🏡 LocalHelp – Home Services Marketplace

LocalHelp is a full-stack home-services platform inspired by Urban Company. It serves as a comprehensive two-sided marketplace allowing customers to book local service providers and providers to manage their availability, bookings, and earnings. The platform has an Admin to manage providers and customers, check reports and feedbacks, and manage services.

The system includes a complete booking flow, robust authentication, dedicated dashboards for every role, dynamic slot management, and a mock payment system.

---

🔗 Live Links

Platform	Link
Frontend (Next.js)	https://localhelpfrontendv2.vercel.app/
Backend API (Express.js)	https://localhelp-hu2d.onrender.com
Please note: These links are for the deployed versions.

---

💻 Tech Stack

Frontend

• Next.js 14 (App Router)
• React
• Tailwind CSS
• Axios
• React Hot Toast
• React Icons

Backend

• Node.js
• Express.js
• Prisma ORM
• PostgreSQL (NeonDB)
• JWT Authentication and Cookie-based sessions
• Role-based authorization

Additional Tools

• Bcrypt (Password hashing)
• CORS
• Structured controllers, routes, and middlewares
• Seed scripts for demo providers and customers

---

Features

Customer Features

• Secure login and signup using JWT.
• Explore categories and subcategories.
• View provider services, pricing, and duration.
• Real-time slot availability with conflict detection.
• Book services with a mock payment workflow.

Customer Dashboard:

• View bookings with statuses (Pending / Accepted / Rejected / Completed).
• View booking history.
• Provide feedback for completed services or report against the bad service.
• Manage saved addresses (Create, Edit, Delete).
• Update profile information.

Provider Features

• Mock Aadhar system to verify customers to become a provider.
• Add services, defining duration and price.
• New Dedicated Slot Management: Separate "Slots" tab for weekly schedule editing.
• Separated Profile Management: Dedicated read-only view for personal and account details.
• Manage availability through dynamic time-slot JSON.
• View real-time booking requests.
• Accept or reject requests (rejection automatically frees up the slot).
• View customer details after accepting the request.
• Mark completed services proactively via the dashboard.

Provider Dashboard:

• Live and Completed requests.
• Earnings summary.
• Profile management & Dedicated Slot Manager.
• Add services, defining duration and price or Edit existing services.

---

Intelligent Slot and Availability System

LocalHelp uses a structured and flexible availability format:

{
  "monday": {
    "09:00": [],
    "09:30": ["bookingId"],
    "10:00": []
  },
  "tuesday": { ... }
}

Key Behaviors

• Full conflict detection using time-range overlap:
  • existingStart < newEnd AND existingEnd > newStart
• Automatic slot marking when bookings are created.
• Automatic slot opening when a provider rejects a booking.
• Dynamic booking duration based on service settings.
• Manual Completion Control: Providers can mark services as complete immediately after finishing the job.

This system is designed to be more flexible compared to platforms with rigid, pre-defined time blocks.

Why LocalHelp Improves Upon Urban Company

• Flexible Time Slot Scheduling

  • LocalHelp supports custom durations (30 min, 45 min, 2 hrs, etc.) and adjusts slots dynamically.
  • Urban Company typically uses fixed blocks (e.g., 9–11, 11–1).

• Transparent Provider Details

  • LocalHelp shows provider name, contact details (after acceptance), experience, bio, and real-time availability.

• Faster, Developer-Friendly Onboarding

  • Providers can start offering services immediately on LocalHelp.

• Real-Time System Updates

  • Slot availability, booking conflicts, and earnings update instantly and automatically.

• Fully Extensible

  • Categories, services, and availability can be expanded without UI changes.

Future Enhancements

• Real payment gateway integration
• Advanced provider verification workflows
• Customer–service chat system
• Real-time notifications (WebSockets)
• Map-based provider discovery
• Service rating and review system
• Subscription plans for providers
• AI-driven provider recommendations
• GST invoice generation for customers

---

API Endpoints

Resource	Method	Endpoint	Description
Auth	POST	/api/auth/register	Register a new user
	POST	/api/auth/login	Login user
	GET	/api/auth/me	Get current user details
Providers	POST	/api/become-provider	Apply to become a provider
	GET	/api/providers/me	Get own provider profile
	PATCH	/api/providers/availability	Toggle online/offline status
	PATCH	/api/providers/schedule	Update weekly slots
	PATCH	/api/providers/bookings/:id/complete	Mark booking as complete
	GET	/api/providers/earnings	Get total earnings
Services	GET	/api/services	GetAll / Filter services
	POST	/api/services	Add new service
	PUT	/api/services/:id	Update service
Bookings	GET	/api/bookings/providers/bookings	Get requests for provider
	POST	/api/bookings	Create a new booking
	PATCH	/api/bookings/:id/status	Update booking status (Accept/Reject)
Categories	GET	/api/categories	List all categories
Admin	GET	/api/admin/stats	Get platform statistics
	PATCH	/api/admin/providers/:id/verify	Verify provider application

---

Setup Instructions

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/paramkhodiyar/LocalHelpv2.git

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Set up environment variables

.env

4. Run the development server

npm run dev

---

Note

I am glad you are reading this README. If you find any issues or have suggestions for improvement, please let me know. I am always open to feedback and suggestions.

Made with ❤️ by Param Khodiyar

• GitHub: ParamKhodiyar
• LinkedIn: paramkhodiyar