RotaCat

A shift scheduling PWA for the VHW Emergency Centre medical team. Replaces a manual PDF-based rostering process with an automated scheduler, admin tools, and a doctor-facing portal. This tool was created independently and is not endorsed by WCG, NDoH, or VHW.

Stack

• Frontend: React + Vite + Tailwind CSS, deployed on Vercel
• Backend (scheduling engine): Python FastAPI + OR-Tools, deployed on Render
• Database / Auth / Storage: Supabase

Local development setup

1. Install dependencies:

   npm install
   

2. Copy the environment template and fill in your Supabase values:

   cp .env.example .env.local
   

   Then edit .env.local and set:

   • VITE_SUPABASE_URL — your Supabase project URL
   • VITE_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY — your Supabase publishable key

   Both values are available in Supabase under Project Settings → API Keys.

3. Start the dev server:

   npm run dev
   

   The app will be available at http://localhost:5173

Project structure

src/
  components/   Shared UI components (layout, route guards)
  context/      React context providers (auth/session state)
  lib/          External service clients (Supabase)
  pages/        Route-level page components
  styles/       Global CSS and Tailwind entry point

Deployment

• Frontend: connect this repo to Vercel; set the same environment variables (VITE_SUPABASE_URL, VITE_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY) in the Vercel project settings.
• Backend: see /backend (added in a later phase) for the FastAPI scheduling engine, deployed separately on Render.

Previewing a branch: the preview branch

Every branch pushed here gets its own Vercel preview deployment, but you can only sign in on one of them.

Login is gated by Cloudflare Turnstile, and a Turnstile site key only issues tokens on hostnames listed in its Hostname Management allowlist. A per-branch preview URL (rotacat-git-<branch>-vhw-ec.vercel.app) is not on that list, so the widget fails with error 110200 (domain not allowed), no token arrives, and the submit button stays disabled. Unsetting VITE_TURNSTILE_SITE_KEY for the Preview environment does not help — Supabase Auth verifies the captcha server-side, so sign-in then fails for a missing token instead. Nor is there a wildcard: Cloudflare rejects vercel.app as a public-suffix domain.

So there is one long-lived branch, preview, whose Vercel alias never changes:

https://rotacat-git-preview-vhw-ec.vercel.app

That hostname is allowlisted in the Turnstile widget's Hostname Management list, so sign-in works there. Nothing needs to change in Cloudflare for a new branch.

To review a branch, point preview at its head:

git fetch origin <branch-to-review>
git push --force origin FETCH_HEAD:refs/heads/preview

Vercel redeploys and re-aliases the same hostname to that commit — including when that commit already has a preview deployment of its own under its real branch name.

One exception: Vercel will not build a commit that is already deployed to production, so pointing preview at main's head (or at a PR head that has just been merged and promoted) produces no deployment and leaves the alias where it was. Review before merging, or push a throwaway commit on top.

preview is a disposable review pointer, never a source of truth: don't commit to it, don't merge from it, and expect anyone to force-move it at any time.

Preview deployments are behind Vercel SSO (deployment protection is on for everything except custom domains), so a reviewer also needs access to the Vic-EC Vercel team to open them.

Build phases

• Phase 1 — Supabase schema, auth, RLS policies
• Phase 2 — React frontend shell, auth flow, staff list (this repo state)
• Phase 3 — Python scheduling engine (OR-Tools)
• Phase 4 — Roster grid display + manual editing
• Phase 5 — Excel export
• Phase 6 — Doctor portal (leave requests, calendar blocks)
• Phase 7 — Shift swap workflow
• Phase 8 — Notifications
• Phase 9 — Excel re-upload + diff logic

See FUTURE_IDEAS.md for unscoped feature ideas not yet tied to a build phase.

License

This repository is proprietary — see LICENSE. It is published on GitHub for visibility and collaboration, not as open-source software; no license to use, copy, modify, or redistribute the code is granted.