Democracy.io

React frontend and TypeScript backend for sending messages to members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

Repo Layout

• frontend/: React + TypeScript + Vite application
• backend/: TypeScript + Express API

The backend serves the built frontend from frontend/dist in production.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22.12.0 or newer
• npm 11 or newer
• A repo-root .env file with the backend environment variables you need

Install

npm install

Development

Run both apps together:

npm run dev

That starts:

• the backend on http://localhost:3001
• the Vite frontend on http://localhost:3000

You can also run them separately:

npm run dev:backend
npm run dev:frontend

Build

npm run build

This builds:

• frontend/dist
• backend/dist

Production

npm run start

The backend serves the compiled frontend and API from the same process. It listens on PORT, which defaults to 3001.