PriceGhost/README.md

PriceGhost

A full-stack web application for tracking product prices across any website. Monitor prices over time and visualize price history with interactive charts.

Features

• Track prices from any product URL
• Automatic price extraction using heuristics and structured data
• Configurable refresh intervals (15 min to 24 hours)
• Price history visualization with Recharts
• User authentication with JWT
• Background price checking with node-cron
• Docker support for easy deployment

Tech Stack

• Backend: Node.js, Express, TypeScript
• Frontend: React, Vite, TypeScript
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Scraping: Cheerio
• Charts: Recharts
• Auth: JWT + bcrypt
• Containerization: Docker

Quick Start with Docker

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/priceghost.git
cd priceghost

2. Start all services:

docker-compose up -d

3. Initialize the database:

docker-compose exec backend npm run db:init

4. Access the application at http://localhost

Development Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• PostgreSQL 16+

Backend Setup

cd backend
npm install

# Create .env file
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your database credentials

# Initialize database
npm run db:init

# Start development server
npm run dev

Frontend Setup

cd frontend
npm install

# Start development server
npm run dev

Environment Variables

Backend (.env)

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/priceghost
JWT_SECRET=your-secret-key
PORT=3001
NODE_ENV=development

API Endpoints

Authentication

• POST /api/auth/register - Register new user
• POST /api/auth/login - Login

Products (Protected)

• GET /api/products - List tracked products
• POST /api/products - Add product to track
• GET /api/products/:id - Get product details
• PUT /api/products/:id - Update product settings
• DELETE /api/products/:id - Remove product

Prices (Protected)

• GET /api/products/:id/prices - Get price history
• POST /api/products/:id/refresh - Force price refresh

Project Structure

PriceGhost/
├── backend/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── config/         # Database configuration
│   │   ├── middleware/     # JWT auth middleware
│   │   ├── models/         # Database queries
│   │   ├── routes/         # API routes
│   │   ├── services/       # Scraper & scheduler
│   │   └── utils/          # Price parsing utilities
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   └── package.json
├── frontend/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── api/            # Axios client
│   │   ├── components/     # React components
│   │   ├── context/        # Auth context
│   │   ├── hooks/          # Custom hooks
│   │   └── pages/          # Page components
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   └── package.json
├── docker-compose.yml
└── README.md

License

MIT