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.

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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.

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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.