ApplyVibe — Job Application Tracker

Job seekers applying to hundreds of roles had no clean, free tool to track applications, visualize their pipeline, or understand what was and wasn't working. Existing tools were paid, overly complex, or just spreadsheets.

Students applying to hundreds of internships and full-time roles need to track stage progression, follow-up deadlines, and which sources are actually converting — not just a static list of companies. Notion templates and spreadsheets don't surface patterns or send reminders.

Built a purpose-built Next.js 16 full-stack app with server components, credentials auth, Prisma ORM, Neon PostgreSQL, and a full analytics + Kanban layer — all on the free tier, self-hostable, open-source.

Frontend: Next.js 16 App Router — server components for dashboard, client hooks for Kanban/Analytics

Backend: Next.js API routes — 6 routes (register, applications CRUD, profile) with Zod validation

Infra: Neon PostgreSQL (serverless) + Prisma ORM + Vercel deploy + Auth.js JWT sessions

• Auth.js v5 credentials auth with bcrypt + JWT + proxy.ts route protection
• Full application CRUD: company, role, source, stage, salary, visa, deadlines, recruiter info
• 11-stage dnd-kit Kanban board with live API sync on drag
• Analytics: funnel chart, weekly trend, source performance, KPI cards
• Smart Insights engine — rule-based analysis surfacing actionable patterns
• Settings: profile form, theme switcher (light/dark/system) via next-themes

Auth is fully custom — no third-party identity providers, no vendor lock-in. Users sign up with name, email, and password (bcrypt 12 rounds). Auth.js v5 issues a JWT session on successful login.

Route protection runs in proxy.ts (Next.js 16 Middleware) — every request to /dashboard, /kanban, /analytics, and /settings is checked at the edge — unauthenticated users are redirected to /login before the page renders.

The PrismaAdapter is already wired to the Auth.js config — adding OAuth providers (GitHub, Google) in the future requires only provider configuration, not a schema change.

The Kanban board spans 11 columns: Saved → Applied → OA → Recruiter Screen → Interview 1 → Interview 2 → Final Round → Offer → Rejected → Ghosted → Withdrawn.

Built with dnd-kit using a PointerSensor with an 8px activation threshold. When a card is dropped, a PATCH /api/applications/[id] call fires immediately — UI updates optimistically so there's no visible lag.

The dashboard is a server component — data is fetched at request time from Neon PostgreSQL via Prisma, so the initial render always shows fresh data with no client loading flash.

• 5 KPI cards — total applications, interviews, offers, rejections, response rate
• 7-day activity area chart — applications submitted per day
• Pipeline distribution donut — proportion of applications at each stage
• Source performance bars — which job board produces the best response rate
• Smart Insights engine — rule-based analysis: low response rate warnings, overdue follow-ups, OA bottleneck detection

Forest green palette (#245501 → #aad576) to feel calm and growth-oriented — opposite of the anxiety that job hunting usually triggers. snake_case throughout frontend types with explicit dbToApp() mapping from Prisma's camelCase.

Data models use snake_case throughout frontend types (company_name, current_stage) with an explicit dbToApp() mapping from Prisma's camelCase.

• 0 TypeScript errors across the full codebase — strict mode throughout.
• Auth secured with bcrypt 12 rounds + JWT sessions + middleware route protection on all app pages.
• 4 critical + 4 high + 6 medium bugs fixed during development — all documented with root cause and decision.
• ~12s clean build on Vercel — server components keep dashboard data fresh at request time, no client loading flash.
• Analytics funnel correctly handles all 11 stages including terminal states (rejected/ghosted/withdrawn).