A full-stack recipe management app built with the PERN stack (PostgreSQL, Express, React, Node.js).
Save, organize, and discover recipes all in one place — built for food lovers and home cooks.

Project Colors Demo

• Table of Contents
• About the Project
• Features
• Getting Started
  • Prerequisites
  • Option 1 — Run with Docker (Recommended)
  • Option 2 — Run Manually (Without Docker)
• Development and Testing
• Development Plan and Improvements
• Project Structure
• Contributing
• License
• Support

Cookbook is a modern, full-stack web app that lets users create, store, and share their favorite recipes.
It features a fast React frontend, a Node/Express API, and a PostgreSQL database for reliable data storage.

Whether you’re tracking your family’s secret recipes or exploring new cuisines, Cookbook keeps everything organized and searchable.

• Create, edit, and delete recipes (Under Development).
• Search recipes by name and subtitle.
• Filter recipes by cuisine, cooktime, difficulty, meal type and dietary requirements.
• Simple, responsive UI built with React, Tailwind and Shadcn.
• Dockerized backend and database setup for easy development.

Before getting started, ensure you have the following installed:

• Node.js (>=18)
• npm
• Docker

This runs PostgreSQL, Backend, Frontend, and PGAdmin in containers:

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/imseanconroy/cookbook.git
cd cookbook

2. Start the development environment:

docker compose --env-file docker/env/.env.dev -f docker/compose/docker-compose.dev.yaml up --build -d

3. Run database migrations:

docker compose --env-file docker/env/.env.dev -f docker/compose/docker-compose.dev.yaml exec backend npm run migrate:up

4. Seed the database (Optional):

docker compose --env-file docker/env/.env.dev -f docker/compose/docker-compose.dev.yaml exec backend npm run seed

5. Access the application:

• Frontend (React App) - http://localhost:5173
• Backend API - http://localhost:8000
• PGAdmin (Database GUI) - http://localhost:5050

6. To stop the application:

docker compose --env-file docker/env/.env.dev -f docker/compose/docker-compose.dev.yaml down -v

This runs PostgreSQL, Backend, Frontend, and PGAdmin in containers:

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/imseanconroy/cookbook.git
cd cookbook

2. Install backend dependencies:

cd backend
npm install

3. Configure backend environment variables:

PORT=8000
NODE_ENV=development
READ_ONLY=false
FRONTEND_ORIGIN=http://localhost:5173
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=<database_password>
POSTGRES_USER=<database_user>
POSTGRES_DB=<database_name>
POSTGRES_PORT=5432
POSTGRES_HOST=localhost

4. Create the database tables and seed the database:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://${POSTGRES_USER}:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}@${POSTGRES_HOST}:${POSTGRES_PORT}/${POSTGRES_DB} npm run migrate:up && npm run seed

5. Start backend express server:

npm run dev

6. Install frontend dependencies:

cd frontend
npm install

7. Configure frontend environment variables:

VITE_API_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8000

8. Start the frontend react application:

npm run dev

Run all backend tests with the following command:

cd backend
npm run test

This section outlines upcoming features and improvements:

1. User Features:

   • Add ability to create, update and delete recipes from the fronted.
   • Add local bookmarking and "favorites" functionality.

2. Testing and Quality Assurance:

   • Expand test coverage for frontend components.

3. Documentation:

   • Create a detailed API reference.

Feel free to suggest additional improvements by opening an issue.

cookbook/
├── frontend/ # React application for the user interface
├── backend/ # Express.js server with PostgreSQL integration
│ ├── migrations/ # Database migration files
│ ├── test/ # Backend tests
│ ├── src/ # Backend source code
│ │ ├── config/ # Database and environment configurations
│ │ ├── controllers/ # API request handlers
│ │ ├── middleware/ # Request processing logic
│ │ ├── repositories/ # Database queries and schema models
│ │ ├── routes/ # API endpoint definitions
│ │ ├── services/ # Core business logic
│ │ └── util/ # Utility functions (e.g., validation, logging)
├── docker/ # Docker configuration files
└── README.md # Project documentation

Contributions are welcome. Please open an issue or fork the repository, create a new branch (feature/your-feature-name) and submit a pull request for any enhancements or bug fixes.

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for information.

If you are having problems, please let me know by raising a new issue.