🔨 DailyForge

Build routines. Forge habits. Own your week.

DailyForge is an open-source fullstack MERN productivity app that lets you design, manage, and visualize your weekly routines — with drag-and-drop scheduling, a smart task library, and overlap protection built right in.

🌐 Live Demo · ⚡ Quick Start · 🤝 Contribute · 📸 Screenshots

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🚀 Project Overview

Most productivity tools are either too bloated or too simple. DailyForge is a no-nonsense weekly planner that gives you total control over your schedule — built by students, for students and professionals alike.

What it does:

• Build a reusable task library with custom durations, colors, and categories
• Design weekly routines by dragging tasks into a visual time grid
• Save, update, and delete routines with one click
• Automatically detects and prevents scheduling conflicts for the same day

Why it matters:
Most people don't fail to plan — they fail to stick to a plan. DailyForge makes routines feel visual and deliberate, making habits easier to build and track.

Key highlights:

• ⚡ Drag-and-drop weekly planner powered by @dnd-kit
• 🔒 Secure JWT authentication with bcrypt password hashing
• 🗂️ Reusable routine templates to clone and reuse schedules
• 🚫 Conflict detection — no overlapping tasks on the same day
• 📱 Clean, responsive UI built with React 19 + Tailwind CSS v4

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🌐 Live Demo

Service	URL
🖥️ Frontend	https://dailyforge-frontend-lhjq.onrender.com
⚙️ Backend API	https://dailyforge-backend.onrender.com

⚠️ Deployed on Render's free tier — first load may take 30–60 seconds to spin up.

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✨ Features

🔐 Authentication

• Signup / Login with JWT-based session management
• Protected routes — unauthenticated users are redirected to login
• Passwords hashed with bcrypt

📋 Task Management

• Create tasks with: title, duration, color, and category
• Edit and delete tasks from your personal task library
• Tasks persist across sessions

🗓️ Routine Builder

• Drag tasks from your library onto a 7-day weekly grid
• Time-slot-based placement with visual feedback
• Overlap detection prevents conflicting task placement on the same day

📊 Dashboard

• View all saved routines at a glance
• Quick access to edit or delete any routine
• Summary stats for your weekly schedule

♻️ Routine Templates

• Save any routine as a reusable template
• Re-apply templates to any week in seconds

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🏗 Tech Stack

Frontend

Technology	Purpose
React 19	UI framework
Vite	Build tool & dev server
Tailwind CSS v4	Utility-first styling
@dnd-kit/core	Drag-and-drop interactions
Axios	HTTP client for API calls
React Router DOM v7	Client-side routing
Lucide React	Icon library
Context API	Global auth state management

Backend

Technology	Purpose
Node.js	Runtime environment
Express.js v5	REST API framework
MongoDB Atlas	Cloud database
Mongoose v9	ODM for MongoDB
JSON Web Token (JWT)	Stateless authentication
Bcrypt	Password hashing
dotenv	Environment variable management
Nodemon	Dev server with hot-reload

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📂 Project Structure

DailyForge/
│
├── backend/
│   ├── config/                 # DB connection config
│   ├── controllers/
│   │   ├── authController.js   # Signup, login logic
│   │   ├── routineController.js
│   │   └── taskController.js
│   ├── middlewares/
│   │   └── authMiddleware.js   # JWT verification
│   ├── routes/
│   │   ├── authRoutes.js
│   │   ├── routineRoutes.js
│   │   └── taskRoutes.js
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── models/             # Mongoose schemas
│   │   │   ├── User.model.js
│   │   │   ├── Task.model.js
│   │   │   └── Routine.model.js
│   │   └── server.js           # Express app entry point
│   ├── .env                    # ← You create this (see below)
│   └── package.json
│
└── frontend/
    ├── public/
    ├── src/
    │   ├── api/
    │   │   └── axiosConfig.js  # Axios base URL config
    │   ├── components/
    │   │   ├── Dashboard/
    │   │   ├── Routine/
    │   │   ├── Task/
    │   │   ├── Navbar.jsx
    │   │   └── ProtectedRoutes.jsx
    │   ├── context/
    │   │   └── AuthContext.jsx
    │   ├── hooks/
    │   │   └── useTasks.js
    │   ├── pages/
    │   │   ├── Dashboard.jsx
    │   │   ├── RoutineBuilder.jsx
    │   │   ├── Tasks.jsx
    │   │   ├── Login.jsx
    │   │   └── Signup.jsx
    │   ├── utils/
    │   ├── App.jsx
    │   └── main.jsx
    ├── index.html
    ├── vite.config.js
    └── package.json

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⚡ Quick Start

Prerequisites: Node.js v18+, npm v9+, a free MongoDB Atlas account

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/aryandas2911/DailyForge.git
cd DailyForge

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2. Set up the Backend

cd backend
npm install

Create your .env file (see the Environment Variables section below):

# Inside the /backend directory
cp .env.example .env   # or manually create .env

Then fill in your values (see the next section for what each variable means).

Start the backend dev server:

npm run dev

✅ Server should start at http://localhost:5000

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3. Set up the Frontend

Open a new terminal, then:

cd frontend
npm install

⚠️ Local dev note: The frontend base URL is hardcoded in frontend/src/api/axios.js to point at the deployed backend. To test against your local backend, temporarily change baseURL in that file to http://localhost:5000/api/.

Start the frontend dev server:

npm run dev

✅ App should open at http://localhost:5173

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✅ You're ready!

Open http://localhost:5173, sign up for an account, and start building your routines.

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🔐 Environment Variables

Backend — backend/.env

Create this file manually. Never commit it to git.

PORT=5000
MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_atlas_connection_string
JWT_SECRET=your_super_secret_key_here

Variable	Required	Description
PORT	✅	Port on which the Express server runs (default: 5000)
MONGO_URI	✅	Full MongoDB Atlas connection string — get it from your Atlas cluster's "Connect" menu
JWT_SECRET	✅	Secret key for signing JWTs — use any long, random string (e.g., openssl rand -hex 32)

How to get MONGO_URI:

1. Log into MongoDB Atlas
2. Create a free M0 cluster (if you haven't)
3. Click Connect → Connect your application → Copy the connection string
4. Replace <password> with your DB user's password

Frontend — No .env required

The frontend has no environment variables. The API base URL is hardcoded in frontend/src/api/axios.js:

// frontend/src/api/axios.js
const api = axios.create({
  baseURL: "https://dailyforge-backend.onrender.com/api/",
});

Running locally? Change baseURL to http://localhost:5000/api/ while developing, and revert before committing.

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🤝 Contribution Guidelines

We love contributions! DailyForge is actively participating in GSSoC 2026 and welcomes contributors of all experience levels.

📄 Read the full guidelines: CONTRIBUTING.md

Quick Contribution Flow

1. Pick an issue

• Browse open issues
• Look for good first issue if you're new
• Comment on the issue to get it assigned before starting work

2. Fork & branch

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/DailyForge.git
cd DailyForge
git checkout -b <type>/<short-description>

Branch naming convention:

Type	Example
New feature	feature/add-dark-mode
Bug fix	fix/login-redirect-loop
Documentation	docs/update-readme
Refactor	refactor/task-hook-cleanup

3. Make your changes

• Keep changes focused — one issue per PR
• Follow the existing code style
• Test your changes locally before pushing

4. Open a Pull Request

• Fill out the PR template completely
• Link the issue it resolves using Closes #<issue-number>
• Request a review from a maintainer

⚠️ PRs without a linked issue or description will not be reviewed.

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🏷 Issue Guidelines

We use labels to organize work. Here's what they mean:

Label	Meaning
good first issue	Small, well-scoped tasks — perfect for first-time contributors
bug	Something is broken or behaving incorrectly
feature	New functionality to be added
documentation	Improvements to README, guides, or inline comments
help wanted	Maintainers need external input or hands
testing	Adding or improving test coverage

Tips for new contributors:

• Start with good first issue — they're designed to be approachable
• Don't hesitate to ask questions in the issue comments
• One issue at a time — don't take on multiple issues until your first PR is merged

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📸 Screenshots

🔐 Signup Page

📊 Dashboard

📋 Tasks Page

🗓️ Routine Builder

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📬 Contact & Community

Have questions, ideas, or want to connect with other contributors?

Channel	Link
📧 Email	aryandas2911@gmail.com
🐛 Issues	GitHub Issues

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Built with ❤️ for GSSoC 2026

If DailyForge helped you, consider giving it a ⭐ — it helps more contributors find the project!