FlowTrack

This project is a submission for the "Engineering Software-as-a-Service" (Fall 2025) course, Group 11.

1. Team Members

• You Wu (yw4643)
• Jiawen Lyu (jl7257)
• Zhijing Wu (zw3155)
• Robert Fornos (rf2830)

2. Project Description

The modern job search is fragmented and requires unsustainable manual tracking. FlowTrack solves this by using the employer's final "Apply" URL as a unique anchor for each application.

Our platform automatically parses key metadata and feeds every application into a live Sankey diagram. This flow-first visualization replaces static lists, allowing users to instantly see bottlenecks and track progress from Applied to Offer.

3. Tech Stack

• Framework: Ruby on Rails (MVC)
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Testing: RSpec (TDD) & Cucumber (BDD)
• Deployment: Heroku

4. Live Deployment (Heroku)

The live SaaS prototype is deployed to Heroku:

https://flowtrack-7b01930f8bf1.herokuapp.com

Note: You need to sign in to make changes to the application status. The unsigned version is provided as a preview of the application experience.

Account for testing:

Username: Testing

Password: 123456

5. GitHub Repository

The source code is available on GitHub:

https://github.com/Real-Time-Job-Search-Tracker/proj-iter1

6. Local Development Instructions

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

• A specific Ruby version (e.g., as defined in .ruby-version)
• Bundler
• PostgreSQL (must be running)

If PostgreSQL is not already installed and running, use the following commands:

brew install postgresql

brew services start postgresql

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Real-Time-Job-Search-Tracker/proj-iter1.git
   cd proj-iter1

   Run the following command before continue

   rails -s
   rm -rf coverage

2. Install dependencies: This command installs all the required gems specified in the Gemfile.

   bundle install

3. Create and setup the database: This creates the development and test databases and runs all migrations.

   rails db:create
   rails db:migrate

4. (Optional) Seed the database: If your project has seed data, run this command:

   rails db:seed

5. Create Users This starts the Rails server (Puma) on localhost:3000.

   rails console

   You can add as many users as you want.

   User.create!(email: "email@example.com", password: "password", password_confirmation: "password")

   exit

6. Run the application: This starts the Rails server (Puma) on localhost:3000.

   rails s

   You can now access the app at http://localhost:3000.

Testing

1. Run Cucumber (User Stories / Acceptance Tests): This executes all features in the features/ directory.

   bundle exec cucumber

2. Run RSpec (Unit/Model/Controller Tests): This executes all tests in the spec/ directory.

   bundle exec rspec

7. Heroku Deployment Instructions

For any future updates, you only need to:

1. Push new code: git push heroku main
2. Run migrations if you added any new ones: heroku run rails db:migrate