StudyRound Server

A Ruby on Rails API backend powering the StudyRound e-learning platform. Supports course creation and consumption, assessments, trivia, AI-generated performance reports, and multi-provider payments.

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Language	Ruby 2.7.8
Framework	Rails 5.2.4
Database	PostgreSQL
Job Queue	Sidekiq + Redis
File Storage	AWS S3
AI Reports	OpenAI API
Payments	Flutterwave, Paystack
Auth	JWT (bcrypt + Google OAuth)
Email	ZeptoMail (SMTP)
Tests	RSpec + FactoryBot

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Prerequisites

• Ruby 2.7.8
• PostgreSQL
• Redis

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Setup

1. Install dependencies

bundle install

2. Configure environment variables

Copy config/local_env.yml from the template and fill in the values (see Environment Variables below).

3. Set up the database

rails db:create db:migrate

4. Start background jobs

bundle exec sidekiq

5. Start the server

rails server

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Running Tests

bundle exec rspec

Test coverage includes request specs, model specs, job specs, service specs, and mailer specs under spec/.

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Environment Variables

Set these in config/local_env.yml (development) or your platform's environment config (staging/production).

Variable	Description
RAILS_MASTER_KEY	Rails credentials master key
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL connection string
OPENAI_KEY	OpenAI API key for AI report generation
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID	Google OAuth client ID
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET	Google OAuth client secret
GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URI	Google OAuth redirect URI
FLUTTERWAVE_PUBLIC_KEY	Flutterwave public key
FLUTTERWAVE_SECRET_KEY	Flutterwave secret key
FLUTTERWAVE_ENCRYPTION_KEY	Flutterwave encryption key
PAYSTACK_PUBLIC_KEY	Paystack public key
PAYSTACK_SECRET_KEY	Paystack secret key
SMTP_SERVER	SMTP host (e.g. smtp.zeptomail.eu)
SMTP_PORT	SMTP port (587)
SMTP_USERNAME	SMTP username
SMTP_PASSWORD	SMTP password
SENDGRID_API_KEY	SendGrid API key
TRELLO_API_KEY	Trello API key
TRELLO_API_TOKEN	Trello API token
TRELLO_API_SECRET	Trello API secret
AUTH_URL	Frontend auth app URL
HOST_URL	Frontend host URL
CREATOR_URL	Creator dashboard URL
RAILS_ASSET_HOST	Asset host URL
ADMIN_CONSENT_EMAIL	Email address for admin consent notifications
FREE_TEST_SESSION_ACCESS_HOURS	Hours a free test session remains accessible
TEST_LAG_TIME_SECONDS	Lag time in seconds before test expiration jobs run
TOP_COURSE_MIN_RATING_COUNT	Minimum rating count for top courses listing
TOP_TEST_MIN_RATING_COUNT	Minimum rating count for top tests listing
ONBOARDING_PARAMS	Pipe-separated list of onboarding step keys

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Core Features

Authentication

• JWT-based with 1-day access tokens and 1-year refresh tokens
• Password authentication (bcrypt)
• Google OAuth (web and mobile flows)
• OTP email verification (10-minute window)

Learning Content

• Courses — creation, publishing, categorisation, search, trending/top/recent feeds
• Questions — CRUD, bulk import, asset management, notes, explanations
• Course Bundles — grouped course collections

Assessments

• Tests — invitation-based, leaderboard, session management, expiration
• Trivia — sets, invitations, leaderboard, real-time submissions
• Study Sessions — start/end tracking, stale session cleanup

AI Reports

Performance reports generated via OpenAI API after test and trivia completion.

Payments

Transactions processed through Flutterwave and Paystack. Financial card management included.

Background Jobs (Sidekiq)

Job	Purpose
TestResultsEmailSendJob	Email test results to participants
TriviaResultsEmailSendJob	Email trivia results to participants
TestExpirationJob	Expire stale test sessions
TriviaExpirationJob	Expire stale trivia sessions
CourseSessionSubmissionJob	Submit completed course sessions
StaleSessionSubmissionJob	Auto-submit abandoned sessions
DeleteExpiredResultSessionJob	Clean up expired result sessions
DeleteStaleStudySessionJob	Clean up stale study sessions
CleanupGuestDataJob	Remove guest user data
CopyAssetsJob	Copy question assets between courses

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Deployment

The app ships with a Dockerfile and entrypoint.sh for container-based deployments. A Procfile is included for Heroku.

For EC2 deployments using AWS Parameter Store, ensure all environment variables listed above are stored as parameters and exported into the application's environment before the server starts.

CORS is restricted to *.studyround.com in production and staging.