JK
>LOADING // LOADING
INITIALIZING VIEW
Completednextjsreacttypescripttailwind
Jitin K Portfolio
A modern, responsive portfolio website built with Next.js 16 (App Router), React 19, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS v4. Projects and tech stack are driven entirely by typed static data in lib/projects/, rendered as animated cards on the home page and /projects, with server-rendered deep-dive detail pages per slug. Includes an interactive hexagon background, dark/light theming, React Flow architecture diagrams, and a serverless contact API.
Problem & Solution
A portfolio needs to showcase projects with rich technical depth — architecture, tech stack decisions, API design — without a CMS or database. This site solves that by modeling each project as TypeScript constants (card + detail joined by slug), so content stays type-safe, ships with the bundle, and renders on the server with zero runtime data fetching.
Features
- Interactive hexagon SVG background with pointer tracking (requestAnimationFrame + React.memo)
- Data-driven project showcase: typed card + detail records joined by slug
- Dynamic /projects/[slug] server-rendered detail pages with 404 for unknown slugs
- Project cards with hover effects, status badges, live/GitHub links, and tech icon tooltips
- Interactive React Flow + Dagre architecture diagrams and ER-style table nodes
- Expandable folder-tree project structure viewer
- Dark/light mode with system preference detection
- Framer Motion stagger/fade-up animations with useReducedMotion support
- Contact form API with validation, HTML escaping, and Upstash sliding-window rate limiting (5 req/min/IP)
- Nodemailer delivery via Gmail SMTP (port 465, TLS)
- SEO: metadata API, OpenGraph/Twitter cards, optimized Google Fonts via next/font
- Responsive layout, custom animated 404 page, Vercel Web Analytics
Tech Stack
| Technology | Version | Purpose | Why Chosen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Next.js | ^16.1.6 | App Router framework | Server Components, file-based routing, API routes, image optimization |
| React | ^19.2.4 | UI library | Server Components and concurrent rendering |
| TypeScript | ^5 | Type safety | Typed project content catches slug/data mismatches at compile time |
| Tailwind CSS | ^4 | Utility-first styling | CSS-first config with @theme/oklch tokens, no JS config file |
| Framer Motion | ^12 | Animations | Stagger/fade/hover primitives with useInView and useReducedMotion |
| @xyflow/react + dagre | ^12.11.5 / ^0.8.5 | Architecture diagrams | Data-driven interactive graphs with automatic layout |
| Nodemailer | ^7.0.11 | Contact email delivery | Simple Gmail SMTP transport from a single API route |
| @upstash/ratelimit + @vercel/kv | ^2.1.0 / ^3.0.0 | Distributed rate limiting | Shared sliding-window counter across serverless instances |
| Radix UI + shadcn/ui | primitives + copied source | Accessible UI primitives | Accessible tooltips/labels with full style control via copied components |
| Vercel | — | Hosting & analytics | Zero-config Next.js deploys, CDN, Web Analytics |
Architecture
App Router Pages
- Root layout (server): fonts, metadata, Providers, Navbar, Footer, hexagon background
- Home (server): composes Profile, Recent Projects (first 4), Techstack, About sections
- /projects (client): stagger-animated grid of all ProjectCards
- /projects/[slug] (server): joins projects[] + projectDetails[] by slug at request time
- /about, /contact (client) and styled not-found page
Component Layer
- components/projects/: Project, ProjectCard, ReactFlowDiagram, FolderTree, MermaidDiagram
- components/animation/: Framer Motion wrappers (stagger, fade-up, hover glow, border trail)
- components/pattern/: InteractiveHexagonBg (rAF-optimized SVG grid), CssPattern, AnimatedHero
- components/ui/: shadcn/ui primitives (Badge, Button, Input, Label, Textarea, Tooltip)
- components/terminal/: Terminal typing preview component
Data & API Layer
- lib/projects/*.ts: one file per project exporting ProjectType + ProjectDetailType
- lib/projects/index.ts: aggregates projects[] and projectDetails[] arrays
- lib/types.ts: TECH_ICONS registry, PROFILE_DATA, and all content type definitions
- POST /api/contact: server-side validation, rate limiting, Nodemailer → Gmail SMTP
Project Structure
app
about
, app
contact
api
contact
projects
[slug]
components
animation
navbar
, components
footer
, components
profile
, components
theme
pattern
projects
terminal
ui
lib
projects
types.ts
utils.ts
public
API Endpoints
Portfolio API (port 3000)
| Method | Route | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| POST | /api/contact | Validate contact form input, rate-limit by IP, send email via Gmail SMTP |
Key Design Decisions
Static TypeScript Data Instead of CMS
Decision: Store all project content as typed constants in lib/projects/*.ts joined by slug
Why: Type safety, zero runtime fetch cost, no database or CMS dependency
Benefits: Compile-time checks, ships with bundle, server-renderable, free hosting footprint
Trade-offs: Content changes require code changes and redeployment
Server/Client Component Split
Decision: Detail pages and layout are server components; lists, diagrams, and forms are client components
Why: Minimize client JS while keeping interactive features
Benefits: Smaller bundle, faster first paint, SEO-friendly detail pages
Trade-offs: Mental overhead of the serialization boundary
Tailwind CSS v4 CSS-First Config
Decision: Configure theme via @theme directives in globals.css instead of tailwind.config.js
Why: Tailwind v4 removes the JS config in favor of CSS-native tokens
Benefits: One file for design tokens, oklch dark/light variables, simpler setup
Trade-offs: Different from v3 muscle memory
React Flow + Dagre for Diagrams
Decision: Derive architecture diagrams from data (nodes/edges) with Dagre auto-layout
Why: Diagrams stay consistent with content and render interactively
Benefits: No hand-drawn images, zoom/pan, themable, ER table nodes supported
Trade-offs: Client bundle cost on pages that render diagrams
Layered Contact API Protection
Decision: Validate + HTML-escape inputs, then rate-limit via Upstash sliding window with in-memory fallback
Why: Serverless instances don't share memory; shared KV store gives consistent limits
Benefits: XSS-safe output, 5 req/min/IP abuse protection, graceful degradation
Trade-offs: Requires KV env vars for full protection; no CSRF token yet
Gmail SMTP via Nodemailer
Decision: Send contact emails through an existing Gmail account
Why: Simplest delivery path for a personal portfolio with no backend infra
Benefits: One route handler, no third-party email SaaS
Trade-offs: App password rotation, self-email only, SMTP rate limits
Testing
None configured•0 unit tests
What's Tested
Missing Coverage
- Unit tests for contact API validation and escapeHtml()
- Unit tests for slug join logic between projects[] and projectDetails[]
- Component tests for ProjectCard and detail page sections
- E2E tests for contact form and project navigation flows
- CI pipeline with lint, typecheck, and build gates (GitHub Actions)
Key Challenges
- Serverless rate limiting — in-memory Map resets on cold start; solved with optional Upstash KV sliding window
- Server/client component boundary — keeping detail pages as server components while diagrams and forms stay interactive
- Self-referential content — documenting the portfolio inside the portfolio without circular confusion
- Theme consistency across SVG icons, React Flow diagrams, and hexagon background in dark/light modes
- Static data still feeling dynamic — staggering animations and hover states over data-driven cards
Key Learnings
- Typed static data as a lightweight alternative to a CMS for content-heavy portfolios
- App Router server component split reduces client bundle while preserving interactivity
- Dagre layout with React Flow renders clean architecture diagrams from pure data
- Defense-in-depth for contact forms: validation, HTML escaping, and layered rate limiting
- CSS-first Tailwind v4 configuration with oklch tokens simplifies theming