Meowvrick - Campus Cat Tracking Application

A full-stack web application to help the UTA community locate and interact with campus cats, promoting animal welfare awareness and community engagement.

ACM Create Project | Fall 2025

Directors / Contacts: Tobi and Prajit Viswanadha — DM on Discord

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🐱 About The Project

Meowvrick is an interactive platform that features a campus map with real-time cat location tracking, user authentication, and an administrative dashboard for managing cat profiles and user permissions. The application helps students find friendly campus cats for stress relief while promoting responsible interaction with campus wildlife.

Status & Links

• Phase: In Development (Not Yet Deployed)
• Communication: Discord #rocktags
• Open issues: use repo Issues; prefer labels good first issue and help wanted thoughtfully

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🚀 Tech Stack

• Frontend: Next.js 15.5, React, TypeScript, TailwindCSS
• Map Integration: Leaflet.js for interactive campus mapping
• Backend: Next.js API Routes (serverless functions)
• Database: Cloud Firestore with real-time synchronization
• Authentication: Firebase Authentication with role-based access control
• Deployment: Ready for Netlify/Vercel deployment

✨ Key Features

• 🗺️ Interactive campus map with cat locations and building markers
• 🔐 User authentication with email verification
• 👨‍💼 Admin dashboard with CRUD operations for cat profiles and user management
• 🎯 Role-based access control (Admin/User permissions)
• 📱 Responsive design for mobile and desktop
• ⚡ Real-time database updates
• 🔄 Dynamic table columns that auto-adapt to Firestore schema

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• npm or yarn
• Firebase account with project setup

Environment Setup

1. Navigate to the project folder:

   cd rocktags

2. Create a .env.local file in the rocktags directory with your Firebase Admin SDK credentials:

   FIREBASE_ADMIN_PROJECT_ID=your-project-id
   FIREBASE_ADMIN_CLIENT_EMAIL=your-service-account-email@project.iam.gserviceaccount.com
   FIREBASE_ADMIN_PRIVATE_KEY=-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\nYourPrivateKeyHere\n-----END PRIVATE KEY-----\n

   Important:

   • Do NOT use quotes around the values
   • Get these credentials from Firebase Console → Project Settings → Service Accounts → Generate New Private Key
   • The private key should include \n as literal characters (not actual newlines)

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/AlvinalphaLy/rocktagss.git
cd rocktagss/rocktags

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run development server
npm run dev

Visit http://localhost:3000 to see the application.

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Repo Conventions

Commits & Branches

• Use Conventional Commits. Examples:
  • feat(ui): add dark mode toggle
  • fix(api): handle null user_id on login
  • docs(readme): clarify quickstart
  • chore(deps): bump eslint to v9
• Branch names: feat/<slug>, fix/<slug>, chore/<slug>, docs/<slug>

Pull Requests

• Prefer small, focused PRs
• Use the PR template: include testing steps, screenshots for UI changes, note breaking changes and rollback plan
• Request reviews from maintainers or CODEOWNERS

Secrets & Configuration

• Never commit .env or credentials
• Use .env locally; keep .env.example updated so others know what is required
• For deployments, store secrets in platform settings (not in code)

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📁 Project Structure

rocktags/
├── src/
│   ├── app/                    # Next.js app directory
│   │   ├── admin/             # Admin dashboard
│   │   ├── api/               # API routes (users, cats, banned)
│   │   ├── components/        # Reusable React components
│   │   ├── main/map/          # Interactive map page
│   │   └── login/             # Authentication pages
│   ├── config/                # Firebase configuration
│   ├── lib/                   # Utility functions
│   └── data/                  # Data fetching functions
├── public/                     # Static assets
├── .env.local                 # Environment variables (not committed)
└── package.json               # Dependencies

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👥 Team & Contributors

ACM Create Team Project

• Directors / Contacts: Tobi and Prajit Viswanadha — DM on Discord

📄 License

This project is part of ACM Create at UTA.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow the conventional commit format and submit PRs for review.

📧 Contact

For questions or support, reach out via Discord #rocktags channel.