AMIRLab

AMIRLab is a full-stack research-lab platform with a public website and a private workspace for people, publications, datasets, projects, applications, reviews, weekly reports, and lab administration.

Stack

• Next.js 16 + React 19
• NestJS 11
• Prisma + PostgreSQL
• Tailwind CSS
• Nodemailer / SMTP

Run locally

Requirements: Node.js 22+, pnpm 10+, and PostgreSQL binaries (initdb, pg_ctl, psql, createdb).

Install each application independently from the repository root:

pnpm --dir backend install
pnpm --dir frontend install

Configure local values in backend/.env, prepare the database, and start both applications. The root command starts the API first, waits for its health endpoint, and only then starts Next.js:

pnpm run db:rebuild
pnpm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000. The API runs at http://localhost:3001/api.

The applications can also be started separately:

pnpm run dev:backend
pnpm run dev:frontend

Deploy to a VPS

For Hostinger VPS deployment on Ubuntu, follow the production runbook in backend/deploy/README.md. It covers PostgreSQL, DNS, Caddy HTTPS, systemd services, production environment variables, uploads, updates, and backups.

Deploy to Fly.io

Fly deploys the API only. The Fly app uses backend/ as its working directory, where fly.toml and Dockerfile live. Keep DATABASE_URL as a Fly secret; it points to the externally hosted PostgreSQL database. Enable Fly auto-deploys from main in the app settings, or deploy manually from the repository root:

fly deploy ./backend --app "$FLY_API_APP"

The Fly release command applies the Prisma schema and seeds an empty database from the supplied ADMIN_* and SMTP environment values. The machine entrypoint starts the API after release succeeds. Do not create a Fly Postgres app. Deploy the frontend separately to Vercel with Root Directory frontend and NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=https://<your-fly-app>.fly.dev/api. Set DATABASE_URL, FRONTEND_ORIGINS, PUBLIC_SITE_URL, PUBLIC_SITE_EMAIL, the SMTP_* values, and ADMIN_EMAIL, ADMIN_NAME, and ADMIN_PASSWORD as Fly secrets; add STORAGE_* secrets when using object storage. Do not put credentials in fly.toml, an env file committed to the repository, or a Docker build argument. The API volume is required because seeded and uploaded documents are stored under UPLOAD_ROOT.

Workspace

• frontend — Next.js public site and private workspace
• backend — NestJS API, Prisma schema, and PostgreSQL tooling
• verification — contracts that span both applications

Backend and frontend are independent pnpm projects with separate lockfiles and install directories. Add dependencies from the owning project:

pnpm --dir frontend add <package>
pnpm --dir backend add <package>

Verify

Run checks from the repository root:

pnpm run lint
pnpm run typecheck
pnpm run test
pnpm run verify
pnpm run verify:production

Engineering and repository rules are in RULES.md.