LoadMate

Student workload, goals, and group collaboration platform: subjects and course modules, team workspaces with chat, shared files, a real-time whiteboard, email invitations, a Gemini-backed workspace assistant, and n8n-powered parsing of assignment documents into goal drafts.

Overview

LoadMate helps students organize coursework into subjects and goals (course modules with step-by-step guidance and deadlines), track completion, and collaborate in subject-scoped workspaces: invite members, chat, upload shared files, and sketch on a SignalR whiteboard. A per-workspace chatbot uses the Google Gemini API, and uploading briefs (PDF/DOC/DOCX) can pre-fill goals via an external n8n workflow.

The backend is a modular monolith with DDD-style layering: StudentWorkload.Domain, Application, Infrastructure, and API. The API is ASP.NET Core 8, Entity Framework Core against SQL Server, JWT authentication, Swagger in Development, automatic EF migrations on startup, and a /health endpoint for monitoring.

The frontend is React 19 with Vite 7, Tailwind CSS, Axios, and SignalR for the whiteboard hub.

Live demo

Screenshot

Add a capture as docs/screenshot.png (create docs/ if needed), then uncomment or replace:

![LoadMate UI](docs/screenshot.png)

Features

Area	Capabilities
Auth	Register, login, JWT; `me`; admin-only route (`AuthController`)
Academic	Academic year/semester profile; add/list subjects (`AcademicController`)
Goals / modules	CRUD course modules; manual goals with steps; patch step completions; mark complete (`ModulesController`)
Workspaces	Create/update/delete groups; list by subject; “my” groups; members; pending invitations (`GroupsController`)
Invitations	Email invite; public preview by token; accept when logged in (`InvitationsController`)
Chat	Group message list and send (`GroupChatController`)
Files	List, upload (50 MB), download; storage path override via env (`GroupFilesController`)
Whiteboard	Persisted state over REST; live strokes via SignalR `/hubs/whiteboard` (JWT may be passed as `access_token` query)
Chatbot	Initialize session, send message (Gemini), history (`ChatbotController`)
Document AI	`POST api/goals/parse-document` — PDF/DOC/DOCX (10 MB) to n8n webhook (`GoalParserController`)

Tech stack

Layer	Technology	Notes
API	ASP.NET Core 8 (`net8.0`)	JWT Bearer 8.0, SignalR, Swashbuckle 6.6.2, EF Core tools 8.0
Data	SQL Server	Runtime: `UseSqlServer` in `Program.cs`. Local Docker: `mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2022-latest`. Pomelo MySQL package is referenced in Infrastructure but not used at startup.
Frontend	React 19, Vite 7, React Router 7, Tailwind 3, Axios, `@microsoft/signalr`	See `frontend/package.json`
Tests	xUnit, Moq, FluentAssertions, Coverlet	`backend/tests/*`
CI	GitHub Actions	`docker compose` build/up, health check, `dotnet test`
CD	Docker Hub + Azure Web Apps	Images `myapp-backend` / `myapp-frontend`; rollback to `:previous` on failed health check

Repository layout

student-workload-management-system/
├── backend/
│   ├── StudentWorkload.sln
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── StudentWorkload.API/          # Controllers, SignalR hub, Program.cs
│   │   ├── StudentWorkload.Application/ # Commands, handlers, DTOs, services
│   │   ├── StudentWorkload.Domain/       # Entities, repository interfaces
│   │   └── StudentWorkload.Infrastructure/ # EF Core, repositories, email/JWT
│   └── tests/
│       ├── StudentWorkload.UnitTests/
│       └── StudentWorkload.IntegrationTests/
├── frontend/                 # Vite + React (JSX), nginx in Docker
├── StudentWorkload/          # Project analysis / documentation (e.g. LoadMate_Full_Analysis.md)
├── tests/jmeter/             # JMeter scenarios (invitation flow); see tests/jmeter/README.md
├── .github/workflows/        # ci.yml, cd.yml
├── docker-compose.yml        # MSSQL + API + frontend (dev)
├── docker-compose.production.yml  # Pre-built images
├── .env.example
└── LICENSE

Prerequisites

.NET SDK 8.0
Node.js 18+ (CI uses 18; frontend Docker build uses Node 20)
Docker and Docker Compose (recommended for full stack)

Getting started

1. Clone and environment

git clone https://github.com/sakith03/student-workload-management-system.git
cd student-workload-management-system
cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with strong DB_PASSWORD, JWT_SECRET, email credentials, and optionally GEMINI_API_KEY for the chatbot.

2. Run with Docker Compose

docker compose up -d

Service	URL / port
API (host)	`http://localhost:5000` → container `8080`
Frontend	`http://localhost:3000` (nginx)
SQL Server	`localhost:1433`

Add GEMINI_API_KEY to .env if you use the chatbot (mapped to Gemini__ApiKey in compose).

3. API only (local dotnet)

Set ConnectionStrings__DefaultConnection (and JwtSettings__Secret, etc.) via environment variables or user secrets, then:

cd backend/src/StudentWorkload.API
dotnet run

With the default http profile, Swagger is at http://localhost:5191/swagger when ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development (launchSettings.json).

4. Frontend only (Vite)

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Dev server: http://localhost:5173. CORS allows 5173 and 3000.

Optional API base (defaults to http://localhost:5000/api if unset):

# PowerShell
$env:VITE_API_URL = "http://localhost:5191"
npm run dev

Production build:

cd frontend
npm ci
npm run build

Docker build for frontend uses build arg VITE_API_URL (see frontend/Dockerfile).

Configuration

Variable / setting	Description
`DB_PASSWORD`	SQL Server `sa` password (Docker Compose)
`ConnectionStrings__DefaultConnection`	Full SQL Server connection string
`JWT_SECRET` / `JwtSettings__Secret`	Symmetric key for signing JWTs (use a long, random secret)
`JwtSettings__Issuer`, `JwtSettings__Audience`, `JwtSettings__ExpirationMinutes`	JWT validation
`EMAIL_` / `EmailSettings__`	SMTP (e.g. Gmail) for invitations
`GEMINI_API_KEY` / `Gemini__ApiKey`	Google Gemini API key
`N8n__BaseUrl`	n8n base URL; webhook path used: `/webhook/parse-assignment`
`AppSettings__FrontendBaseUrl`	Base URL for invitation links in emails
`WORKSPACE_FILES_PATH`	Optional directory root for group file storage
`VITE_API_URL`	Frontend build-time API origin

See .env.example and appsettings.Development.json for examples.

API quick reference

Base URL: /api (except /health and /hubs/whiteboard). Most routes require Authorization: Bearer <token>.

Auth: POST .../auth/register, POST .../auth/login, GET .../auth/me, GET .../auth/admin-only
Academic: POST/GET .../academic/profile, POST/GET .../academic/subjects
Modules: GET|POST .../modules, POST .../modules/manual, PUT|DELETE .../modules/{id}, PATCH .../modules/{id}/completions, PATCH .../modules/{id}/complete
Groups: POST .../groups, GET .../groups/{id}, GET .../groups/subject/{subjectId}, GET .../groups/my, PUT|DELETE .../groups/{id}, GET .../groups/{groupId}/members, GET .../groups/{groupId}/pending-invitations
Invitations: POST .../invitations, GET .../invitations/preview/{token}, POST .../invitations/accept/{token}
Group chat: GET|POST .../groupchat/{groupId}/messages
Files: GET|POST .../groups/{groupId}/files, GET .../groups/{groupId}/files/{fileId}/download
Whiteboard state: GET .../groups/{groupId}/whiteboard/state
Chatbot: POST .../chatbot/initialize, POST .../chatbot/message, GET .../chatbot/history/{sessionId}
Goals / parse: POST .../goals/parse-document (multipart file)
Health: GET /health → Healthy
SignalR: /hubs/whiteboard

Testing

# Backend (unit + integration)
dotnet test ./backend --logger "trx;LogFileName=test_results.trx"

# Frontend lint
cd frontend && npm run lint

Load testing / invitation flows: tests/jmeter/README.md.

Deployment

CI: On push/PR to main or develop — Node install, docker compose build / up, wait for http://localhost:5000/health, docker compose down, dotnet test (.github/workflows/ci.yml).
CD: On push to main or develop — build/push Docker images, deploy to Azure Web Apps, health check with rollback to :previous images, optional Slack (.github/workflows/cd.yml).

Publish API (example):

dotnet publish backend/src/StudentWorkload.API/StudentWorkload.API.csproj -c Release -o ./publish

Contributing

Fork the repo and branch from main or develop.
Use .github/pull_request_template.md for PRs.
Keep CI green; run npm run lint for frontend changes.

Navigation Menu

Repository files navigation

LoadMate

Overview

Live demo

Screenshot

Features

Tech stack

Repository layout

Prerequisites

Getting started

1. Clone and environment

2. Run with Docker Compose

3. API only (local dotnet)

4. Frontend only (Vite)

Configuration

API quick reference

Testing

Deployment

Contributing

License

Further reading

About

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Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 189 Commits
.github		.github
StudentWorkload		StudentWorkload
backend		backend
frontend		frontend
tests/jmeter		tests/jmeter
.env.example		.env.example
.gitignore		.gitignore
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
docker-compose.production.yml		docker-compose.production.yml
docker-compose.yml		docker-compose.yml
run-tests.ps1		run-tests.ps1

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LoadMate

Overview

Live demo

Screenshot

Features

Tech stack

Repository layout

Prerequisites

Getting started

1. Clone and environment

2. Run with Docker Compose

3. API only (local dotnet)

4. Frontend only (Vite)

Configuration

API quick reference

Testing

Deployment

Contributing

License

Further reading

About

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