A free, open-source resume generator with a live preview editor and one-click PDF export. No sign-ups. No telemetry. No data leaving your machine. Just a polished resume.
Most resume builders lock the good stuff behind paywalls, watermarks, or mandatory accounts. This project flips that model:
- 🎯 FAANG-grade templates — LaTeX-based layouts engineered to sail through ATS (Applicant Tracking System) filters.
- 👁️ Live preview — Watch your resume take shape in real time as you type.
- 📄 One-click PDF export — Pixel-perfect PDFs rendered by the Tectonic LaTeX engine.
- 🗂️ Multiple resumes — Tailor a different resume for every job application.
- 🧩 Reorderable sections — Rearrange experience, skills, projects, and education however you like.
- 💾 One-click save — Save your resume to a local SQLite database with a single click, or export it as JSON.
- 🔒 Local-first & private — Your data lives on your machine, never in the cloud.
- 🐳 Docker-first — One command to run the entire app. No installers, no dependencies to chase.
- 📶 Offline PDF generation — The Tectonic LaTeX cache is pre-warmed at image build time, so PDF export works even with no internet access.
Built for job seekers who want a professional resume without the subscription tax.
| Welcome Page — your resume library, where you create, open, or import resumes |
 |
| Resume Builder — edit your resume with a live PDF preview side-by-side |
 |
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Backend | Go, net/http, SQLite (modernc.org/sqlite) |
| Frontend | Next.js 15, React 19, TypeScript |
| PDF Engine | Tectonic (modern, self-contained LaTeX engine) |
| Packaging | Docker (multi-arch: linux/amd64, linux/arm64) |
To run Free Resume Generator, all you need is Docker. That's it — no Go, Node.js, or LaTeX to install.
| Tool | Required? | Why | Install |
|---|---|---|---|
| Docker Engine | ✅ Required | Runs the container image | docs.docker.com/engine/install |
| Docker Compose | ⚙️ Optional | Only if you prefer docker compose over docker run |
docs.docker.com/compose/install |
💡 Tip: Docker Desktop (macOS/Windows) and Docker Engine (Linux) both include Compose out of the box.
Verify your setup before continuing:
docker --version
docker compose version # optionalThe image is published to the GitHub Container Registry and supports both amd64 (Intel/AMD) and arm64 (Apple Silicon / ARM) machines. The container exposes port 3000 — the Next.js frontend serves the UI and proxies API calls to the Go backend running inside the same container.
Pull the prebuilt image and run it with persistent storage in one command (--pull always ensures the latest image is fetched before running):
mkdir -p ./data && docker run -d --name resume-generator --pull always \
-p 3000:3000 \
-v "$(pwd)/data:/app/backend/data" \
--restart unless-stopped \
ghcr.io/alidevhere/free-resume-generator:latestThen open http://localhost:3000 in your browser. 🎉
The SQLite database will be created at ./data/resumes.db on your host and persists across container restarts.
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/alidevhere/Free-Resume-Generator.git
cd Free-Resume-Generator
# Start the stack (frontend on :3000, backend on internal :8080)
docker compose up -dThen open http://localhost:3000 in your browser. 🎉
# View logs
docker logs -f resume-generator
# Stop the app
docker stop resume-generator
# Start it again (data is preserved in the volume)
docker start resume-generator
# Update to the latest image
docker pull ghcr.io/alidevhere/free-resume-generator:latest
docker rm -f resume-generator
# …then re-run the `docker run` command above
# Remove everything (including saved resumes)
docker rm -f resume-generator
rm -rf ./dataThe container is configurable via environment variables. All values are optional.
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
FRONTEND_PORT |
3000 |
Port the Next.js frontend listens on (this is the port you expose). |
BACKEND_PORT |
:8080 |
Port the internal Go backend API listens on (rarely needs changing). |
BACKEND_API_URL |
http://127.0.0.1:8080 |
URL the frontend uses to reach the backend (used at build time). |
The simplest way to use a different host port is to change the -p mapping — no env var changes needed:
docker run -d \
--name resume-generator \
-p 8080:3000 \
-v "$(pwd)/data:/app/backend/data" \
--restart unless-stopped \
ghcr.io/alidevhere/free-resume-generator:latestThen visit http://localhost:8080.
Your resumes are stored in a SQLite database at /app/backend/data/resumes.db inside the container. To keep them across restarts and updates, always mount a volume:
-v "$(pwd)/data:/app/backend/data"- The database file (
resumes.db) is created automatically on first run. - To back up your resumes, simply copy the
./datadirectory (or the volume) to a safe location. - To reset everything, stop the container and delete the
./datadirectory.
Free-Resume-Generator/
├── backend/ # Go backend (API + LaTeX PDF rendering)
│ ├── main.go # CLI + HTTP server entry point
│ ├── api.go # REST API handlers
│ ├── db.go # SQLite-backed resume store
│ ├── resume.json # Seed/default resume
│ └── templates/ # LaTeX templates
│ └── enhanced-faang-resume.tex.tmpl
├── frontend/ # Next.js frontend
│ ├── app/ # App router pages (library + editor)
│ ├── components/ # React components (editor, UI, library)
│ ├── lib/ # Types, API client, defaults, formatting
│ └── next.config.mjs # Proxies /api/* to the backend
├── Dockerfile # Multi-stage build (Go + Next.js + Tectonic)
├── docker-compose.yml # Docker Compose configuration
├── docker-entrypoint.sh # Starts backend + frontend in one container
├── media/ # Screenshots used in this README
└── README.md
🔧 Local development setup
- Go 1.25+
- Node.js 20+
- Tectonic (LaTeX engine) — for PDF export (tectonic-typesetting.github.io)
-
Start the backend (serves the API on
:8080):cd backend go run . -server :8080
-
Start the frontend (in a separate terminal):
cd frontend npm install npm run dev -
Open http://localhost:3000 for the frontend.
-
The frontend proxies
/api/*requests to the backend automatically (seenext.config.mjs).
You can also generate a resume directly from a JSON file without running the server:
cd backend
go run . -input resume.json -output output -format latex # LaTeX only
go run . -input resume.json -output output -format pdf # PDF only
go run . -input resume.json -output output -format both # LaTeX + PDFThe image is built automatically by GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/docker-publish.yml) and published to the GitHub Container Registry:
ghcr.io/alidevhere/free-resume-generator:latest
- Supported architectures:
linux/amd64,linux/arm64 - Tags:
latest(on every push tomain), plus the short commit SHA and branch name. - Source: github.com/alidevhere/Free-Resume-Generator
If you'd rather build from source instead of pulling the prebuilt image:
docker build -t free-resume-generator .
docker run --rm -p 3000:3000 -v "$(pwd)/data:/app/backend/data" free-resume-generatorIf you only need the API server (no frontend):
docker build -t resume-generator-backend ./backend
docker run --rm -p 8080:8080 resume-generator-backendThe backend exposes a small REST API (proxied through the frontend on /api/* when running the combined image):
| Method | Endpoint | Description |
|---|---|---|
GET |
/api/resumes |
List all saved resumes |
POST |
/api/resumes |
Create a new resume |
GET |
/api/resumes/{id} |
Get a specific resume |
PUT |
/api/resumes/{id} |
Update a specific resume |
DELETE |
/api/resumes/{id} |
Delete a specific resume |
POST |
/api/resume/latex |
Generate LaTeX from a resume |
POST |
/api/resume/pdf |
Generate a PDF from a resume |
GET |
/health |
Health check |
Contributions are welcome! Whether it's a new template, a bug fix, or a feature idea:
- Fork the repository.
- Create a feature branch:
git checkout -b feature/my-awesome-template. - Commit your changes.
- Open a Pull Request.
Please keep PRs focused and include a clear description of what and why.
This project is licensed under the MIT License — free to use, modify, and distribute.
Made with ❤️ for job seekers everywhere.
⭐ Star this repo if it helped you land your next role!