AlumniConnect Backend

FastAPI + PostgreSQL backend for the AlumniConnect platform.

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Stack

Layer	Technology
API Framework	FastAPI
Database	PostgreSQL 16
ORM	SQLAlchemy 2
Password Hashing	passlib + bcrypt
DB Admin UI	pgAdmin
Container	Docker Compose

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Quick Start

1. Clone / place the project

cd alumniconnect-backend

2. Start all containers

docker compose up --build -d

This starts three containers:

• db — PostgreSQL on port 5432
• api — FastAPI on port 8000 (auto-reload enabled)
• pgadmin — pgAdmin UI on port 5050

3. Wait ~10 seconds for Postgres to initialize, then seed the database

docker compose exec api python seed.py

This populates:

• All role categories, target roles, skills, and todo items
• A default admin account
• 2 sample student accounts
• 2 sample alumni accounts

4. Open the API docs

http://localhost:8000/docs

Interactive Swagger UI — you can test every endpoint here.

5. Open pgAdmin (optional)

http://localhost:5050
Email:    admin@alumni.com
Password: admin

Connect to server:

• Host: db
• Port: 5432
• Username: alumniuser
• Password: alumnipass
• Database: alumniconnect

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Login Credentials (after seeding)

Role	Email	Password
Admin	admin@alumni.com	admin123
Student	arjun@college.edu	student123
Student	priya@college.edu	student123
Alumni	karthik@alumni.edu	alumni123
Alumni	sneha@alumni.edu	alumni123

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Authentication

Login is the only endpoint that checks credentials. Every other endpoint is open — no token required. The frontend is responsible for routing users to the right dashboard after login.

POST /auth/login

{ "email": "arjun@college.edu", "password": "student123" }

Returns the user object with id, name, email, role, readiness_score, etc.

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API Endpoints

Auth

Method	Route	Description
POST	/auth/login	Validate credentials, returns user object

Students

Method	Route	Description
POST	/students/register	Register a new student
GET	/students/{id}	Get full student profile
PATCH	/students/{id}	Update profile fields (name, dept, linkedin, github, target_role)
PUT	/students/{id}/skills	Replace all skills (send array of skill_ids)
GET	/students/{id}/projects	List projects
POST	/students/{id}/projects	Add project
PATCH	/students/{id}/projects/{pid}	Update project
DELETE	/students/{id}/projects/{pid}	Delete project
POST	/students/{id}/certifications	Add cert
PATCH	/students/{id}/certifications/{cid}	Update cert
DELETE	/students/{id}/certifications/{cid}	Delete cert
POST	/students/{id}/experiences	Add experience
PATCH	/students/{id}/experiences/{eid}	Update experience
DELETE	/students/{id}/experiences/{eid}	Delete experience
GET	/students/{id}/readiness	Get readiness score + level
GET	/students/{id}/roadmap	Get todo list for current level and target role
GET	/students/{id}/mentors	Get top 5 suggested alumni mentors
GET	/students/{id}/jobs	Browse approved jobs (filtered by readiness score)
GET	/students/{id}/questions	List all questions the student has asked

Alumni

Method	Route	Description
GET	/alumni/	List all alumni
GET	/alumni/{id}	Get alumni public profile
POST	/alumni/{id}/profile-updates	Submit profile update for admin approval
GET	/alumni/{id}/profile-updates	Get my submitted updates and their status
POST	/alumni/{id}/jobs	Post a job/internship (goes to pending)
GET	/alumni/{id}/jobs	List my job postings
DELETE	/alumni/{id}/jobs/{jid}	Delete a job posting
GET	/alumni/{id}/questions	Inbox of questions (anonymous — no student_id)
POST	/alumni/{id}/questions/{qid}/answer	Answer a question
PATCH	/alumni/{id}/questions/{qid}/answer	Edit an existing answer

Q&A

Method	Route	Description
POST	/questions/	Ask a question (body: student_id, alumni_id, question)
GET	/questions/alumni/{alumni_id}	Public Q&A thread for an alumni

Jobs

Method	Route	Description
GET	/jobs/	List all approved jobs
GET	/jobs/{id}	Get job detail
POST	/jobs/{id}/apply?student_id=	Apply to a job
GET	/jobs/{id}/applications	List all applicants for a job

Admin

Method	Route	Description
GET	/admin/stats	Dashboard stats (user counts, pending counts)
GET	/admin/users?role=	List all users, optional role filter
POST	/admin/users	Create any user (any role)
DELETE	/admin/users/{id}	Delete a user
POST	/admin/transition-to-alumni	Transition a student to alumni
GET	/admin/profile-updates?status=	List profile update requests
POST	/admin/profile-updates/{id}/action	Approve or reject a profile update
GET	/admin/job-postings?status=	List job postings
POST	/admin/job-postings/{id}/action	Approve or reject a job posting
GET	/admin/qa	Full Q&A list with student identities visible

Reference Data (taxonomy)

Method	Route	Description
GET	/reference/categories	List role categories
GET	/reference/target-roles?category_id=	List target roles
GET	/reference/skills?category_id=	List skills (fixed list)
GET	/reference/todos?category_id=&level=	List todo items
POST	/reference/categories	Create a category
POST	/reference/target-roles	Create a target role
POST	/reference/skills	Add a skill to the fixed list
POST	/reference/todos	Add a todo item

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Readiness Scoring Rules ("AI Career Analyzer")

Category	Points
LinkedIn URL	+3
GitHub URL	+3
Target role set	+4
Skills (×2 each, cap 10 skills)	max 20
Skill matches target role keywords (×1 each, cap 10)	max 10
Projects (×5 each, cap 4)	max 20
Project has description (×1, cap 4)	max 4
Project has GitHub URL (×1, cap 4)	max 4
Project has tech stack tagged (×0.5, cap 4)	max 2
Certifications (×7.5 each, cap 2)	max 15
Internship experience	+15
Freelance or part-time (if no internship)	+8

Total: 100 points

Score	Level
0–24	Foundation
25–49	Skill Building
50–74	Internship Ready
75–100	Interview Ready

Score is recomputed automatically every time the student updates their profile, skills, projects, certs, or experience.

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Project Structure

alumniconnect-backend/
├── app/
│   ├── main.py              ← FastAPI app + router registration + table creation
│   ├── database.py          ← SQLAlchemy engine + session + Base
│   ├── models/
│   │   └── models.py        ← All SQLAlchemy table definitions
│   ├── schemas/
│   │   └── schemas.py       ← All Pydantic request/response models
│   ├── routers/
│   │   ├── auth.py          ← Login
│   │   ├── student.py       ← Student dashboard endpoints
│   │   ├── alumni.py        ← Alumni dashboard endpoints
│   │   ├── admin.py         ← Admin dashboard endpoints
│   │   ├── qa.py            ← Public Q&A thread
│   │   ├── jobs.py          ← Job browsing and applications
│   │   └── reference.py     ← Skills, roles, categories, todos
│   └── services/
│       ├── scoring.py       ← Readiness score computation
│       ├── matching.py      ← Mentor suggestion engine
│       └── roadmap.py       ← Todo list generation
├── seed.py                  ← Seed script (run once)
├── docker-compose.yml
├── Dockerfile
├── requirements.txt
└── .env