Lernzeit-Manager

The Lernzeit-Manager is a web application for students that helps with planning, tracking, and maintaining study times and learning goals. The system assists in scheduling study sessions according to the intended workload from module handbooks, verifying compliance, and adjusting plans as needed.

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	React 19, TypeScript, Vite
Backend	Node.js, Express 4
Database	SQLite (via Prisma ORM)
DevOps	Docker, Docker Compose

Prerequisites

• Docker (version 24.x)
• Docker Compose (version 2.x)
• Git to clone the repository

No local Node.js installation required – all dependencies are resolved inside the Docker containers.

Installation and Setup

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/jasmin261098/lernzeit-manager
cd lernzeit-manager

2. Configure environment variables

cp backend/.env.example backend/.env

At minimum, set JWT_SECRET in backend/.env to a secure, random value (see Configuration).

3. Start the application

docker compose up --build

The first start may take several minutes as Node.js dependencies are installed. On startup, the backend automatically runs the following steps (entrypoint.sh):

1. Create the database directory /app/data
2. prisma generate – generate the Prisma client
3. prisma db push – create/update the database schema
4. npm run dev – start the development server

Accessing the application

Service	URL
Frontend	http://localhost:5173
Backend API	http://localhost:3000

Stopping the application

# Stop containers (data is preserved)
docker compose down

# Stop and remove volumes (data will be deleted)
docker compose down -v

Configuration

The backend is configured via backend/.env:

Variable	Default value	Description
DATABASE_URL	file:/app/data/dev.db	Path to the SQLite database file inside the container
JWT_SECRET	change-this-to-a-random-secret-before-deploying	Secret key for JWT signing – must be changed before the first start
PORT	3000	Port of the backend server

Recommended way to generate a secure JWT secret:

openssl rand -base64 48

The frontend does not require a separate .env file. The proxy target (http://backend:3000) is hardcoded in frontend/lernzeit-manager/vite.config.ts and works within the Docker network.

Demo Account

On first startup, the application automatically creates a demo account with sample data:

Field	Value
Email	demo@lernzeit.de
Password	demo1234

The demo account includes the following sample data:

• 3 learning goals (e.g. "Learn TypeScript", "Deepen React knowledge")
• 1 study plan with 6 monthly plans (January–June)
• 5 completed study sessions
• 2 reminders

The demo account is for demonstration purposes only. Use the Register button to create your own account.

System Architecture

The Lernzeit-Manager follows a classic client-server architecture with two independent services orchestrated via Docker Compose.

Browser
└── React SPA (Vite, port 5173)
        │ HTTP /api/*  (Vite proxy → http://backend:3000)
        ▼
    Backend
    └── Express.js REST API (Node.js, port 3000)
            │ Prisma ORM
            ▼
        Database
        └── SQLite (file: /app/data/dev.db, Docker volume)

The frontend communicates with the backend exclusively through the Vite proxy setup. All browser requests to /api/* are forwarded by the proxy to http://backend:3000.