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New Developer Onboarding

Welcome to FindU! This checklist ensures you have everything needed to start contributing.

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Pre-Setup Checklist

Complete these items before running the setup script:
1

Request Access

Contact your team lead to get:
  • GitHub organization invite
  • Supabase project access
  • Slack workspace invite
  • Railway team access (if needed)
2

Accept Invitations

Check your email and accept:
  • GitHub organization invitation
  • Supabase project invitations (dev + prod)
  • Slack workspace invitation
  • Any other pending invites
3

Install Prerequisites

# macOS (using Homebrew)
brew install git node python3

# Verify installations
git --version        # Should be 2.30+
node --version       # Should be 18+
python3 --version    # Should be 3.8-3.11
For iOS development also install:
  • Xcode from App Store
  • CocoaPods: sudo gem install cocoapods

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Environment Setup

Once you have access, set up your development environment:
1

Get Credentials

Ask your team lead for:
  • Development Supabase credentials
  • Production Supabase credentials (view-only)
  • Any API keys needed
Never share these credentials or commit them to Git!
2

Clone Repositories

# Create workspace
mkdir ~/findu && cd ~/findu

# Clone repositories you'll work on
git clone https://github.com/findu-app/web_app.git
git clone https://github.com/findu-app/ios_app.git
git clone https://github.com/findu-app/matching-algorithm.git
git clone https://github.com/findu-app/data_scraping.git
Then switch to dev branches:
for repo in */; do
  cd "$repo" && git checkout dev && cd ..
done
3

Configure Environment

Create .env files in each repository with credentials from your team lead:
# Example for web_app
cd web_app
echo "VITE_SUPABASE_URL=your_url_here" > .env
echo "VITE_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=your_key_here" >> .env
Database management is done through the Supabase web dashboard. No CLI setup required!

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First Day Tasks

Read Documentation

Explore Codebase

  • Browse each repository
  • Understand file structure
  • Read recent PRs

Setup Dev Tools

  • Configure your IDE
  • Install recommended extensions
  • Set up debugging

Join Channels

Slack channel to join:
  • #dev

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Your First PR

Complete this mini-project to familiarize yourself with our workflow:
1

Find Starter Task

Look for issues labeled good-first-issue or ask your mentor for a suggestion.Good starter tasks:
  • Fix a typo in documentation
  • Add a missing TypeScript type
  • Improve error messaging
  • Add a unit test
2

Create Branch

cd ~/findu/[relevant-repo]
git checkout dev
git pull origin dev
git checkout -b feature/your-first-task
3

Make Changes

  • Write your code
  • Test locally
  • Commit with clear message
4

Open PR

  • Push to GitHub
  • Create PR targeting dev branch
  • Fill out PR template
  • Tag your mentor for review

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Week 1 Goals

By the end of your first week, you should:
  • Have all tools and access set up
  • Successfully run each component locally
  • Understand the basic architecture
  • Complete your first PR
  • Attend team standup
  • Schedule 1:1 with team lead

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Getting Help

  • Technical Issues
  • Access Issues
  • Process Questions
  1. Check repository CLAUDE.md files
  2. Search Slack history
  3. Ask in #dev
  4. Tag your mentor
Pro tip: Keep this checklist bookmarked and refer back to it during your first few weeks!