Value Lifecycle Platform

🔗 Live demo: value-lifecycle-platform.vercel.app — running on Vercel + Neon. The demo-account picker is off in production (accounts aren't listed publicly), so sign in with a demo email + password. To show the one-click role picker on a deployment, set SHOW_LOGIN_MEMBER_PICKER=true.

Before it works, create a Postgres database (a free Neon DB is recommended) and run prisma db push + seed against it — the button asks for DATABASE_URL, DIRECT_URL, AUTH_SECRET and AUTH_TRUST_HOST during import. Full walkthrough: DEPLOYMENT.md.

An end-to-end web app for three complementary roles across the full value lifecycle:

• Value Engineer (VE) — runs structured value studies (8-phase VE Job Plan), analyses functions/cost/performance, generates alternatives, and builds a quantified business case.
• Value Realization Manager (VRM) — implements approved recommendations (7-phase realization lifecycle), drives adoption, measures outcomes, and proves realized value against the business case.
• Customer Success Manager (CSM) — runs the continuous, per-account lifecycle (8 stages: onboarding → health → renewal → expansion), with a health scorecard, renewal/growth plans and AI-assisted EBRs. See docs/CS-MODULE-DESIGN.md.

The VE → VR handover is first-class (every realization track links back to its source study, business case, baselines, KPIs and success criteria), and a Customer Success engagement references the account's studies and tracks — surfacing their value, never duplicating it.

Supports three configurable industry profiles out of the box — Construction & Infrastructure, Manufacturing & Product Development, and Enterprise Software / SaaS — with industry as configuration, not code.

📘 New here? Read the User Guide — how to run a value study end-to-end, from a fresh problem through the handover to proven realized value.

See ARCHITECTURE.md for the full design, data model and user flows, and docs/MAINTENANCE.md for maintainer notes — migrations, the demo-kit regeneration chain, and build/deploy gotchas.

🧭 Proposed: docs/CS-MODULE-DESIGN.md — a draft design for a Customer Success pillar (continuous 8-stage lifecycle) alongside VE and VR. Not yet built.

Stack

Next.js 15 (App Router) · TypeScript · Prisma · PostgreSQL · Tailwind CSS · docx / exceljs exports.

Prerequisites

• Node 18+ and PostgreSQL running locally.

Setup

# 1. Install
npm install

# 2. Configure the database URL
cp .env.example .env
#   edit .env → DATABASE_URL="postgresql://<user>@localhost:5432/value_consultancy?schema=public"

# 3. Create the database
createdb value_consultancy

# 4. Create the schema + generate the client
npx prisma db push

# 5. Seed config (industries, phases, KPIs, templates) + demo data
npm run db:seed

# 6. Run
npm run dev   # http://localhost:3200

What's seeded

• Config: 3 industry profiles, 8 VE + 7 VR phase-guidance templates, ~20 KPI definitions with formulas, VE/VR content templates.
• Demo org Meridian Value Advisory with 5 users (one per role).
• Study VE-2026-014 (construction) — fully handed over to a live realization track VR-2026-014 with work packages, benefits, KPI actuals and a QBR.
• Study VE-2026-021 (SaaS) — in review, with a business case, ready to hand over.

Sign in at /login (unauthenticated requests are redirected there by middleware). In local dev the sign-in screen lists the demo workspace's members, so you can jump straight in as Value Engineer, Value Realization Manager, Customer Success Manager, Reviewer, Stakeholder/Viewer or Admin — navigation and permissions adapt. The demo workspace signs in one-click when DEMO_PASSWORD is set (otherwise pick a member to prefill their email and type the password). The member picker is off in production by default (SHOW_LOGIN_MEMBER_PICKER=true re-enables it); demo accounts share the DEMO_PASSWORD password — see DEPLOYMENT.md.

Create your own workspace at /register — each sign-up creates a new, isolated organization with the signer as Admin. Admins get a Team page (/settings/team) to add members, assign roles, reset passwords, and remove access. No email server needed (admins set an initial password to share).

Key scripts

Script	Action
npm run dev	Dev server on :3200
npm run db:seed	Seed config + demo data (idempotent for config; resets demo studies/tracks)
npm run db:reset	Drop, re-migrate and re-seed
npx prisma studio	Browse the database
npx tsx scripts/import-workbook.ts <file.xlsx>	Import a capture workbook as a study/track (see below)

Importing capture workbooks

Meeting-capture Excel workbooks (a VE Discovery Workbook, VR Intake Workbook or CS Intake Workbook, whose columns/dropdowns mirror the schema) can be loaded straight into the app:

npx tsx scripts/import-workbook.ts <file.xlsx> [--owner <email>] [--org <id>] [--code <CODE>] [--dry-run]

• Auto-detects VE / VR / CS by the workbook's tabs, and creates the study/track/engagement plus all children — VE: functions, alternatives + scores, recommendations, business case & line items with recomputed ROI/payback/NPV/IRR, handover artifacts; VR: KPIs, work packages, benefits, risks; CS: 8 lifecycle stages, stakeholders, actions, a computed health score, renewal/growth/success plans, and links to existing studies/tracks — in one transaction.
• --dry-run prints the full plan and writes nothing. --owner sets the owner (defaults to an org VE/VRM). A study/track code is auto-assigned unless --code is given.
• Prepare the file first: delete the greyed example row in each table (or add rows beneath it) and keep each table's rows contiguous (a blank row ends a table). Each run creates a new study/track.

API (selected)

• GET/POST /api/studies · GET /api/studies/:id
• GET/POST /api/tracks — POST creates a track by handing over a study (the VE→VR bridge)
• GET /api/kpis
• GET /api/export/business-case/:studyId → Word · GET /api/export/vrp/:trackId → Word · GET /api/export/kpis → Excel

Production notes

• Auth: Auth.js (NextAuth v5) with a Credentials provider (JWT sessions). Config is split for the edge: src/lib/auth.config.ts (edge-safe, used by src/middleware.ts for route protection) and src/lib/auth.ts (adds the Credentials provider using Prisma + bcrypt). getCurrentUser()/can() in src/lib/session.ts resolve role and enforce RBAC. Requires AUTH_SECRET in .env (generate with openssl rand -base64 32). To add OAuth/email providers, extend the providers array in src/lib/auth.ts.
• AI starter-text: recommendation drafting and creative-alternative brainstorming call Claude (@anthropic-ai/sdk, model claude-opus-5, structured outputs) via src/lib/ai.ts. It's gated on ANTHROPIC_API_KEY — set it in .env to enable AI drafting; when unset, the buttons fall back to template starter text seeded from the industry profile, so the feature works with no external dependency. Buttons label themselves "…with AI" vs "…(template)" accordingly.
• Migrations: prisma db push is used for the first pass; switch to prisma migrate for versioned migrations before production.

License

MIT © 2026 Paulo Jorge