We welcome contributors of all levels to help improve DevStations! Whether you are a beginner learning full-stack development, or an experienced developer, your contributions are valuable.
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Fork the repository
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Create a branch for your feature or bug fix:
git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name
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Make your changes and test locally
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Commit your changes with a clear message:
git commit -m "Add feature X" -
Push your branch to your fork:
git push origin feature/your-feature-name
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Open a Pull Request to the main repository
Make sure your PR is descriptive and references any related issues.
If you are new to the project or open-source, start with beginner-friendly issues:
- Improve or fix UI components
- Add a new API endpoint
- Add validation to existing endpoints
- Write or improve documentation
- Add tests for backend or frontend functionality
All beginner-friendly issues are labeled good first issue or help wanted on GitHub.
If you want to contribute actively and regularly:
- Help add new features or modules
- Improve cloud deployment and CI/CD setup
- Refactor code for performance or maintainability
- Mentor new contributors
- Help create tutorials, demos, or YouTube walkthroughs
Volunteers will get recognition in the project, and you can list this experience on your GitHub profile and resume as open-source contributions.
We expect all contributors to follow a friendly, inclusive, and respectful approach when collaborating.
- Be polite and constructive in discussions
- Respect other contributors’ time and work
- Follow GitHub workflow guidelines
DevStations is a production-deployed full stack web application demonstrating end-to-end development using a React frontend and a Python (Flask) backend, exposed via REST APIs and deployed on modern cloud platforms including Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
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Backend (GCP – Cloud Run) https://devstations-server-6351281086.us-central1.run.app
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Frontend (GCP) https://devstations-client-6351281086.us-central1.run.app
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Frontend (GitHub Pages) https://manibalasinha.github.io/devstations/
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Backend (Render) https://devstations-5.onrender.com/
Architecture & Walkthrough Video https://youtube.com/live/nH6ib6JBxvo
DevStations showcases how a modern React application communicates with a Python backend through clean, RESTful APIs.
The project focuses on:
- Clear frontend–backend separation
- API-driven architecture
- Cloud deployment and real-world hosting considerations
This project is suitable as a reference full stack implementation for small-to-medium web applications.
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Frontend | React, Vite |
| Backend | Python, Flask |
| API | REST (JSON) |
| HTTP Client | Fetch API / Axios |
| Cloud (GCP) | Cloud Run |
| Deployment | GCP, GitHub Pages, Render |
- RESTful API built with Flask
- React-based UI with API integration
- Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) configured
- Cloud-hosted backend with public API access
- Multiple deployment environments for comparison
Why DevStations is production-ready and a solid reference project:
End-to-end functionality: Fully working React frontend connected to Flask backend with REST APIs.
Cloud deployment: Backend hosted on GCP Cloud Run and frontend on GitHub Pages and GCP, showing multi-environment support.
Authentication-ready: Designed to easily integrate user authentication modules.
CRUD Operations: Demonstrates complete create, read, update, delete flows for posts.
Extensible Architecture: Modular structure for both frontend and backend for future feature expansion.
CI/CD Friendly: Can be deployed on other cloud platforms with minimal setup.
Learning & Proof: Perfect showcase for recruiters to see a developer’s full-stack skills, cloud deployment, and clean architecture in action.
This MVP proves DevStations is a realistic, deployable full stack application.
License Issues (open) Good First Issues Stars / Forks Optional: Python & Node.js version
You can create a new section in your CONTRIBUTING.md called:
## 🔄 Issues & Pull Requests
To make contributions smooth:
1. **Link PRs to issues**
- If you are fixing a bug or adding a feature, link your PR to the relevant issue using:
`Closes #issue-number`
This will automatically close the issue when the PR is merged.
2. **Clear commit messages**
- Use descriptive commit messages like:
`Add API endpoint for posts`
`Fix frontend bug in navbar`
3. **Describe your changes in PR**
- Include what you changed, why, and any steps to test it.
4. **Review & testing**
- Ensure your code runs locally.
- Check that new features don’t break existing functionality.GitHub lets you standardize bug reports or feature requests.
- In your repo, create:
.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/
bug_report.md
---
name: Bug Report
about: Report a problem with DevStations
title: "[BUG] "
labels: bug
assignees: ''
---
**Describe the bug**
A clear description of the problem.
**To Reproduce**
Steps to reproduce the behavior:
1. Go to '...'
2. Click '...'
3. See error
**Expected behavior**
A clear description of what you expected.
**Screenshots** / GIFs
Show live app or key UI flows.
**Additional context**
Add any other context about the problem here.feature_request.md
---
name: Feature Request
about: Suggest a new feature or improvement
title: "[FEATURE] "
labels: enhancement
assignees: ''
---
**Describe the feature**
A clear and concise description of the feature.
**Why is this needed?**
Explain why this feature is useful.
**Additional context**
Add any other context or screenshots about the feature request.After this, when someone clicks “New Issue”, GitHub will show these templates. It’s super helpful for volunteers.
✅ Summary:
- Badges: Add at top of README for license, issues, stars, live deployments.
- PR & Issues guidance: Add section in CONTRIBUTING.md.
- Issue templates: Add
.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/folder withbug_report.mdandfeature_request.md.
cd server
pip install -r requirements.txt
python app.pyBackend runs on:
http://localhost:5000
cd client
npm install
npm run devFrontend runs on:
http://localhost:5173
Ensure the backend is running before starting the frontend.
| Method | Endpoint | Description |
|---|---|---|
| GET | /api/posts | Retrieve all posts |
| POST | /api/posts | Create a new post |
Want to contribute or have questions? You can email me directly at:
Feel free to reach out — I’m happy to guide you and help you get started right away!
You can also start immediately by checking out the good first issues in this repository and submitting a pull request.
Manibala Sinha Senior Full Stack Engineer (React · Python · Cloud)
- Blog: https://devstations.blogspot.com
- GitHub: https://github.com/ManibalaSinha
- YouTube: Python & React Concepts: https://youtube.com/live/nH6ib6JBxvo?feature=share
This project is licensed under the MIT License.