Venuity - PlayArea Manager

Warning

This project is under active development. The deployed website may not always reflect the latest code in this repository. For the most accurate and up-to-date implementation, please refer to the source code here rather than the live demo.

A premium, cross-platform application designed for PlayArea businesses to manage digital customer check-ins, wallet top-ups, and point-of-sale functionality securely using QR code scanning capabilities.

Built with a modernized tech stack:

• Frontend: React (Vite) + Vanilla CSS (Glassmorphism UI)
• Backend: Django REST Framework (Python) or Flask
• Desktop App: Tauri 2 (Rust)

🌍 Live Web API: https://aaronschristo.pythonanywhere.com/api/

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🛠️ System Architecture

Venuity has been upgraded to a modular architecture, replacing the legacy Vanilla JS implementation with a scalable React Single Page Application (SPA).

1. backend/: The Python Django REST Framework backend API and SQLite Database (db.sqlite3).
2. frontend/: The React + Vite application containing all UI components (src/components, src/pages), routing, and API integration.
3. src-tauri/: The Rust-based environment that wraps the frontend into a native Desktop executable.

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🚀 Setting Up the Development Environment

1. Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18+)
• Rust (Required for Tauri)
• Python 3.10+ (Required for local backend)

2. Frontend & Tauri Setup

Open your terminal in the root venuity project directory:

# Install Node.js dependencies
npm install

# Start the Tauri Developer Environment (runs Vite + Rust watcher)
npm run dev

Note: This command will automatically start the Vite dev server for the React app and launch the Tauri desktop window.

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⚙️ Configuring the API Connection

By default, the React frontend is configured to communicate with the production cloud server. If you want to test against a local backend, you need to update the Axios configuration.

1. Open frontend/src/lib/api.js in your code editor.
2. Update the baseURL property:

// frontend/src/lib/api.js
const api = axios.create({
  // For Production:
  baseURL: 'https://aaronschristo.pythonanywhere.com/api/',
  
  // For Local Django Development (Uncomment below):
  // baseURL: 'http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/',
  
  timeout: 10000,
});

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🖥️ Running the Local Backend (Django)

If you wish to run the backend locally instead of relying on the cloud server, follow these steps:

Open a new terminal in the root venuity directory:

# 1. Activate the virtual environment
# On Windows:
.\venv\Scripts\activate
# On macOS / Linux:
source venv/bin/activate

# 2. Navigate to the backend directory
cd backend

# 3. Install required Python packages (if not already installed)
pip install -r ../requirements.txt

# 4. Run the Django Server
python manage.py runserver

The local server will start running at http://127.0.0.1:8000. Remember to update api.js to point to this URL.

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📦 Building for Production

To compile Venuity into a standalone executable (e.g., .exe for Windows) for distribution:

1. Ensure all frontend assets build successfully.
2. Run the Tauri build command from the project root:

npm run tauri build

The final installer/executable will be generated in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

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📖 Usage Flow

1. Initialize Settings: Start by going to Settings. Set your Business Name, Currency Symbol, and standard Check-in Fee.
2. Issue Customers: Head to Customers to generate accounts.
3. Recharge Wallets: Head to Recharge to add money to customer accounts (supports QR auto-fill).
4. Scan Passes: Open Check-in, point the camera at a customer's QR code, and watch the system automatically debit their wallet.
5. Insights: Track your revenue and visitor counts through the Analytics dashboard featuring interactive charts.