OPT Timeline — F-1 Immigration Manager

A web app for F-1 international students to track OPT and STEM OPT deadlines, unemployment days, and stay on top of their immigration status.

🚀 Live Demo: opt-timeline-app.vercel.app

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Features

• Dashboard — Real-time OPT status, days remaining, and smart alerts
• Timeline — Visual timeline of your OPT and STEM extension dates
• Unemployment Tracker — Log periods and get warned before hitting the 90/150-day limit
• STEM Extension — Track your STEM OPT application and dates
• Analytics — Detailed breakdown of days used, remaining, and progress
• AI Assistant — Ask immigration questions powered by OpenAI
• Email Notifications — Daily reminders for upcoming deadlines via Resend
• Google OAuth — Sign in with your Google account

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Tech Stack

Layer	Tech
Framework	Next.js 16 (App Router)
Language	TypeScript
Styling	Tailwind CSS v4 + Radix UI
Database	PostgreSQL (Neon)
ORM	Prisma v7
Auth	NextAuth v5 (Google OAuth)
AI	OpenAI API
Email	Resend
Deployment	Vercel

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Getting Started

1. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/opt-timeline.git
cd opt-timeline

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Set up environment variables

cp .env.example .env

Fill in your .env file — see Environment Variables below.

4. Set up the database

npx prisma migrate dev

5. Run the dev server

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000

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Environment Variables

Variable	Description
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL connection string (e.g. from Neon)
AUTH_SECRET	Random secret — generate with openssl rand -hex 32
AUTH_URL	Your app URL (e.g. http://localhost:3000)
AUTH_GOOGLE_ID	Google OAuth client ID
AUTH_GOOGLE_SECRET	Google OAuth client secret
RESEND_API_KEY	API key from Resend
RESEND_FROM_EMAIL	Sender email address
OPENAI_API_KEY	API key from OpenAI
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL	Your public app URL
CRON_SECRET	Secret to protect cron endpoint — generate with openssl rand -hex 32

Setting up Google OAuth

1. Go to Google Cloud Console → APIs & Services → Credentials
2. Create an OAuth 2.0 Client ID (Web application)
3. Add authorized redirect URI: http://localhost:3000/api/auth/callback/google
4. Copy the client ID and secret to your .env

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Deployment

Deploy to Vercel

npm i -g vercel
vercel --prod

Add all environment variables in Vercel Dashboard → Settings → Environment Variables.

Add your production URL to Google OAuth authorized redirect URIs:

https://your-app.vercel.app/api/auth/callback/google

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Project Structure

app/
├── (app)/              # Protected app routes
│   ├── dashboard/      # Main dashboard
│   ├── timeline/       # Visual timeline
│   ├── unemployment/   # Unemployment log
│   ├── stem/           # STEM extension
│   ├── analytics/      # Analytics page
│   ├── ai-assistant/   # AI chat
│   └── notifications/  # Notification settings
├── api/
│   ├── auth/           # NextAuth handlers
│   ├── ai-chat/        # OpenAI endpoint
│   ├── cron/           # Daily notification job
│   ├── onboarding/     # Save OPT dates
│   ├── stem/           # STEM extension API
│   └── unemployment/   # Unemployment log API
├── sign-in/            # Sign in page
└── onboarding/         # First-time setup

lib/
├── opt-engine.ts       # Core timeline calculation logic
├── prisma.ts           # Prisma client
└── notifications.ts    # Email notification logic

prisma/
└── schema.prisma       # Database schema

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License

MIT