Nexus - Futuristic Startup Networking Platform

Nexus is a production-ready, full-stack platform designed to connect startup founders, developers, and investors in a futuristic, high-performance ecosystem.

It features real-time messaging, AI-driven content recommendations, integrations with GitHub, GNews, and Dev.to, and a sleek modern user interface.

🚀 Tech Stack

Frontend (/FRONTEND)

• Framework: Next.js 14+ (App Router)
• Language: TypeScript
• Styling: Tailwind CSS v4, Framer Motion for animations
• UI Components: Radix UI, Embla Carousel, Lucide React
• State Management: Zustand
• Data Fetching: Axios, TanStack React Query

Backend (/backend)

• Framework: FastAPI (Python 3.11+)
• Database: PostgreSQL with SQLAlchemy 2.0 (Async) and asyncpg
• Migrations: Alembic
• Authentication: JWT (JSON Web Tokens) with bcrypt password hashing
• Real-time: WebSockets for messaging
• Integrations: GitHub API, GNews API, Dev.to API

📦 Project Structure

NEXUS/
├── FRONTEND/               # Next.js frontend application
│   ├── app/                # Next.js App Router (pages, layouts, API routes)
│   ├── components/         # Reusable React components (Radix UI based)
│   ├── hooks/              # Custom React hooks
│   ├── lib/                # Utility functions
│   ├── services/           # API integration (GitHub, News, backend)
│   └── styles/             # Global styles and Tailwind configuration
│
└── backend/                # FastAPI backend application
    ├── alembic/            # Database migration scripts
    ├── app/                # Main application code
    │   ├── core/           # JWT, security, and configuration
    │   ├── models/         # SQLAlchemy database models
    │   ├── routes/         # API endpoints
    │   ├── schemas/        # Pydantic validation schemas
    │   ├── services/       # External API services
    │   └── websocket/      # Real-time WebSocket manager
    └── tests/              # Pytest test suites

🛠️ Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18+)
• Python (v3.11+)
• PostgreSQL (v14+)

1. Backend Setup

cd backend
python -m venv venv

# Activate virtual environment
# On Windows:
venv\Scripts\activate
# On macOS/Linux:
source venv/bin/activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Configure Environment Variables
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env and set your DATABASE_URL, SECRET_KEY, and other API keys.

# Create database (Ensure your Postgres server is running)
# psql -c "CREATE DATABASE nexus;"

# Start the FastAPI server
uvicorn app.main:app --reload --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

• API Docs (Swagger): http://localhost:8000/docs

2. Frontend Setup

cd FRONTEND

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Configure Environment Variables
cp .env.local.example .env.local
# Ensure NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL is set to http://localhost:8000/api

# Start the Next.js development server
npm run dev

• Web Application: http://localhost:3000

🔑 Key Features

• Real-time Chat: WebSocket-powered direct messaging and community channels.
• Developer Profiles: Sync with GitHub to showcase repositories and activity.
• Curated Feeds: News and articles aggregated from GNews and Dev.to APIs.
• Secure Authentication: Robust JWT-based auth flow protecting user data.
• Responsive Design: Beautiful, glassmorphic, and animated UI accessible on all devices.

📄 License

This project is proprietary.