PDF Tracker

PDF Tracker is a web app that helps you build a personal PDF library and automatically remember where you left off. Upload a PDF, view it in the browser, and your reading progress is saved per user.

Features

• Authentication with Credentials, Google, and GitHub (Auth.js / NextAuth v5)
• PDF uploads backed by Cloudinary
• Metadata extraction on upload (title/subject/author + total pages)
• In-browser reader with:
  • full screen support
  • page navigation + zoom
  • auto-hiding top navigation while scrolling in full screen
• Per-user progress tracking (saved with a debounce to reduce writes)
• Responsive UI (Tailwind + daisyUI)

Tech stack

• Next.js (App Router, Server Actions)
• React
• Auth.js / NextAuth v5 (JWT sessions)
• MongoDB + Mongoose
• Cloudinary (file storage + cover/preview rendering)
• pdf.js (metadata extraction) + @react-pdf-viewer/* (viewer)

Project structure (high level)

• src/app/ — App Router pages, layouts, and API routes
• src/lib/actions/ — Server Actions for DB + Cloudinary workflows
• src/lib/db/ — Mongoose connection and models
• src/components/ — UI components (uploader, viewer, book cards)
• public/pdf.worker.js — pdf.js worker used by the client

Environment variables

Create .env.local in the project root. You can start from .env.example.

Required:

• MONGODB_URI
• AUTH_SECRET
• AUTH_GOOGLE_ID / AUTH_GOOGLE_SECRET (if using Google sign-in)
• AUTH_GITHUB_ID / AUTH_GITHUB_SECRET (if using GitHub sign-in)
• CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME
• CLOUDINARY_API_KEY
• CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET
• NEXT_PUBLIC_CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME

Local development

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 18+ (recommended)
• A MongoDB instance (Atlas or local)
• A Cloudinary account
• (Optional) Google/GitHub OAuth apps for social sign-in

Run:

npm install
npm run dev

Then open http://localhost:3000.

Scripts

• npm run dev — start dev server (Turbopack)
• npm run build — production build
• npm run start — run production server
• npm run lint — lint

Notes / limits

• Upload size limit: 10MB per file (client-side check)
• Upload count limit: 5 PDFs per user (enforced server-side)
• Progress is saved ~2s after the last page change (debounced)

Deployment

This project works well on Vercel.

• Set the same environment variables in your hosting provider.
• Ensure your Auth.js callback URLs match your deployment URL.

Contributing

Issues and PRs are welcome. If you’re proposing a change that affects data models or auth flows, include a short note on how you tested it.

License

GPL-3.0-only. See LICENSE.