RideAlong - AI career Guide

Your AI Career Coach for Professional Success

Advance your career with personalized guidance, interview preparation, and AI-powered tools for job success. RideAlong is a modern web application that combines AI-driven automation with human-centric design to help users grow professionally through smart resume building, cover letter generation, and interview preparation.

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Table of Contents

• Overview
• Purpose
• Features
• Tech Stack
• App Directory Structure
• Inngest Integration
• Setup
• Environment Variables
• Database (Prisma)
• Authentication (Clerk)
• AI Integration (Gemini)
• Deployment
• Contributing
• License

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Overview

RideAlong is a Next.js 15+ App Router project designed for building career-oriented AI tools. It leverages server actions, background tasks, and intelligent automation to streamline the process of career growth, job applications, and interview readiness.

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Purpose

The primary goal of RideAlong is to serve as an AI Career Coach — providing users with a platform that helps them:

• Build professional resumes effortlessly
• Generate AI-powered cover letters tailored to specific roles
• Prepare for interviews with mock quizzes and real-time analytics
• Get actionable career guidance based on data and AI insights

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Features

• 🔐 Secure authentication using Clerk
• 🧠 Smart cover letter generator powered by Gemini AI
• 📄 Interactive resume builder with dynamic templates
• 🎯 Mock interview quizzes with performance tracking
• 📊 Dashboard for insights and analytics
• 🪄 Background workflows with Inngest for automation
• 🧩 Modular UI design using Shadcn UI and Tailwind CSS

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Tech Stack

• Frontend Framework: Next.js (App Router, React 19)
• Authentication: Clerk (@clerk/nextjs)
• Database: Prisma ORM + PostgreSQL
• Styling: Tailwind CSS + Shadcn Components
• AI Engine: Google Generative AI (Gemini)
• Background Jobs: Inngest
• Charts & Visuals: Recharts
• Form Management: React Hook Form + Zod

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App Directory Structure

The app/ directory follows the Next.js App Router structure with both client and server components:

app/
├── layout.js                   # Root layout
├── not-found.jsx               # 404 fallback
├── page.jsx                    # Landing page
│
├── (auth)/                     # Authentication routes
│   ├── layout.js
│   ├── sign-in/[[...sign-in]]/page.jsx
│   └── sign-up/[[...sign-up]]/page.jsx
│
├── (main)/                     # Protected main routes
│   ├── layout.js
│   ├── ai-cover-letter/        # AI cover letter generation
│   │   ├── page.jsx
│   │   ├── new/page.jsx
│   │   ├── [id]/page.jsx
│   │   └── _components/
│   │       ├── cover-letter-generator.jsx
│   │       ├── cover-letter-list.jsx
│   │       └── cover-letter-preview.jsx
│   │
│   ├── dashboard/              # User dashboard
│   │   ├── layout.js
│   │   ├── page.jsx
│   │   └── _components/dashboard-view.jsx
│   │
│   ├── interview/              # Interview preparation module
│   │   ├── layout.js
│   │   ├── page.jsx
│   │   ├── mock/page.jsx
│   │   └── _components/
│   │       ├── performance-chart.jsx
│   │       ├── quiz.jsx
│   │       ├── quiz-list.jsx
│   │       ├── quiz-result.jsx
│   │       └── stats-cards.jsx
│   │
│   ├── onboarding/
│   │   ├── page.jsx
│   │   └── _components/onboarding-form.jsx
│   │
│   └── resume/                 # Resume builder module
│       ├── layout.js
│       ├── page.jsx
│       └── _components/
│           ├── entry-form.jsx
│           └── resume-builder.jsx
│
├── api/inngest/route.js        # Inngest background job endpoint
├── lib/helper.js               # Utility functions
└── lib/schema.js               # Form validation schemas

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Inngest Integration

RideAlong leverages Inngest for background processing and automation. Example use cases:

• Handling AI task workflows
• Processing resume generation requests asynchronously
• Sending notifications or scheduled tasks (e.g., interview reminders)

The integration entry point is:

app/api/inngest/route.js

To run locally:

npx inngest dev

Then connect the endpoint /api/inngest to your Inngest dashboard.

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Setup

git clone <repo-url>
cd ridealong
npm install
npm run dev

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Environment Variables

NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY
CLERK_SECRET_KEY
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_IN_URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_UP_URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_AFTER_SIGN_IN_URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_AFTER_SIGN_UP_URL
DATABASE_URL
GEMINI_API_KEY

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Database (Prisma)

npx prisma generate
npx prisma migrate dev --name init

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Authentication (Clerk)

Clerk handles authentication via prebuilt components for sign-in, sign-up, and session management.

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AI Integration (Gemini)

Gemini AI powers features like smart cover letter generation, resume optimization, and interview coaching.

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