ExpenseTracker

Project Scope – Cloud-Deployed Expense Tracker

1. Objective

Build a production-ready, cloud-deployed expense tracking application that demonstrates backend architecture, frontend integration, security, observability, CI/CD, and operational maturity using a modern Java stack.

The goal is not feature breadth, but engineering depth and correctness.

2. In Scope (Functional Requirements) 2.1 User Management & Security

• Users can register and authenticate using email/password.

• Authentication is implemented using JWT-based stateless security.

• All protected APIs require a valid JWT.

• Users can only access and modify their own data.

2.2 Core Domain Model

The system manages the following entities:

• User

• Account

• Transaction

• Category

Each transaction:

• Belongs to a user

• Is associated with an account and category

• Contains amount, timestamp, description, and type (income/expense)

Data is persisted in PostgreSQL using JPA/Hibernate.

2.3 REST API

• CRUD APIs for:

  • Transactions

  • Categories

• APIs follow REST conventions and return consistent JSON responses.

• Input validation is enforced using @Valid.

• Transaction listing supports pagination.

• All APIs are documented using OpenAPI/Swagger.

2.4 Frontend (React + TypeScript)

The frontend provides:

• Login and registration screens

• Dashboard with recent transactions

• Transaction management (list, add, edit, delete)

• Category management

• Expense analytics using charts (weekly/monthly trends)

• Responsive, mobile-friendly UI

• Proper loading states and error handling

• JWT handling via a centralized HTTP client layer

3. Non-Functional Requirements 3.1 Observability & Production Readiness

• Backend exposes Spring Boot Actuator endpoints.

• Application metrics are collected via Micrometer.

• Metrics are scraped by Prometheus.

• Grafana dashboards visualize API latency, throughput, and error rates.

• Health and readiness endpoints are enabled.

• Global exception handling with structured error responses.

3.2 Containerization & Deployment

• Backend packaged as an executable JAR and containerized with Docker.

• Frontend built as static assets and served via Nginx in Docker.

• docker-compose is provided for local development.

• Application is deployed to AWS EC2.

3.3 CI/CD

• GitHub Actions pipeline automates:

  • Backend build and tests

  • Frontend build

  • Docker image creation

  • Deployment to AWS EC2

3.4 Testing

• Repository layer tested using @DataJpaTest.

• Integration tests cover secured endpoints.

• Target backend test coverage: ≥ 80%.

4. Deliverables

• Public live demo URL

• Public Swagger/OpenAPI documentation

• Grafana dashboard (read-only or documented access)

• GitHub repository with full CI/CD automation

• README including:

  • Architecture diagram

  • Tech stack summary

  • Local setup instructions

  • Deployment overview

  • Links to demo, Swagger, and monitoring

• Short screen recording demonstrating key flows

5. Explicitly Out of Scope

The following are intentionally excluded to keep scope realistic:

• Multi-currency support

• Receipt uploads or OCR

• Bank integrations

• Team or organization accounts

• Advanced reporting or exports

• Background jobs or schedulers

• Event sourcing or audit trails

6. Success Criteria

The project is considered complete when:

• The application is publicly accessible

• CI/CD runs end-to-end without manual steps

• Metrics are visible in Grafana

• APIs are fully documented

• The system demonstrates production-ready engineering practices