades, top flags, a Then-vs-Now
imagery block, and recommended next steps. One-click PDF download.
v1 coverage: unincorporated Miami-Dade County and cities within it.
Uses Miami-Dade Property Appraiser public JSON and the RER Open Data
ArcGIS FeatureServer. No API keys or logins required for the core
records pipeline.
Optional AI visual review: set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and the app will
use Claude vision to compare the subject's satellite image against a
block-context view, looking for roof / addition / fence discrepancies
against the permit record. Without the key, the report falls back to a
static visual checklist.
v2 plans: individual city portals (Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Hialeah,
Doral, etc.), Broward County, Palm Beach County.
Run locally
npm install
npm run dev
# open http://localhost:3000
Production build
npm run build
npm start
Deploy
See DEPLOY.md for copy-paste instructions covering
GitHub + Vercel + custom subdomain on palma.llc.
Architecture
src/
├── app/
│ ├── layout.tsx Root HTML shell
│ ├── page.tsx Landing page with address form
│ ├── Report.tsx Client component rendering DiagnosticReport
│ ├── globals.css Tailwind + custom report styles
│ └── api/
│ └── check/
│ ├── route.ts POST → runDiagnostic → JSON
│ └── pdf/
│ └── route.ts POST → runDiagnostic → buildPdf → .pdf
├── lib/
│ ├── types.ts DiagnosticReport + domain types
│ ├── miami-dade.ts Pipeline: PA + ArcGIS + geocoder → DiagnosticReport
│ └── pdf-report.ts DiagnosticReport → PDF via pdfkit (standard AFM fonts)
API
POST /api/check — body { address?: string; folio?: string } →
returns DiagnosticReport JSON.
POST /api/check/pdf — body { address?: string; folio?: string }
OR a full DiagnosticReport object → returns a PDF.
GET /api/check — health check.
Data sources
- Miami-Dade Property Appraiser public JSON (
PAPublicServiceProxy):
owner, building, extra features, sales, benefit/taxable.
- Miami-Dade Open Data ArcGIS FeatureServer:
BuildingPermit_gdb,
Open_Building_Violations, BuildingViolation_gdb,
CodeComplianceViolation_Open_View,
CodeComplianceViolation_ClosedPast5Years_View,
EnergovCodeCasePublicView, inspectionsData.
Operating principle
This app does records-level triage only. It does not make legal or
final compliance determinations. Every finding is classified as:
- Confirmed by permit records
- Likely supported but incomplete
- Visible/claimed with no matching permit found
- Possible mismatch / possible unpermitted work
- Insufficient data to determine
Every report carries a confidence grade and explicit data limitations.
Always verify with the AHJ before acting.
