Convex

The backend for AlbertPlus is powered by Convex, a modern, serverless backend platform that provides a real-time database, serverless functions, and built-in authentication. The Convex-related code is located in the packages/server directory.

Key Features of Convex

• Real-time Database: Convex’s database is reactive by default. When data changes in the backend, the frontend automatically updates without needing any special code for data fetching or state management.
• Serverless Functions: You can write serverless functions in TypeScript, which can be either queries (for reading data) or mutations (for writing data). These functions are executed on the Convex backend and can be called directly from your frontend code.
• Authentication: Convex integrates seamlessly with authentication providers like Clerk, allowing you to build secure applications with protected data.
• Full-stack Type Safety: Convex provides end-to-end type safety. The types for your database schema and serverless functions are automatically generated and can be used in your frontend code, eliminating a common source of bugs.

Development Workflow

When you run bun dev, the Convex development server starts up, providing you with a local backend environment. You can use the Convex dashboard to view your data, inspect logs, and manage your backend.

To open the Convex dashboard, run:

bun run dashboard

Database Schemas

Table	Description
appConfigs	Stores key-value pairs for application configuration.
programs	Contains information about academic programs (majors, minors, etc.).
requirements	Defines the course requirements for each academic program.
courses	A catalog of all available courses.
prerequisites	Stores the prerequisite relationships between courses.
courseOfferings	Represents specific sections of a course offered in a particular term.
userCourses	Stores the courses that a user has completed, typically from a degree audit.
userCourseOfferings	Links users to the specific course offerings they have added to their schedule.
students	Stores student-specific information, linked to a Clerk user ID.
schools	A list of the different schools within NYU.

App Configuration Keys

The appConfigs table stores various configuration settings that control scraper behavior and term information:

Key	Type	Description
current_term	"spring" | "summer" | "fall" | "j-term"	The current academic term
current_year	string	The current academic year (e.g., "2025")
next_term	"spring" | "summer" | "fall" | "j-term"	The next academic term
next_year	string	The next academic year
is_scrape_current	"true" | "false"	Flag to enable/disable scraping of current term course offerings
is_scrape_next	"true" | "false"	Flag to enable/disable scraping of next term course offerings