Praxis

A full-stack Question & Answer platform powered by a modern architecture consisting of a frontend, backend API, database layer, and gateway proxy. Praxis is containerized using Docker and can be deployed locally or in production with minimal configuration.

Features

• 🚀 Next.js frontend
• 🧠 Backend API with Gemini integration
• 🗄️ MySQL database
• 🔀 NGINX API gateway
• 🐳 Fully Dockerized with multi-service networking
• 🔐 Environment-variable based configuration

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following installed:

• Docker
• Docker Compose
• A valid GEMINI_API_KEY (required by backend)

Environment Setup

Create a .env file in the root of your project:

GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_key_here

You may also define additional environment variables if needed.

Docker Compose Setup

To run Praxis using Docker Compose, use the following example file:

networks:
  app-network:
    driver: bridge

services:
  gateway:
    image: nginx:alpine
    container_name: gateway
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    volumes:
      - ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro
    depends_on:
      - frontend
      - backend
    networks:
      - app-network

  frontend:
    image: kagasumi/praxis-frontend:latest
    container_name: praxis-frontend
    environment:
      - NEXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL=http://praxis-backend:3000
    expose:
      - "8080"
    networks:
      - app-network

  backend:
    image: kagasumi/praxis-backend:latest
    container_name: praxis-backend
    environment:
      - DB_HOST=database
      - DB_PORT=3306
      - MYSQL_USER=Praxis
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=your_praxis_password
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=qa_platform
      - GEMINI_API_KEY=${GEMINI_API_KEY}
    expose:
      - "3000"
    depends_on:
      - database
    networks:
      - app-network

  database:
    image: kagasumi/praxis-database:latest
    container_name: praxis-database
    environment:
      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_secure_root_password
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=qa_platform
      - MYSQL_USER=Praxis
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=your_praxis_password
    expose:
      - "3306"
    networks:
      - app-network

Running the Application

Running the Application

1. Make sure your .env is created and contains your Gemini key.

2. Start all services:

docker compose up -d

Access the frontend at: http://localhost:8080

Troubleshooting

Backend cannot find GEMINI_API_KEY

Ensure .env exists and Docker Compose loads it:

Gateway shows 502 Bad Gateway

Run

docker logs praxis-backend
docker logs praxis-frontend

Ensure containers are running and not restarting.

Database connection issues

Check environment variables in both backend and database services.

Local Development Docker Compose

This version of docker-compose.yml builds all Praxis services from your local folders instead of pulling images from Docker Hub. Use this when you are actively developing changes in the repo.

networks:
  app-network:
    driver: bridge

services:
  gateway:
    image: nginx:alpine
    container_name: gateway
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    volumes:
      - ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro
    depends_on:
      - frontend
      - backend
    networks:
      - app-network

  frontend:
    build: ./frontend/
    container_name: praxis-frontend
    environment:
      - NEXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL=http://praxis-backend:3000
    expose:
      - "8080"
    networks:
      - app-network

  backend:
    build: ./backend/
    container_name: praxis-backend
    environment:
      - DB_HOST=database
      - DB_PORT=3306
      - MYSQL_USER=Praxis
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=your_praxis_password
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=qa_platform
      - GEMINI_API_KEY=${GEMINI_API_KEY}
    expose:
      - "3000"
    depends_on:
      - database
    networks:
      - app-network

  database:
    build: ./database/
    container_name: praxis-database
    environment:
      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_secure_root_password
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=qa_platform
      - MYSQL_USER=Praxis
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=your_praxis_password
    expose:
      - "3306"
    networks:
      - app-network