🗳️ Votely – Real-Time Polling Platform

A modern, real-time polling and voting application built using Next.js (frontend) and FastAPI (backend) — powered by Redis Pub/Sub and Server-Sent Events (SSE) for instant updates.

This project demonstrates a microservice-oriented architecture that blends frontend reactivity, backend scalability, and real-time communication.

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🚀 Overview

Votely allows users to create, vote, and interact with polls in real time.
Whenever a user votes, every connected client automatically receives updated results — no refresh required.

You’ll build the frontend while integrating with backend microservices (PollService, AuthService).

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🧱 Architecture

+-------------------+ +-------------------+ | Next.js Frontend| <-----> | API Gateway | | (Votely Client) | | (Simulated Layer)| +-------------------+ +-------------------+ | | | | v v +-------------------+ +-------------------+ | PollService | | AuthService | | FastAPI + Redis | | Spring Boot | | PostgreSQL DB | | JWT Auth / MQ | +-------------------+ +-------------------+

⚙️ Tech Stack Summary

Layer	Technology
Frontend	Next.js (App Router), TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui
Backend (PollService)	FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Redis (Pub/Sub), asyncio
Auth Service	Spring Boot, Redis, RabbitMQ
Real-Time Updates	Server-Sent Events (SSE) via Redis Pub/Sub
Deployment (Optional)	Docker Compose (Redis + API + Frontend)

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🧩 Core Concepts

🔁 Real-Time Communication

Each poll has a unique Redis Pub/Sub channel (e.g., poll_<poll_id>).
When a vote occurs:

1. FastAPI publishes the updated poll data to Redis.
2. SSE stream connected to that poll receives the update.
3. Frontend updates instantly — no reload required.

👥 User Types

• Registered Users → Authenticated via JWT token from AuthService.
• Guest Users → Identified by a unique deviceId stored in localStorage or cookies.

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🧠 Features

✅ 1. Centralized API Layer

All API interactions (both PollService and AuthService) are routed through a central module in /lib/api.
Handles:

• Base URL management
• Token injection (JWT/deviceId)
• Error handling & response parsing

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🏠 2. Homepage (/)

Displays a list of all active public polls with:

• Poll title
• Description snippet
• “View Poll” button

Use shadcn/ui Cards for a clean layout.

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📊 3. Single Poll Page (/poll/[pollId])

Displays:

• Poll title and options
• Vote buttons (disabled if already voted)
• Real-time results (progress bar + percentages)
• Like (❤️) functionality

After voting:

• The poll locks for the user
• Results update instantly using SSE

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💬 4. Real-Time Updates (SSE)

• The frontend opens an EventSource stream to /poll/{pollId}/events.
• When any user votes, the backend publishes via Redis → all clients update.

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✍️ 5. Create New Poll (/poll/new)

Form includes:

• Poll Title / Question
• 2–5 dynamic option fields
• Submit button (calls PollService)

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⚡ Getting Started

This guide will help you set up and run the Votely project locally, including both the frontend (Next.js) and backend (FastAPI) with Redis for real-time updates.

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🧰 Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have these installed:

• Node.js ≥ 18
• Python ≥ 3.10
• Docker (recommended for Redis & PostgreSQL)
• Git

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🪜 1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/kbpramod3/votely.git
cd votely

🧠 2. Setup Backend (FastAPI + Redis)
Option 1: Run with Docker (Recommended)

```bash
git clone https://github.com/kbpramod3/pollservice.git
cd pollservice
docker-compose up -d redis postgres


Then configure .env for your FastAPI backend:
This will start:

Redis (for Pub/Sub real-time communication)

PostgreSQL (for poll data storage)


⚙️ 3. Install and Run Backend
cd backend
pip install -r requirements.txt
uvicorn main:app --reload


Your FastAPI server should now be running at:

http://localhost:8000