ZappyNotes ⚡📝

Note: This project is currently on hiatus as I focus on other priorities. This was intended to give me an alternative to Evernote. ZappyNotes serves as an open source learning resource and starting point for note-taking applications.

A modern, self-hosted note-taking application built with Rails 8. ZappyNotes provides a clean, intuitive interface for organizing your thoughts with Markdown support, auto-save, and tiered subscription plans.

✨ Features

Core Functionality

• 🎨 WYSIWYG Markdown Editor - Toast UI Editor with real-time formatting
• 💾 Auto-Save - Notes save automatically on blur and every 60 seconds
• 🖼️ Image Upload - Paste or upload images directly into notes
• 📚 Notebook Organization - Color-coded notebooks (6 colors)
• 📱 Responsive Design - Works on desktop and mobile
• 🔐 Email Confirmation - Verify email addresses to prevent abuse
• 🛡️ Rate Limiting - Rack::Attack for DDoS protection

Subscription Tiers

• Free Plan - 3 notebooks, 10 notes per notebook, 100MB storage
• Plus Plan ($1.99/mo) - 10 notebooks, 30 notes per notebook, 500MB storage
• Pro Plan ($4.99/mo) - Unlimited notebooks, notes, and storage

Admin Features

• 🎛️ Motor Admin Panel - Full database management
• 👤 Admin Users - Unlimited resources for administrators
• 📊 Usage Tracking - Monitor storage and resource usage

🛠️ Tech Stack

• Framework: Ruby on Rails 8.1.1
• Ruby: 3.3.8
• Database: PostgreSQL 18
• CSS: Tailwind CSS v4
• JavaScript: Importmap, Stimulus, Turbo
• Editor: Toast UI Editor
• UI Components: Flowbite
• Payments: Stripe
• Email: ActionMailer with letter_opener (dev)
• Testing: RSpec, FactoryBot
• Monitoring: AppSignal (optional)
• Security: Rack::Attack

📋 Prerequisites

• Ruby 3.3.8
• Rails 8.1.1
• PostgreSQL 18
• Node.js (for JavaScript tooling)

🚀 Installation

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/zappynotes.git
cd zappynotes

2. Install Dependencies

bundle install

3. Set Up Environment Variables

Create a .env file:

cp .env.example .env

Update .env with your configuration:

# Database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost/zappynotes_development

# Stripe Keys (optional - get from https://dashboard.stripe.com/apikeys)
STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_test_your_key
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_your_key
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_your_secret

# Stripe Price IDs (optional - create in Stripe Dashboard)
STRIPE_PLUS_PRICE_ID=price_your_plus_id
STRIPE_PRO_PRICE_ID=price_your_pro_id

# AppSignal (optional - for monitoring)
APPSIGNAL_PUSH_API_KEY=your_key

# IP Blocking (optional)
BLOCKED_IPS=192.168.1.100,10.0.0.50

4. Set Up Database

rails db:create
rails db:migrate

5. Create Admin User (Optional)

rails console
> User.create!(
    email_address: "admin@example.com",
    password: "password123",
    password_confirmation: "password123",
    admin: true,
    confirmed_at: Time.current
  )
> exit

6. Start Development Servers

Terminal 1 - Rails:

rails server

Terminal 2 - Tailwind CSS:

rails tailwindcss:watch

Visit http://localhost:3000

🧪 Testing

# Run all tests
bundle exec rspec

# Run specific test file
bundle exec rspec spec/models/user_spec.rb

# Run with coverage
COVERAGE=true bundle exec rspec

📧 Email Configuration

Development

Uses letter_opener gem - emails open in browser automatically.

Production

Configure ActionMailer with your email service (SendGrid, Mailgun, etc.):

# config/environments/production.rb
config.action_mailer.delivery_method = :smtp
config.action_mailer.smtp_settings = {
  address: 'smtp.sendgrid.net',
  port: 587,
  # ... other settings
}

🚢 Deployment

Heroku

# Create app
heroku create your-app-name

# Add PostgreSQL
heroku addons:create heroku-postgresql:mini

# Set environment variables
heroku config:set STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_live_xxx
heroku config:set STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_xxx
# ... set other env vars

# Deploy
git push heroku main

# Run migrations
heroku run rails db:migrate

# Create admin user
heroku run rails console

Other Platforms

See deployment guides for Railway, Render, or Fly.io.

⚙️ Configuration

Rate Limiting

Edit config/initializers/rack_attack.rb:

# Sign-in attempts per IP
throttle('sign-in/ip', limit: 5, period: 20.seconds)

# Sign-up attempts per IP  
throttle('sign-up/ip', limit: 3, period: 1.hour)

# General API requests
throttle('req/ip', limit: 300, period: 5.minutes)

IP Blocking

Add malicious IPs to .env:

BLOCKED_IPS=192.168.1.100,10.0.0.50,203.0.113.1

Subscription Plans

Edit plan limits in app/models/user.rb:

def plan_limits
  case plan
  when :free
    { notebooks: 3, notes_per_notebook: 10, storage_mb: 100 }
  when :plus
    { notebooks: 10, notes_per_notebook: 30, storage_mb: 500 }
  when :pro
    { notebooks: Float::INFINITY, notes_per_notebook: Float::INFINITY, storage_mb: Float::INFINITY }
  end
end

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! This project is on hiatus but PRs will be reviewed.

Getting Started

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Write tests for your changes
4. Ensure all tests pass (bundle exec rspec)
5. Run RuboCop (bundle exec rubocop -A)
6. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
7. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
8. Open a Pull Request

Code Style

• Follow Ruby Style Guide
• Write tests for new features (RSpec)
• Keep test coverage high
• Run RuboCop before committing

📄 License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built with Ruby on Rails
• UI components from Flowbite
• Editor powered by Toast UI Editor
• Monitoring by AppSignal (optional)
• Payments by Stripe

📧 Contact

For questions or feedback, please open an issue on GitHub.

⚠️ Disclaimer

This is a learning project and personal tool. While functional, it's not actively maintained. Use at your own risk. For a polished, supported note-taking solution, consider Evernote, Notion, or Obsidian.

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Star ⭐ this repo, and shoot me a ✉️ message if you find it useful!