SportLink is a location-based sports community app. Users discover public courts, create community pickup games, join games, rate each other after sessions, and build a karma reputation as a player.
Built as a full-stack production app with a live Railway backend, real-time socket.io chat, Google Places court discovery, Expo push notifications, and Google OAuth sign-in.
Backend live at:
https://sport-link-production.up.railway.app
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Map | Interactive map of nearby courts and community games. Filter by sport. Game markers cluster at low zoom. |
| Discover | Browse upcoming games with full-text search, sport filter, and radius filter. Sorted by sport preference match. |
| Create Game | Drop a pin or pick a court. Set sport, level, max players, scheduled time, photo, optional title. One-time or recurring (weekly / bi-weekly). |
| Join Game | One-tap join with optimistic UI + haptics. Real-time participant count. |
| Game Chat | Socket.io real-time chat per game with pagination (load older messages). Avatar caching. |
| Post-Game Ratings | Host marks attendance (arrived / no-show). Participants rate each other: sportsmanship, punctuality, communication, skill (1–5). Anonymous results. |
| Karma | Running reputation score: host ratings (+1/−1) + peer ratings. Displayed on profiles and leaderboard. |
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Friends | Send/accept friend requests. View friends' karma. |
| Direct Messages | Real-time 1-on-1 DMs with socket.io. Share game invites via event cards. Read receipt ticks + typing indicator. |
| Activity Feed | See what games your friends joined or created. |
| Invite by Link | Share a personal invite link (/invite/:userId) — opens the app or a web landing page. |
| Player Matching | Discover other players with shared sports + skill level. Ranked by games played together. |
| Leaderboard | Top 20 players by karma with podium display. |
| Block & Report | Block users (mutual invisibility across all features). Report users for review. |
| Streaks & Badges | Consecutive game streaks tracked automatically. 11 achievement badges auto-awarded (first game, 5/25/50 games, host milestones, streak milestones, social butterfly). |
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Waitlist | Games auto-enroll latecomers on a waitlist when full. Waitlist position shown on card. |
| Check-In | Players check in within 30 minutes of game start. Tracks attendance more precisely. |
| Game Boost | Host can boost a game once to send a push notification to nearby same-sport players. |
| Post-Game Photo | Host attaches a photo after game completion — visible on the game card. |
| Weather Widget | Weather forecast shown on outdoor-sport game cards (via Open-Meteo, no API key required). |
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Court Discovery | Google Places API (4 parallel queries) with mock fallback. Filter by sport. |
| Court Detail | Photos, hours, phone, Google rating + SportLink community reviews. |
| Court Reviews | Rate courts 1–5 stars + comment. One review per user per court. |
| Court Ownership | Any user can claim a court as manager. Managers can reply to reviews and post announcements. |
| Court Announcements | Court managers post pinned notices (e.g. "Closed this weekend"). Visible to all visitors. |
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Email Auth | Register with username + email + password. JWT (90-day expiry). |
| Google Sign-In | PKCE flow via expo-auth-session. New users routed to onboarding. |
| Onboarding | 4-step wizard: photo → bio → sports (multi-select) → skill levels + favorites. |
| Sport Preferences | Per-sport: skill level (1–5) + favorite toggle. Drives game recommendations and player matching. |
| Profile | Games hosted/joined, karma, top sport, sport preference chips, streak pill, badge scroll row. Inline edit. |
| Push Notifications | Expo push tokens. Sent for: friend requests, game joins, friend acceptance, post-game rating nudge, badge earned. |
📱 React Native (Expo / Expo Router)
│
├── REST (HTTP/JSON) ──────────► Node.js / Express ──► MySQL (Railway)
│ │
└── Socket.io (WS) ─────────────────────┘
│
Google Places API
Expo Push Service
Sentry (error monitoring)
Tech stack:
| Layer | Technology | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile | React Native + Expo SDK | expo-router file-based routing, iOS + Android |
| Navigation | Expo Router | Stack + Tabs, typed routes |
| Maps | react-native-maps + Google Places |
Court discovery, game markers, clustering |
| Real-time | socket.io v4 | Same port as REST; JWT auth on handshake; game rooms + DM rooms |
| Backend | Node.js + Express | Raw SQL via mysql2/promise pool — no ORM |
| Database | MySQL / MariaDB | 17 tables; raw SQL; FULLTEXT search on Games |
| Auth | JWT (90-day) + Google OAuth (PKCE) | Stored in AsyncStorage; global 401 handler |
| Push | Expo Push API | Backend sends via https://exp.host/--/api/v2/push/send |
| Error monitoring | Sentry (@sentry/react-native) |
Wraps root layout; DSN in env var |
| Hosting | Railway | Auto-deploy from main; MySQL on Railway |
Design system: frontend/constants/theme.ts — single source of truth for Colors, Spacing, Radius, Type, Shadow. All screens import from here; no raw hex values in StyleSheets.
- Node.js 18+
- MySQL 8 running locally
- Expo CLI:
npm install -g expo-cli - (Optional) Xcode for iOS simulator
git clone https://github.com/Am1its/Sport-Link.git
cd Sport-Link
# Backend
cd backend && npm install
# Frontend
cd ../frontend && npm installCreate backend/.env:
PORT=3000
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_USER=root
DB_PASSWORD=your_mysql_password
DB_NAME=sportlink
JWT_SECRET=your_secret_key
GOOGLE_PLACES_API_KEY=your_places_key
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your_google_web_client_id
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_google_client_secretmysql -u root -p -e "CREATE DATABASE sportlink;"
# Run migrations in order:
for f in backend/migrations/*.sql; do
mysql -u root -p sportlink < "$f"
doneCreate frontend/.env:
EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL=http://<your-lan-ip>:3000
EXPO_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your_google_web_client_id
EXPO_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_IOS_CLIENT_ID=your_google_ios_client_id
EXPO_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_ANDROID_CLIENT_ID=your_google_android_client_id # optional, needed for Android Google Sign-In
EXPO_PUBLIC_SENTRY_DSN=your_sentry_dsn
EXPO_PUBLIC_CARTO_API_KEY=your_carto_basemap_api_key # required for the Expo Go Leaflet map — free key at carto.com/basemaps/apikey/# Terminal 1 — backend
cd backend && node server.js
# Terminal 2 — iOS simulator
cd frontend && npx expo run:ios
# Physical device (USB + same WiFi)
cd frontend && npx expo run:ios --deviceThe backend deploys automatically to Railway on every push to main.
Production URLs:
| Route | Description |
|---|---|
/health |
Health check |
/game/:id |
Game share landing (OG meta + deep link) |
/invite/:userId |
Referral landing page |
/share/game/:id |
Rich game share preview page (OG tags + deep link) |
/share/court/:placeId |
Court share preview page with community review aggregate |
/privacy |
Privacy policy |
/terms |
Terms of service |
/api/* |
REST API (see docs/API.md) |
iOS builds use EAS Build (see docs/DEPLOYMENT.md for the full runbook).
npm install -g eas-cli
eas login
eas build --platform ios --profile production
eas submit --platform ios --profile production| Document | Description |
|---|---|
docs/architecture.md |
Architecture diagrams — screen navigation, auth flow, API route map, real-time events, DB ERD, game lifecycle, map dual-path |
docs/API.md |
Complete API reference — all endpoints, socket events, rate limits |
docs/DEPLOYMENT.md |
Railway + EAS + Sentry runbook, migration checklist, App Store submission steps |
docs/APP_STORE_METADATA.md |
App Store Connect copy, keywords, screenshot list, reviewer notes |
docs/CHANGELOG.md |
Full sprint-by-sprint changelog |
docs/HLD.md |
High-level system design |
docs/PRODUCT_DEFINITIONS.md |
User personas and stories |
docs/BUSINESS_STRATEGY.md |
Growth and monetization strategy |
docs/AUTHENTICATION_MODEL.md |
Auth and trust model |
docs/TECHNICAL_VALIDATION.md |
Maps API validation |
| Table | Purpose |
|---|---|
Users |
Accounts — email/password or Google OAuth, avatar (base64), push token, karma via subquery |
Games |
Pickup games — sport, level, location, scheduled time, photo, recurrence, parent_game_id |
GameParticipants |
Game join records |
Messages |
Game chat messages |
Ratings |
Host attendance ratings (attended bool) per game |
PeerRatings |
Peer ratings: sportsmanship, punctuality, communication, skill (1–5) |
Friends |
Friend requests and accepted friendships |
Notifications |
Push notification inbox (last 50 per user) |
CourtReviews |
Court ratings + comments + optional manager response |
SportPreferences |
Per-user per-sport: skill level + favorite flag |
DirectMessages |
1-on-1 messages (text or game event cards) |
CourtClaims |
Court manager claims (one manager per court) |
BlockedUsers |
Mutual block relationships |
Reports |
User reports with reason + context |
Badges |
Earned achievement badges per user |
CourtAnnouncements |
Manager-posted court notices |
| Date | Milestone | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 11, 2026 | Tech Validation (Maps API) | ✅ Done |
| Jan 18, 2026 | High-Level Design | ✅ Done |
| Jan 25, 2026 | Product Definitions | ✅ Done |
| Mar 15, 2026 | Proof of Concept | ✅ Done |
| Mar 26, 2026 | App Flow & Core Features | ✅ Done |
| Mar 29, 2026 | Business & Growth Strategy | ✅ Done |
| Apr 1, 2026 | Authentication & Trust Model | ✅ Done |
| May 10, 2026 | Full Prototype | ✅ Done |
| Jun 11, 2026 | Production-ready build | ✅ Done |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Safety, Game UX, Social, Courts, Android | ✅ Done |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Animations, Haptics & UX Polish | ✅ Done |
| Sep 8, 2026 | Final Submission | ⏳ Pending |
Developed as part of the MTA Computer Science School — Software Entrepreneurship Workshop 2025