StreetEasyAndMe

Domain: streeteasyandme.com

A web application for tracking and managing your NYC apartment rental search. Browse scraped StreetEasy listings, favorite apartments, and maintain a timestamped history of your rental search activities.

Project Overview

This repository contains three components:

1. Scraper (scraper/) - Automated StreetEasy listing scraper with Telegram notifications
2. Backend (backend/) - FastAPI REST API for managing favorites and events
3. Frontend (frontend/) - React web application for browsing and tracking listings

See PROJECT_SPEC.md for complete technical specification.

Quick Start (Local Development - No Docker)

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• Node.js 18+
• PostgreSQL (local or Railway.com)
• uv (Python package manager): pip install uv

Initial Setup

1. Set up local PostgreSQL database

# Create database (if doesn't exist)
createdb streeteasy

# Import data from Railway (optional)
# First, install postgres 17 client tools for pg_dump compatibility
brew install postgresql@17

# Dump from Railway
export RAILWAY_DATABASE_URL="your_railway_url_here"
/opt/homebrew/opt/postgresql@17/bin/pg_dump $RAILWAY_DATABASE_URL > railway_dump.sql

# Import to local
psql streeteasy < railway_dump.sql

2. Backend Setup

cd backend

# Install dependencies
uv pip install -e .

# Create .env file (copy from .env.example)
cp .env.example .env

# Edit .env with your local database URL:
# DATABASE_URL=postgresql://YOUR_USERNAME@localhost:5432/streeteasy

# Run migrations to create tables
.venv/bin/alembic upgrade head

# Start backend server
./start_server.sh
# Or manually: uvicorn src.main:app --reload --port 8000

Backend will be available at:

• API: http://localhost:8000
• API Docs: http://localhost:8000/docs

3. Frontend Setup (in a new terminal)

cd frontend

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Create .env file
echo "VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:8000" > .env

# Start dev server
npm run dev

Frontend will be available at: http://localhost:5173

Using the App

1. Go to http://localhost:5173
2. First time: Sign up (only first user can register)
3. Login and start browsing rentals from Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Individual Component Setup

Scraper

The scraper runs independently and populates the PostgreSQL database with StreetEasy listings.

See scraper/README.md for setup and usage.

Quick Start:

cd scraper
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Set environment variables
export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://username@localhost:5432/streeteasy"
export TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN="your_token"
export TELEGRAM_CHAT_IDS="your_chat_ids"

python main.py

Backend (FastAPI)

See backend/README.md for API documentation.

Development:

cd backend
pip install -r requirements.txt
uvicorn src.main:app --reload --port 8000

Frontend (React + Vite)

See frontend/README.md for component documentation.

Development:

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Deployment

Render.com Deployment

Backend Service (Web Service):

• Environment: Python 3
• Build Command: cd backend && pip install uv && uv pip install -e .
• Start Command: cd backend && uvicorn src.main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port $PORT
• Environment Variables: DATABASE_URL, SECRET_KEY

Frontend Service (Static Site):

• Build Command: cd frontend && npm install && npm run build
• Publish Directory: frontend/dist
• Environment Variables: VITE_API_URL

Database:

• Hosted on Railway.com (existing setup)

Post-Deployment:

• Run migrations on backend: cd backend && .venv/bin/alembic upgrade head

See PROJECT_SPEC.md for detailed deployment instructions.

Features

Current (MVP)

• Browse all scraped StreetEasy listings with filters (price, bedrooms)
• Mark listings as favorites with state tracking
• Soft delete favorites with restore capability
• Add timestamped events (reach outs, viewings, applications)
• Add notes to events
• Schedule showing datetime for favorites
• Responsive web design

Planned

• Listing images (requires scraper update)
• Advanced filtering and search
• Email/SMS reminders
• Data export
• Analytics dashboard

Project Structure

streeteasilyandme/
├── scraper/           # StreetEasy scraper (independent)
├── backend/           # FastAPI backend
│   ├── src/
│   ├── alembic/       # Database migrations
│   └── pyproject.toml
├── frontend/          # React frontend
│   ├── src/
│   └── package.json
├── PROJECT_SPEC.md    # Technical specification
└── README.md          # This file

Contributing

This is a personal project, but if you have suggestions or find bugs, feel free to open an issue.

License

MIT