From 229e1ca40cc155411a192865fc19b2e6b89eaa81 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:07:59 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 01/26] Create basic Dockerfile

---
 Dockerfile | 17 +++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 17 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 Dockerfile

diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..92de104
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+FROM python:3.12-slim
+
+# Git is needed to install the git-based dependency in requirements.txt
+RUN apt-get update
+    && apt-get install -y git
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+COPY requirements.txt .
+
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
+
+COPY app/ ./app/
+
+EXPOSE 8000
+
+# Run FastAPI via Uvicorn
+CMD ["uvicorn", "app.main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000"]
\ No newline at end of file

From d5b85823643a41b2d30072689442570684cca854 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:01:08 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 02/26] Add DB root password to .env and move to project root

---
 app/dependencies.py            | 7 ++++---
 app/example.env => example.env | 4 ++++
 2 files changed, 8 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
 rename app/example.env => example.env (63%)

diff --git a/app/dependencies.py b/app/dependencies.py
index 2879e86..b9c3def 100644
--- a/app/dependencies.py
+++ b/app/dependencies.py
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
 from typing import Annotated, AsyncGenerator, Generator
 
+import carpi_data_model.models as models
 from fastapi import Depends, FastAPI
 from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings, SettingsConfigDict
-from sqlalchemy.engine import Engine
 from sqlalchemy import create_engine
+from sqlalchemy.engine import Engine
 from sqlalchemy.orm import Session, sessionmaker
-import carpi_data_model.models as models
 
 
 class _Settings(BaseSettings):
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ class _Settings(BaseSettings):
     db_password: str
     db_schema: str
     model_config = SettingsConfigDict(
-        env_file=os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), ".env")
+        env_file=os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__)), ".env"),
+        extra="ignore",
     )
 
 
diff --git a/app/example.env b/example.env
similarity index 63%
rename from app/example.env
rename to example.env
index bbdb23a..519508a 100644
--- a/app/example.env
+++ b/example.env
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Create a file named ".env" in this directory with the following variables
 
+# This root password is only used for instantiating the MySQL container in
+# Docker Compose.
+DB_ROOT_PASSWORD="password"
+
 DB_DIALECT="mysql"
 DB_API="mysqlconnector"
 DB_HOSTNAME="hostname:port"

From dec915dcf5e4d6bf1d43194f9d8a958b8428cbfb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:02:13 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 03/26] Add Docker and Docker Compose files

---
 Dockerfile         |  6 +++---
 docker-compose.yml | 37 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 docker-compose.yml

diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 92de104..cef872c 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 FROM python:3.12-slim
 
 # Git is needed to install the git-based dependency in requirements.txt
-RUN apt-get update
-    && apt-get install -y git
-    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y git && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+WORKDIR /api
 
 COPY requirements.txt .
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..607fedf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+services:
+  db:
+    image: mysql:8.0
+    restart: always
+    environment:
+      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DB_ROOT_PASSWORD}
+      MYSQL_DATABASE: ${DB_SCHEMA}
+      MYSQL_USER: ${DB_USERNAME}
+      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
+    ports:
+      - "3306:3306"
+    volumes:
+      - mysql_data:/var/lib/mysql
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost"]
+      interval: 5s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 10
+
+  api:
+    build: .
+    restart: always
+    ports:
+      - "8000:8000"
+    environment:
+      DB_DIALECT: ${DB_DIALECT}
+      DB_API: ${DB_API}
+      DB_HOSTNAME: ${DB_HOSTNAME}
+      DB_USERNAME: ${DB_USERNAME}
+      DB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
+      DB_SCHEMA: ${DB_SCHEMA}
+    depends_on:
+      db:
+        condition: service_healthy
+
+volumes:
+  mysql_data:

From 0e540fd2c12d3296d0603f76fe604a4451657129 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2026 23:57:05 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 04/26] Remove redundant variable names in Docker Compose

---
 docker-compose.yml | 9 ++-------
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 607fedf..f219ef0 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -22,13 +22,8 @@ services:
     restart: always
     ports:
       - "8000:8000"
-    environment:
-      DB_DIALECT: ${DB_DIALECT}
-      DB_API: ${DB_API}
-      DB_HOSTNAME: ${DB_HOSTNAME}
-      DB_USERNAME: ${DB_USERNAME}
-      DB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
-      DB_SCHEMA: ${DB_SCHEMA}
+    env_file:
+      - .env
     depends_on:
       db:
         condition: service_healthy

From 8e8d82758046adad4ba78b776990113e35c4b971 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:16:08 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 05/26] Restore .env variable interpolation

---
 docker-compose.yml | 9 +++++++--
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index f219ef0..1da03a4 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -22,8 +22,13 @@ services:
     restart: always
     ports:
       - "8000:8000"
-    env_file:
-      - .env
+    environment:
+      DB_DIALECT: mysql
+      DB_API: ${DB_API}
+      DB_HOSTNAME: db:3306
+      DB_USERNAME: ${DB_USERNAME}
+      DB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
+      DB_SCHEMA: ${DB_SCHEMA}
     depends_on:
       db:
         condition: service_healthy

From 9531ebe256875417bf0945485164e7cd244c88a8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:44:05 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 06/26] Fix DB health check passing prematurely

---
 docker-compose.yml | 12 +++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 1da03a4..31e9bce 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,17 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - mysql_data:/var/lib/mysql
     healthcheck:
-      test: ["CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost"]
+      test:
+        [
+          "CMD",
+          "mysqladmin",
+          "ping",
+          "-h",
+          "localhost",
+          "-u",
+          "${DB_USERNAME}",
+          "--password=${DB_PASSWORD}",
+        ]
       interval: 5s
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 10

From b658cfe47b811842ea3c30c94a8e561bfc604bff Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:50:50 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 07/26] Second fix to DB health check

---
 docker-compose.yml | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 31e9bce..e11e017 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ services:
           "mysqladmin",
           "ping",
           "-h",
-          "localhost",
+          "127.0.0.1",
           "-u",
           "${DB_USERNAME}",
           "--password=${DB_PASSWORD}",

From 201957a03cf7c3bdec0c49c29a0a3e718a62c4ae Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:57:22 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 08/26] Remove hardcoded variable values in Docker Compose

---
 docker-compose.yml | 4 ++--
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index e11e017..94e8438 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -33,9 +33,9 @@ services:
     ports:
       - "8000:8000"
     environment:
-      DB_DIALECT: mysql
+      DB_DIALECT: ${DB_DIALECT}
       DB_API: ${DB_API}
-      DB_HOSTNAME: db:3306
+      DB_HOSTNAME: ${DB_HOSTNAME}
       DB_USERNAME: ${DB_USERNAME}
       DB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
       DB_SCHEMA: ${DB_SCHEMA}

From c47f74e21eb138a43de00b9e8914ca30f9e69fa9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2026 23:26:48 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 09/26] Modify Black check to call shared workflow

---
 .github/workflows/black-check.yml | 28 +++++++---------------------
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 21 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/black-check.yml b/.github/workflows/black-check.yml
index 1d11de9..107b541 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/black-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/black-check.yml
@@ -1,25 +1,11 @@
-name: Black Check
+name: Black Formatting Check
 
+# Run on every push and pull request
 on: [push, pull_request]
 
 jobs:
-  format-check:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-
-    steps:
-    - name: Checkout code
-      uses: actions/checkout@v2
-
-    - name: Set up Python
-      uses: actions/setup-python@v2
-      with:
-        python-version: '3.12.2'
-
-    - name: Install dependencies
-      run: |
-        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-        pip install black
-
-    - name: Run Black check
-      run: black --check .
-      
\ No newline at end of file
+  call-format-check:
+    uses: project-carpi/.github/.github/workflows/black-check.yml@main
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+    secrets: inherit

From 3831cba774a2d086ef20c417dbe4ed48c87b3d5b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2026 02:29:50 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 10/26] Enhance Dockerfile readability

---
 Dockerfile | 10 +++++++---
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index cef872c..79c20a0 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,15 +1,19 @@
 FROM python:3.12-slim
 
 # Git is needed to install the git-based dependency in requirements.txt
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y git && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y git
 
+# Clean up apt cache to reduce image size
+RUN rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# Store all application files in /api
 WORKDIR /api
 
+# Copy the requirements file and install dependencies
 COPY requirements.txt .
-
 RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 
-COPY app/ ./app/
+COPY . .
 
 EXPOSE 8000
 

From 5d59083f4f1affc30c123e2e060705a1be793e59 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2026 02:29:55 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 11/26] Create .dockerignore

---
 .dockerignore | 15 +++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 .dockerignore

diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..628b32e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Ignore all files
+
+*
+
+# Whitelist necessary build files
+!requirements.txt
+
+# Allow Docker to read app directory
+!app/
+
+# Ignore everything inside app
+app/*
+
+# Only allow .py files within app and its subdirectories
+!app/**/*.py

From fc5b97c0e2ed46ec412b4edfdc9c68c93b65e8ae Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2026 02:30:32 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 12/26] Include shared dev Compose and refactor API service

---
 docker-compose.yml | 78 ++++++++++++++++++++++++----------------------
 1 file changed, 40 insertions(+), 38 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 94e8438..d1c02b9 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,47 +1,49 @@
-services:
-  db:
-    image: mysql:8.0
-    restart: always
-    environment:
-      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DB_ROOT_PASSWORD}
-      MYSQL_DATABASE: ${DB_SCHEMA}
-      MYSQL_USER: ${DB_USERNAME}
-      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
-    ports:
-      - "3306:3306"
-    volumes:
-      - mysql_data:/var/lib/mysql
-    healthcheck:
-      test:
-        [
-          "CMD",
-          "mysqladmin",
-          "ping",
-          "-h",
-          "127.0.0.1",
-          "-u",
-          "${DB_USERNAME}",
-          "--password=${DB_PASSWORD}",
-        ]
-      interval: 5s
-      timeout: 5s
-      retries: 10
+# Docker Compose configuration for the CARPI API environment.
+#
+# This Compose file includes a shared development environment configuration
+# from the Project-CARPI/.github repository, which contains a database service
+# and a shared Docker network for testing.
+#
+# To start the development environment, run:
+# docker compose run --rm api && docker compose down
+#
+# This will start both the shared development environment and the carpi-api
+# container. After the API container is stopped, the "docker compose down" will
+# stop the shared development environment.
+#
+# The test database volume persists between Docker start and stop cycles so
+# that test data remains available across both development sessions and other
+# services that depend on the database. The volume must be manually removed in
+# order to build the database from scratch.
+
+name: carpi-api-dev-environment
 
+include:
+  - https://github.com/Project-CARPI/.github.git#main:shared-dev-env/docker-compose.yml
+
+services:
   api:
     build: .
-    restart: always
+    image: carpi-api:latest
+    container_name: carpi-api
+    # Ensure image is built locally and is not pulled from a registry
+    pull_policy: build
+    restart: on-failure
     ports:
       - "8000:8000"
+    env_file:
+      - .env
+    # Override the DB_HOSTNAME environment variable
     environment:
-      DB_DIALECT: ${DB_DIALECT}
-      DB_API: ${DB_API}
-      DB_HOSTNAME: ${DB_HOSTNAME}
-      DB_USERNAME: ${DB_USERNAME}
-      DB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
-      DB_SCHEMA: ${DB_SCHEMA}
+      DB_HOSTNAME: db:3306
+    # Mount local code over the code built into the container for automatic
+    # reloading during development.
+    volumes:
+      - .:/api
     depends_on:
       db:
         condition: service_healthy
-
-volumes:
-  mysql_data:
+    develop:
+      watch:
+        - action: rebuild
+          path: requirements.txt

From 1144b0e4ad234dd04455627f270446a46c96b9db Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2026 02:32:47 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 13/26] Add clarifying comment to Dockerfile

---
 Dockerfile | 2 ++
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+)

diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 79c20a0..3d4fff6 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -13,8 +13,10 @@ WORKDIR /api
 COPY requirements.txt .
 RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 
+# Copy the rest of the application code into the container
 COPY . .
 
+# Indicate that the container should listen on port 8000
 EXPOSE 8000
 
 # Run FastAPI via Uvicorn

From bb557051558d8002433734474585465f78c0ba8c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2026 02:32:53 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 14/26] Create image-publish.yml

---
 .github/workflows/image-publish.yml | 15 +++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 .github/workflows/image-publish.yml

diff --git a/.github/workflows/image-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/image-publish.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3136378
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/image-publish.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+name: Build and Push Docker Image to GHCR
+
+# Run this workflow every time code is pushed or merged to the main branch
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+jobs:
+  call-build-and-push:
+    uses: project-carpi/.github/.github/workflows/image-publish.yml@main
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      packages: write
+    secrets: inherit

From f532cd8df39ebb1fd7a3f5f44e6b3b196d8321e1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2026 13:00:46 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 15/26] Make environment variables explicit

---
 docker-compose.yml | 10 +++++++---
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index d1c02b9..751a508 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -31,11 +31,15 @@ services:
     restart: on-failure
     ports:
       - "8000:8000"
-    env_file:
-      - .env
-    # Override the DB_HOSTNAME environment variable
     environment:
+      DB_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DB_ROOT_PASSWORD}
+      DB_DIALECT: ${DB_DIALECT}
+      DB_API: ${DB_API}
+      # Hardcode the DB_HOSTNAME environment variable
       DB_HOSTNAME: db:3306
+      DB_USERNAME: ${DB_USERNAME}
+      DB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
+      DB_SCHEMA: ${DB_SCHEMA}
     # Mount local code over the code built into the container for automatic
     # reloading during development.
     volumes:

From 702ee3596f35f0cef949bc5cf240bd4f93119f65 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 18:52:54 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 16/26] Add comment in Compose to clarify possible warning

---
 docker-compose.yml | 3 +++
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+)

diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 751a508..05f9ad1 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@
 # container. After the API container is stopped, the "docker compose down" will
 # stop the shared development environment.
 #
+# A warning may appear about the test database volume already existing. This is
+# expected and can be safely ignored.
+#
 # The test database volume persists between Docker start and stop cycles so
 # that test data remains available across both development sessions and other
 # services that depend on the database. The volume must be manually removed in

From 5a83d14dec2ea923f6436bd051c327e753b2dd85 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 19:40:26 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 17/26] Remove mention of shared Docker network in Compose

---
 docker-compose.yml | 3 +--
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 05f9ad1..7732e14 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 # Docker Compose configuration for the CARPI API environment.
 #
 # This Compose file includes a shared development environment configuration
-# from the Project-CARPI/.github repository, which contains a database service
-# and a shared Docker network for testing.
+# from the Project-CARPI/.github repository, which contains a database service.
 #
 # To start the development environment, run:
 # docker compose run --rm api && docker compose down

From 2557b9b471097b27dfa9d8f9002aefcf1cc17319 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 19:40:37 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 18/26] Clarify example.env

---
 example.env | 8 ++++++--
 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/example.env b/example.env
index 519508a..413468f 100644
--- a/example.env
+++ b/example.env
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
-# Create a file named ".env" in this directory with the following variables
+# Create a file named ".env" in this directory with the following variables.
+# If using Docker Compose for development, these values can be used as-is.
+
+# This only needs to be set if the database is different from the one used
+# in the Docker Compose environment.
+DB_HOSTNAME="hostname:port"
 
 # This root password is only used for instantiating the MySQL container in
 # Docker Compose.
@@ -6,7 +11,6 @@ DB_ROOT_PASSWORD="password"
 
 DB_DIALECT="mysql"
 DB_API="mysqlconnector"
-DB_HOSTNAME="hostname:port"
 DB_USERNAME="username"
 DB_PASSWORD="password"
 DB_SCHEMA="schema"
\ No newline at end of file

From 7ab08926b539d01a6f6a878a1921c939f6525aa1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 19:40:43 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 19/26] Fill in README

---
 README.md | 33 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 31 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9e6d849..42246a5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,32 @@
-# CARPI-Backend-FastAPI
+# CARPI Course Planner - API
 
-FastAPI re-write of the old Spring Boot API.
+This is the API service for the CARPI Course Planner application. It is designed to work in tandem with the [frontend](https://github.com/Project-CARPI/site) and [SIS scraper](https://github.com/Project-CARPI/sis-scraper).
+
+## Running the API
+
+### Prerequisites
+
+- **[Docker](https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/)** (Required): Used for the streamlined development environment setup.
+- **[Python >= 3.12](https://www.python.org/)** (Optional): Useful for code editor linting or running the API locally without Docker.
+
+### Setup Instructions
+
+**1. Configure Environment Variables**
+
+Create a copy of the `example.env` file in the project root and rename it to `.env`.
+
+The default values provided in the example file will work out of the box, but they can be customized as needed.
+
+**2. Start the Development Environment**
+
+With Docker Engine running, execute the following command in your terminal:
+
+```bash
+docker compose run --rm api && docker compose down
+```
+
+### About the Database Environment
+
+- **Shared Database:** The development environment pulls a shared MySQL database service definition from an external repository, creating a local database volume.
+- **Data Persistence:** The test database volume persists between Docker start and stop cycles, ensuring test data remains available across development sessions and for other services that depend on the database.
+- **Resetting the Database:** To completely rebuild the database from scratch, you must manually remove the corresponding Docker volume prior to starting the environment.

From a2a62bf27f10d5366a9aaeb50a7d39de9377ec7e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 19:48:17 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 20/26] Add --service-ports to Compose command

---
 docker-compose.yml | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 7732e14..1d66fd3 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 # from the Project-CARPI/.github repository, which contains a database service.
 #
 # To start the development environment, run:
-# docker compose run --rm api && docker compose down
+# docker compose run --rm --service-ports api && docker compose down
 #
 # This will start both the shared development environment and the carpi-api
 # container. After the API container is stopped, the "docker compose down" will

From 1137df4f1b50320f5d1ba7488506c85211177126 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 19:51:22 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 21/26] Update README setup command

---
 README.md | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 42246a5..f423c6b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ The default values provided in the example file will work out of the box, but th
 With Docker Engine running, execute the following command in your terminal:
 
 ```bash
-docker compose run --rm api && docker compose down
+docker compose run --rm --service-ports api && docker compose down
 ```
 
 ### About the Database Environment

From 420a5ba84ba9b0123f254601b79d4b61519aee58 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 19:51:37 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 22/26] Add helpful runtime tips to README

---
 README.md | 5 +++++
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f423c6b..94543d9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ With Docker Engine running, execute the following command in your terminal:
 docker compose run --rm --service-ports api && docker compose down
 ```
 
+While the container is running:
+
+- **Live Reloading:** Local files are mounted to the running container, so the API service will automatically respond to live changes in your source code.
+- **API Documentation:** A list of endpoint definitions and interactive Swagger documentation can be found at http://localhost:8000/docs.
+
 ### About the Database Environment
 
 - **Shared Database:** The development environment pulls a shared MySQL database service definition from an external repository, creating a local database volume.

From f540bf0ca29d8a1545459fe0dc723720d479fc6d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 20:07:56 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 23/26] Remove DB_ROOT_PASSWORD from Compose

---
 docker-compose.yml | 1 -
 1 file changed, 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 1d66fd3..ea79c7d 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ services:
     ports:
       - "8000:8000"
     environment:
-      DB_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${DB_ROOT_PASSWORD}
       DB_DIALECT: ${DB_DIALECT}
       DB_API: ${DB_API}
       # Hardcode the DB_HOSTNAME environment variable

From ee772e72e330d1b5c685992905ee3401d7a87006 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 20:09:36 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 24/26] Reduce layering in Dockerfile

---
 Dockerfile | 7 +++----
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 3d4fff6..391b241 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
 FROM python:3.12-slim
 
 # Git is needed to install the git-based dependency in requirements.txt
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y git
-
-# Clean up apt cache to reduce image size
-RUN rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+RUN apt-get update && \
+    apt-get install -y git && \
+    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 # Store all application files in /api
 WORKDIR /api

From f7f6ec6a74299893aef7ffd48356986c21190f32 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 20:16:30 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 25/26] Add dev and prod stages to Dockerfile

This is to allow live reloading to work correctly in development, while maintaining integrity of the production build.
---
 Dockerfile         | 13 +++++++++++--
 docker-compose.yml |  4 +++-
 2 files changed, 14 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 391b241..61b0fae 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM python:3.12-slim
+FROM python:3.12-slim AS base
 
 # Git is needed to install the git-based dependency in requirements.txt
 RUN apt-get update && \
@@ -18,5 +18,14 @@ COPY . .
 # Indicate that the container should listen on port 8000
 EXPOSE 8000
 
-# Run FastAPI via Uvicorn
+# --- DEVELOPMENT STAGE ---
+FROM base as dev
+
+# Run Uvicorn with reload enabled for development
+CMD ["uvicorn", "app.main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000", "--reload"]
+
+### --- PRODUCTION STAGE ---
+FROM base as prod
+
+# Run Uvicorn for production
 CMD ["uvicorn", "app.main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index ea79c7d..a7bbb2e 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -25,7 +25,9 @@ include:
 
 services:
   api:
-    build: .
+    build:
+      context: .
+      target: dev
     image: carpi-api:latest
     container_name: carpi-api
     # Ensure image is built locally and is not pulled from a registry

From 3ed1060b05daffa5aae9f3c37bc84bdf07ac885f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raymond Chen <42894676+ramonechen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 20:17:27 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 26/26] Remove Compose watch directive

With the docker run command, the watch directive is ignored. And I don't think it will be very often that the development environment will be kept running as a developer adds/removes dependencies from requirements.txt.
---
 docker-compose.yml | 4 ----
 1 file changed, 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index a7bbb2e..c9cc47d 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -50,7 +50,3 @@ services:
     depends_on:
       db:
         condition: service_healthy
-    develop:
-      watch:
-        - action: rebuild
-          path: requirements.txt