Cracked On Paper

A competitive resume review platform that gamifies professional feedback through head-to-head battles

Built by @tinbetee and @jonathan-imanu

The Problem

Getting actionable, crowd-sourced feedback on resumes is hard. Discord servers and forums exist, but they lack a structured or engaging way to see how your resume actually stacks up against others.

The Solution

CrackedOnPaper turns resume reviews into a head-to-head competition. Your resume is matched against another candidate's in a "battle," where users vote on which is more impressive ("cracked").

Resumes are anonymized and paired by industry and years of experience (YOE), ensuring fair matchups. After uploading, you'll unlock access to:

• Candid, community feedback on your resume
• Head-to-head comparisons that show how you perform against real candidates
• Statistics and leaderboards so you can track your progress and see where you stand
• ELO rating system for competitive ranking

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Technical Architecture

Frontend

• Framework: Next.js
• Language: TypeScript
• Styling: Tailwind CSS
• UI Components: ShadCN/ui · MagicUI · Radix UI
• Authentication: Supabase Auth with JWT tokens

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Backend

• Language: Go 1.24.5
• Framework: Gin
• File Storage: AWS S3-compatible (DigitalOcean Spaces)

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Infrastructure

• Database: PostgreSQL with SQLC via Supabase
• File Storage: DigitalOcean Spaces with CDN
• Deployment: Docker Compose with Nginx

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Key Technical Features

Advanced PDF Processing

• Client-side PDF rendering with zoom, pan, and rotation
• Server-side PDF to image conversion with quality optimization
• Interactive annotation system with coordinate mapping
• WebP conversion for optimal performance

Competitive Matchmaking System

• ELO rating system for fair matchups
• Industry and experience-based pairing algorithms
• Real-time battle statistics and leaderboards
• Anonymized resume comparisons

Interactive Review System

• Detailed annotation system for resume feedback
• Anonymous review system with generated reviewer names
• Review request management with expiration
• JSONB storage for complex annotation data

Scalable Architecture

• Type-safe database queries with SQLC
• JWT-based authentication with secure middleware
• RESTful API design with proper error handling
• Docker containerization for easy deployment

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Development Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ and npm
• Go 1.24+
• Docker and Docker Compose
• PostgreSQL (or use Supabase)

Development Scripts

The project includes convenient development scripts for both Unix/macOS and Windows systems:

Unix/macOS (cop script):

# Make executable and run
chmod +x cop
./cop dev      # Start development environment
./cop prod     # Start production environment
./cop logs     # View logs
./cop stop     # Stop services

Windows (cop.bat script):

cop.bat dev    # Start development environment
cop.bat prod   # Start production environment
cop.bat logs   # View logs
cop.bat stop   # Stop services

Quick Start

1. Clone the repository

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd CrackedOnPaper

2. Backend Setup

   cd backend
   go mod download
   cp .env.example .env
   # Configure your environment variables
   go run main.go

3. Frontend Setup

   cd frontend
   npm install
   cp .env.local.example .env.local
   # Configure your environment variables
   npm run dev

4. Database Setup

   # Run the schema migrations
   psql -d your_database -f backend/db/schema.sql

Environment Variables

Backend (.env)

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/crackedonpaper
JWT_SECRET=your-jwt-secret
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
AWS_BUCKET_NAME=your-bucket-name
AWS_REGION=your-region

Frontend (.env.local)

NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=http://localhost:8080
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=your-supabase-url
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=your-supabase-anon-key

Docker Development

# Start all services
docker-compose up -d

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f

# Stop services
docker-compose down

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