TaskNook

TaskNook is a backend-focused portfolio MVP for managing shared tasks inside small private groups (families), build with Expo and NestJS.

Project Focus

This project is not intended to be another generic to-do app. Its main goal is to explore the backend and domain logic behind a collaborative task system:

• authentication and authorization
• invite-based group access
• membership rules
• task lifecycle
• permissions
• filtering, sorting and pagination

Core Product Flow

1. A user signs up or logs in.
2. The user creates a private family or join an existing one by invite token.
3. Family members create tasks inside a shared task pool.
4. Tasks can be filtered, sorted, accepted, assigned, completed, cancelled, or deleted depending on user permissions.
5. Each user can track both shared family tasks and their own active tasks.

Screenshots

Family Space Flow

Create a family, invite members with a code, join another family, and switch between active family contexts to separate different groups.

Task Lifecycle Flow

Create a task with priority, time window, and assignment mode. Open tasks can be accepted by family members, completed from the details screen, and tracked in My Tasks when they are assigned to or accepted by you.

Task Discovery Controls

Narrow the shared pool by status and priority, then sort tasks by date or deadline to find the next relevant item faster.

Account & Progress

Create an account and use the profile screen to check personal progress across completed, active, and pending tasks.

Tech Stack

Layer	Stack
Backend	NestJS, Passport JWT, bcrypt, Zod validation
Database	PostgreSQL, Prisma ORM
Mobile	Expo, React Native, Expo Router
State & API data	TanStack Query, Zustand, Axios
Monorepo & tooling	pnpm workspaces, Turborepo, TypeScript

Monorepo Structure

apps/
  api/        NestJS API, Prisma schema, migrations, backend modules
  mobile/     Expo mobile prototype
packages/
  contracts/  Shared Zod schemas, TypeScript types, and domain contracts

Task Lifecycle

stateDiagram-v2
    direction LR
    [*] --> PENDING: create task

    PENDING --> IN_PROGRESS: accept
    IN_PROGRESS --> COMPLETED: complete

    IN_PROGRESS --> PENDING: withdraw
    COMPLETED --> IN_PROGRESS: resume

    PENDING --> [*]: delete
    IN_PROGRESS --> [*]: delete
    COMPLETED --> [*]: delete

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Current Limitations

The current version focuses on core backend/domain logic, while production-oriented features are planned in future updates.

Area	Current State
Production readiness	Not security-hardened for production deployment yet
Tests	Automated API/domain tests still need to be added
Dashboard	Basic summary endpoints only, not full analytics
Comments	API endpoints are not implemented yet
Realtime	WebSocket/pub-sub runtime is not implemented yet
Infrastructure	No Redis caching/pub-sub
Files	No S3-compatible storage, avatar uploads, or task attachments yet
Notifications	No production push notification flow yet
API docs	No Swagger/OpenAPI documentation yet

Roadmap

Track	Planned Work
Backend quality	Add API tests, domain tests, Swagger/OpenAPI docs, and security hardening
Product features	Add WebSocket-based task updates, Android push notifications, custom avatars, along with task attachments and comments
Maintainability	Refactor larger services as the domain grows

Local Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js compatible with the installed dependencies.
• pnpm.
• Docker and Docker Compose for the backend.
• Expo account for EAS Android builds.
• Android device or emulator for the mobile app.

###№ Install Workspace Dependencies

pnpm install
pnpm approve-builds

Backend API

The backend runs through Docker Compose with PostgreSQL, Prisma migrations, the NestJS API, and Nginx.

Copy backend environment variables:

cp .env.example .env.prod

Update secrets in .env.prod before running anything outside local development. Keep PORT=4000, because the current Nginx config proxies requests to the API on port 4000.

Start the backend:

docker compose build #build the image
docker compose up -d #start in detached mode
docker compose logs -f server #check logs

Stop the backend:

docker compose down

When running locally, the API is exposed through Nginx at http://localhost. On a VPS, use the VPS IP address or domain.

Mobile App

The mobile app uses Expo and EAS. EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL must point to a backend URL reachable from the Android device, for example:

• http://<VPS_IP> for a VPS backend;
• http://<LAN_IP> for a backend running on your computer and tested from a physical phone;
• http://10.0.2.2 for an Android emulator talking to a backend on the host machine.

Copy mobile environment variables:

cd apps/mobile
cp .env.example .env

Set EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL in apps/mobile/.env.

Install EAS CLI and log in:

pnpm add --global eas-cli
eas login

For the preview cloud build, configure the API URL in EAS instead of committing it to eas.json:

cd apps/mobile
eas env:create --name EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL --value http://<BACKEND_URL> --environment preview --visibility plaintext

EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL is bundled into the mobile app, so treat it as public configuration, not as a secret. If you also build development or production profiles, create the same variable for those EAS environments as well.

Build an Android preview APK on Expo servers:

eas build --platform android --profile preview

Install the generated APK on your phone from the EAS build link.

For iterative development with a development client, build and install the development APK:

eas build --platform android --profile development

Note: a preview APK profile is a standalone internal build and does not require pnpm expo start after installation. Use the development profile when you want the installed app to connect to the local Expo dev server.

Then start the local Expo dev server:

pnpm expo start