Law Firm Tools Directory

A directory of legal technology tools organized by law firm function, with firm tech stack profiles and a resources/blog section.

Built with Next.js 15, Payload CMS v3, PostgreSQL, Redis (optional), and Tailwind CSS v4.

Features

• Tools directory - Browse legal tech tools by category (Document Management, Billing, eDiscovery, etc.)
• Firm profiles - Public submission form where firms showcase their tech stacks (admin-approved)
• Resources/blog - Articles, guides, and YouTube videos with rich text and SEO
• Payload CMS admin at /admin for managing all content
• SEO-ready - JSON-LD structured data, Open Graph metadata, sitemap, robots.txt
• Redis caching and rate limiting (optional - app works without it)

Local Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22+
• PostgreSQL (local or remote)
• Redis (optional)

Setup

1. Clone the repo and install dependencies:

   git clone <your-repo-url>
   cd lawyers
   npm install

2. Copy the env file and fill in values:

   cp .env.example .env

   Required variables:

   • DATABASE_URI - PostgreSQL connection string
   • PAYLOAD_SECRET - A random secret string (generate with openssl rand -base64 32)
   • NEXT_PUBLIC_SERVER_URL - http://localhost:3000 for local dev

   Optional:

   • REDIS_URL - Enables caching and rate limiting

3. Run the dev server:

   npm run dev

4. Open http://localhost:3000 for the site, or http://localhost:3000/admin to create your first admin user.

5. (Optional) Seed sample data:

   npm run seed

Deploy to Railway

Step 1: Create a Railway project

1. Sign up at railway.app if you haven't already
2. Click New Project → Deploy from GitHub repo
3. Select this repository

Step 2: Add PostgreSQL

1. In your Railway project, click + New → Database → Add PostgreSQL
2. Railway automatically creates a DATABASE_URL variable in the Postgres service

Step 3: Add Redis (optional but recommended)

1. Click + New → Database → Add Redis
2. Railway creates a REDIS_URL variable in the Redis service

Step 4: Configure environment variables

Go to your app service → Variables and add:

Variable	Value
DATABASE_URI	${{Postgres.DATABASE_URL}} (reference the Postgres service)
PAYLOAD_SECRET	Generate with openssl rand -base64 32
NEXT_PUBLIC_SERVER_URL	Your Railway app URL (e.g. https://your-app.up.railway.app)
REDIS_URL	${{Redis.REDIS_URL}} (if you added Redis)

Important: Payload uses DATABASE_URI (not DATABASE_URL). Use the reference variable syntax ${{Postgres.DATABASE_URL}} to link them.

Step 5: Deploy

1. Railway auto-detects the Dockerfile and builds the app
2. Once deployed, visit https://your-app.up.railway.app/admin
3. Create your first admin user
4. Start adding categories, tools, firm profiles, and resources through the admin panel

Step 6: (Optional) Seed data

SSH into your Railway service or run the seed script locally against your Railway database:

DATABASE_URI="<your-railway-postgres-url>" npm run seed

Custom domain

1. In Railway, go to your app service → Settings → Networking
2. Click Generate Domain (free subdomain) or Custom Domain
3. Update NEXT_PUBLIC_SERVER_URL to match your custom domain

Project Structure

src/
├── app/
│   ├── (frontend)/      # Public-facing pages
│   ├── (payload)/       # Payload admin panel
│   └── api/             # Payload REST API
├── collections/         # Payload CMS collections (data models)
├── components/          # Shared React components
├── lib/                 # Utilities (payload client, cache, rate limit, media)
└── payload.config.ts    # Payload CMS configuration

Managing Content

Once deployed, log in to /admin to manage:

• Categories - Tool categories (Document Management, Billing, etc.)
• Tools - Individual tools with logo, description, pricing, features, and categories
• Firm Profiles - Approve/reject firm submissions and add your own
• Resources - Blog posts, videos, and guides
• Media - Upload images and logos
• Users - Add more admin users

Scripts

npm run dev              # Start dev server
npm run build            # Production build
npm run start            # Start production server
npm run seed             # Seed sample data
npm run generate:types   # Generate TypeScript types from Payload collections

Tech Stack

• Framework: Next.js 15 (App Router)
• CMS: Payload CMS v3 (embedded in Next.js)
• Database: PostgreSQL via @payloadcms/db-postgres
• Cache: Redis via ioredis (optional)
• Styling: Tailwind CSS v4
• Rich Text: Payload Lexical editor
• SEO: @payloadcms/plugin-seo
• Icons: Lucide React
• Deployment: Railway (Docker)