CareCover

Coordinate caregiving coverage windows. Post a window, and CareCover texts tier-1 (family) a link to accept all or part of it. If gaps remain at a deadline, it escalates the open blocks to tier-2 (paid caregivers), each block all-or-nothing.

Next.js (App Router) · PostgreSQL (Prisma 7) · Twilio SMS · deploys on Railway.

How it works

1. Post a window (admin dashboard) — start/end, notes, and a tier-1 deadline.
2. Sisters get a text with a no-login link; each can claim any free sub-range or decline.
3. At the deadline, a cron job escalates remaining gaps: each open block is texted to caregivers whose minimum shift fits it; blocks too short for anyone are flagged to you.
4. Caregivers claim a whole block; first to accept wins. Full coverage marks the window filled.

Local development

# Postgres (one-time): a docker container on :5435
docker run -d --name carecover-postgres \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=carecover -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=carecover -e POSTGRES_DB=carecover \
  -p 5435:5432 postgres:16-alpine

cp .env.example .env        # then edit values
npm install                 # runs `prisma generate`
npm run db:migrate          # apply migrations
npm run db:seed             # optional: example respondents
npm run dev

Without Twilio credentials, SMS is not sent — each message is recorded to the NotificationLog table (the response link is in the body), so the whole flow works locally.

Testing

npm run test:run            # unit (coverage logic, time) + integration (full flow vs Postgres)
npm run smoke               # HTTP smoke against a running server (npm run build && npm start)
npm run test:e2e            # Playwright admin happy path (npx playwright install chromium first)

Environment variables

Variable	Purpose
DATABASE_URL	Postgres connection string (Railway provides this)
APP_TIMEZONE	Entry/display timezone, e.g. America/New_York
APP_BASE_URL	Public URL, used to build SMS links
ADMIN_PASSWORD	Single-admin login password
SESSION_SECRET	Signs the admin session cookie (≥16 chars)
TIER1_DEFAULT_DEADLINE_HOURS	Default sisters' deadline when unset (default 12)
CRON_SECRET	Shared secret for the deadline cron endpoint
ADMIN_PHONE	Optional: receives "filled"/escalation alerts
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID / TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN / TWILIO_FROM_NUMBER	Twilio SMS (blank = log instead of send)

Deploying on Railway

1. Web service — deploy this repo. railway.json runs prisma migrate deploy before start, then npm run start. Set all env vars above.
2. Postgres plugin — provides DATABASE_URL.
3. Cron service — a second service from the same repo running npm run cron on a schedule (e.g. */5 * * * *). It pings /api/cron/check-deadlines with CRON_SECRET. Give it APP_BASE_URL and CRON_SECRET.
4. Twilio — set the three Twilio vars to start sending real texts.