MenU

MenU is a system designed to streamline the lifecycle of institutional dietary schedules. It enforces structural integrity on menu data, transforming human-readable inputs into a persistent, actionable schema for consumption and analysis.

Problem Statement

Institutional menu management is typically high-friction, relying on manual data entry and fragmented updates. This results in:

• Operational Inefficiency: Administrators spend excessive time formatting and broadcasting updates.
• Data rigidness: Static schedules are difficult to query or analyze for trends.
• Disconnect: Validating user preferences against served meals is often anecdotal rather than data-driven.

MenU resolves this by treating the menu not as a text list, but as a structured data asset, managed by an intelligent ingestion layer.

System Architecture

The project is organized into three control planes:

1. Data Ingestion & Normalization

The system prioritizes ease of management by offloading improved data structuring to AI.

• Input: Natural language or simplified menu descriptions.
• Processing: The Google Gemini API acts as the normalization engine, parsing intent and converting raw input into a strict JSON schema.
• Persistence: Structured data is stored, ensuring consistent query capabilities across dates and meal types.

2. Administrative Control

• Role-Based Access: Strict separation between unprivileged users and menu administrators.
• Ingestion Oversight: Administrators review and commit the AI-normalized schedules to the database.

3. Distribution & Intelligence

• Public Access: Frictionless, read-only views for end-users.
• Feedback Loop: Voting signals are aggregated to provide statistical trends on menu performance.

Technology Stack

• Ingestion / Intelligence: Google Gemini API
• Persistence: MongoDB (Mongoose 9)
• Logic: Node.js / Express.js 5
• Interface: React 19 (Vite)

Repository Structure

• backend/ - Core business logic and schema definitions.
• frontend/ - Client-side presentation and interaction layer.
• docs/ - Role-specific operational guides.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (LTS)
• MongoDB instance
• Google Gemini API Key (Required for menu processing)

Environment Configuration

The system requires specific environment variables to function. Ensure GOOGLE_API_KEY, MONGO_URI, and JWT_SECRET are correctly provisioned in the backend .env file before startup.

Installation

1. Backend:

   cd backend
   npm install
   npm run dev

2. Frontend:

   cd frontend
   npm install
   npm run dev

Documentation

• Overview
• Decisions & Trade-offs
• Admin Documentation
• User Documentation
• Contribution Guidelines