admin/freealberta
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Actions Packages Projects Releases Wiki Activity
freealberta/influence
History

README.MD

BNKops Influence Campaign Tool

A comprehensive web application that helps Alberta residents connect with their elected representatives across all levels of government. Users can find their representatives by postal code and send direct emails to advocate for important issues.

Features

  • Representative Lookup: Find elected officials by Alberta postal code (T prefixed)
  • Multi-Level Government: Displays federal MPs, provincial MLAs, and municipal representatives
  • Contact Information: Shows photos, email addresses, phone numbers, and office locations
  • Direct Email: Built-in email composer to contact representatives
  • Smart Caching: Fast performance with NocoDB caching and graceful fallback to live API
  • Responsive Design: Works seamlessly on desktop and mobile devices
  • Real-time Data: Integrates with Represent OpenNorth API for up-to-date information

Technology Stack

  • Backend: Node.js with Express.js
  • Database: NocoDB (REST API)
  • External API: Represent OpenNorth Canada API
  • Frontend: Vanilla JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3
  • Email: SMTP integration
  • Deployment: Docker with docker-compose
  • Rate Limiting: Express rate limiter for API protection

Quick Start

Prerequisites

  • Docker and Docker Compose
  • Access to existing NocoDB instance
  • SMTP email configuration

Installation

  1. Clone and navigate to the project:

    cd /path/to/changemaker.lite/influence

  2. Configure environment:

    cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your configuration

  3. Set up NocoDB tables:

    ./scripts/build-nocodb.sh

  4. Start the application:

    docker compose up --build

  5. Access the application:

    • Open http://localhost:3333
    • Enter an Alberta postal code (e.g., T5N4B8)
    • View your representatives and send emails

Development Mode

Email Testing with MailHog

For development and testing, the application includes MailHog integration to safely test email functionality without sending real emails to elected officials.

Quick Setup for Development

  1. Use development configuration:

    # Your .env should include these settings for development:
NODE_ENV=development
EMAIL_TEST_MODE=true
SMTP_HOST=mailhog
SMTP_PORT=1025
SMTP_USER=test
SMTP_PASS=test
TEST_EMAIL_RECIPIENT=your-email@example.com

  2. Start with MailHog included:

    docker compose up --build

  3. Access development tools:

Email Testing Features

Test Mode Benefits:

  • ✅ All emails redirected to your test recipient
  • ✅ Original recipient shown in subject line: [TEST - Original: real@email.com] Subject
  • ✅ Safe testing without spamming elected officials
  • ✅ Complete email logging with test mode indicators

Email Testing Interface (/email-test.html):

  • Quick Test: Send test email with one click
  • Email Preview: See exactly how emails will look before sending
  • Custom Composition: Test with your own subject and message content
  • Email Logs: View all sent emails with test/live filtering
  • SMTP Diagnostics: Test connection and troubleshoot issues

MailHog Web Interface (http://localhost:8025):

  • View all emails caught during development
  • Inspect email content, headers, and formatting
  • Search and filter caught emails
  • No emails leave your local environment

Development Workflow

  1. Safe Development:

    # Ensure test mode is enabled
EMAIL_TEST_MODE=true

# Start development environment
docker compose up --build

  2. Test Email Functionality:

    • Use the main app to send emails (they'll be redirected)
    • Check MailHog UI to see the actual email content
    • Use /email-test.html for advanced testing and preview

  3. Production Deployment:

    # Switch to production SMTP settings
EMAIL_TEST_MODE=false
SMTP_HOST=smtp.your-provider.com
SMTP_USER=your-real-email@domain.com
SMTP_PASS=your-real-password

# Restart application
docker compose restart

Development Environment Variables

# Development Mode Configuration
NODE_ENV=development
EMAIL_TEST_MODE=true

# MailHog SMTP (for development)
SMTP_HOST=mailhog
SMTP_PORT=1025
SMTP_SECURE=false
SMTP_USER=test
SMTP_PASS=test
SMTP_FROM_EMAIL=dev@albertainfluence.local
SMTP_FROM_NAME="BNKops Influence Campaign (DEV)"

# Email Testing
TEST_EMAIL_RECIPIENT=developer@example.com

# Production SMTP (commented out for dev)
# SMTP_HOST=smtp.protonmail.ch
# SMTP_PORT=587
# SMTP_USER=your-production-email@domain.com
# SMTP_PASS=your-production-password

Configuration

Environment Variables (.env)

# Server Configuration
NODE_ENV=production
PORT=3333

# NocoDB Configuration
NOCODB_API_URL=https://db.cmlite.org
NOCODB_API_TOKEN=your_nocodb_token
NOCODB_PROJECT_ID=your_project_id

# Email Configuration (SMTP)
SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_SECURE=false
SMTP_USER=your_email@gmail.com
SMTP_PASS=your_app_password
SMTP_FROM_NAME=BNKops Influence Campaign
SMTP_FROM_EMAIL=your_email@gmail.com

# Rate Limiting
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS=900000
RATE_LIMIT_MAX_REQUESTS=100

API Endpoints

Representatives

  • GET /api/representatives/by-postal/:postalCode - Get representatives by postal code
  • POST /api/representatives/refresh-postal/:postalCode - Refresh cached data

Email

  • POST /api/emails/send - Send email to representative
  • GET /api/emails/logs - Get email sending logs (with filters)

Email Testing (Development)

  • POST /api/emails/preview - Preview email without sending (admin only)
  • POST /api/emails/test - Send test email to configured recipient (admin only)
  • GET /api/test-smtp - Test SMTP connection (admin only)

Health

  • GET /api/health - Application health check
  • GET /api/test-represent - Test Represent API connection

Database Schema

Representatives Table

  • postal_code, name, email, district_name
  • elected_office, party_name, representative_set_name
  • url, photo_url, cached_at

Emails Table

  • recipient_email, recipient_name, sender_email
  • subject, message, status, sent_at

Postal Codes Table

  • postal_code, city, province
  • centroid_lat, centroid_lng, last_updated

Development

Project Structure

influence/
├── app/
│   ├── controllers/     # Business logic
│   ├── routes/         # API routes
│   ├── services/       # External integrations
│   ├── utils/          # Helper functions
│   ├── middleware/     # Express middleware
│   ├── public/         # Frontend assets
│   └── server.js       # Express app entry point
├── scripts/
│   └── build-nocodb.sh # Database setup
├── docker-compose.yml  # Container orchestration
├── Dockerfile         # Container definition
└── .env              # Environment configuration

Key Components

  • RepresentativesController: Handles postal code lookups and caching
  • EmailController: Manages email composition, sending, and testing
  • NocoDBService: Database operations with error handling
  • RepresentAPI: Integration with OpenNorth Represent API
  • EmailService: SMTP email functionality with test mode support
  • Email Testing System: Preview, test, and log email functionality for development

Features in Detail

Smart Caching System

  • First request fetches from Represent API and caches in NocoDB
  • Subsequent requests served from cache for fast performance
  • Graceful fallback to API when NocoDB is unavailable
  • Automatic error recovery and retry logic

Representative Display

  • Shows photo with fallback to initials
  • Contact information including phone and address
  • Party affiliation and government level
  • Direct links to official profiles

Email Integration

  • Modal-based email composer
  • Pre-filled recipient information
  • SMTP sending with delivery confirmation
  • Email history and logging

Error Handling

  • Comprehensive error logging
  • User-friendly error messages
  • API fallback mechanisms
  • Rate limiting protection

Production Deployment

Docker Production

# Build and start in production mode
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d --build

# View logs
docker compose logs -f app

# Scale if needed
docker compose up --scale app=2

Monitoring

  • Health check endpoint: /api/health
  • Application logs via Docker
  • NocoDB integration status monitoring
  • Email delivery tracking

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

  1. NocoDB Connection Errors:

    • Check API URL and token in .env
    • Run ./scripts/build-nocodb.sh to setup tables
    • Application works without NocoDB (API fallback)

  2. Email Not Sending:

    • Verify SMTP credentials in .env
    • Check spam/junk folders
    • Review email logs via API endpoint
    • In development: Check MailHog UI at http://localhost:8025
    • Use email testing interface at /email-test.html for diagnostics

  3. No Representatives Found:

    • Ensure postal code starts with 'T' (Alberta)
    • Check Represent API status
    • Try different postal code format

Log Analysis

# View application logs
docker compose logs app

# Follow logs in real-time
docker compose logs -f app

# Check specific errors
docker compose logs app | grep ERROR

Contributing

This is part of the larger changemaker.lite project. Follow the established patterns for:

  • Error handling and logging
  • API response formats
  • Database integration
  • Frontend component structure

License

Part of the changemaker.lite project ecosystem.