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Spring 2 report
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spring2report.md

Student StoreFront - Sprint 2 & Forward Roadmap

Sprint 2 Progress

  • WhatsApp Bot Core Flow [Done]: Set up group message collection, consent DMs, Cloudinary image upload, and Spring Boot backend integration.
  • Frontend & Auth [Done]: Built out the listings grid, category filters, listing creation form, login/register views, and the complete authentication flow.
  • Backend Security & Architecture [Done]: Shipped JWT-based security with improved error handling and role-based access control for posts and sellers. Cleaned up backend architecture, configuration management, and validation.
  • Bot Integration Support [Done]: Added seller lookup by phone number to connect the WhatsApp bot to the backend.
  • Gemini API Integration [Partially Done]: Message classification and listing parsing logic is built, but currently mocked out pending an API key/quota fix.

Key Technical Decisions

  • Image Hosting: We went with Cloudinary. The bot downloads WhatsApp images as base64 and uploads them directly, meaning we only store clean URLs in the database instead of heavy, raw binary data.
  • State Management: Implemented a userState Map pattern in the bot. This consolidates all per-user state (listing drafts, consent, registration, timers) into a single keyed object, keeping the codebase much cleaner.
  • API Bypass: We hardcoded a temporary bypass for the Gemini classification. This keeps the bot fully functional for testing while we resolve the API limits.

Roadblocks

  • Gemini API Limits: We hit the free tier quota for the Gemini API. We will test a fresh Google account or upgrade to the paid tier in Sprint 3 to get this unblocked.

Next Steps: Sprint 3

Sprint 3 is all about the full end-to-end user flow:

  • Finalize the loop between WhatsApp and the site (account creation and bot-to-site linking).
  • Integrate magic links for passwordless seller access.
  • Set up webhooks for the bot registration flow.
  • Resolve the Gemini quota issue and remove the mocked bypass.
  • Build out integration testing modules covering the complete flow: WhatsApp -> Bot -> Backend -> Frontend.

Future Outlook: Sprint 4 & Beyond

Once the core E2E flow is stable, we'll shift focus to usability, polish, and scaling:

  • Business Accounts: Adding modularity so "business" flagged accounts (e.g., campus restaurants) can clone preconfigured store pages.
  • User Testing: Getting the app in front of real users to find friction points.
  • The Final 10%: Knocking out the small quality-of-life (QOL) updates and nice-to-haves that make the platform feel intuitive and logical for daily use.
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