Forma

A pet project poll service built to practice web development with Go and Frontend Layer. It uses Docker Compose to run the backend, frontend, and a reverse proxy together locally.

Tech Stack

• Backend: Go (1.26+), Gin Web Framework, SQLite, JWT, GeoIP2
• Frontend: Next.js, React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS
• Reverse Proxy: Caddy 2
• Orchestration: Docker Compose

Features

• Auth: User registration and login via JWT.
• Dynamic Polls: Support for multiple question types:
  • Single choice (Radio buttons)
  • Multiple choice (Checkboxes)
  • Text answers (Open-ended)
• Short Links: Public access to polls via unique short URLs.
• Anti-Fraud: Vote protection using client IP tracking and unique guest tokens.
• Geo-Analytics: Voter audience geography tracking via GeoIP database.
• Metrics: Detailed response statistics for poll authors.
• Access Control: Option to restrict polls to authenticated users only.

Project Structure

├── cmd/server/          # Entry point (main.go)
├── internal/            # Core logic (handlers, models, services)
│   ├── config/          # Application configuration
│   ├── handler/         # HTTP request handlers
│   ├── middleware/      # Middleware (auth, logging, etc.)
│   ├── model/           # Data models
│   ├── pkg/             # Shared packages
│   ├── repository/      # Database access layer
│   └── service/         # Business logic
├── migrations/          # SQLite schema migrations
├── data/                # Persistent storage (SQLite DB + GeoIP mmdb)
├── frontend/            # Next.js application
│   ├── .dockerignore    
│   └── Dockerfile       # Multi-stage build for standalone output
├── router/              # Route definitions
├── docs/images/         # Documentation assets
├── Caddyfile            # Reverse proxy & SSL config
├── docker-compose.yml   # Service orchestration
├── Dockerfile           # Backend Docker build file
├── .env.example         # Environment variables template
└── .dockerignore        # Root build exclusions

Local Development

1. Prerequisites

Install Docker Desktop.

2. GeoIP Database

The backend requires the GeoIP database to start (this repository already includes). Place the file here: ./data/GeoLite2-Country.mmdb

3. Environment Variables

Copy the example environment file and fill in your values:

cp .env.example .env

Then edit .env with your configuration.

4. Run Services

Build and start containers in the background:

docker compose up -d --build

Production

1. DNS Configuration

Point your domain to the server's public IP by creating A records:

your-domain.com ➔ SERVER_PUBLIC_IP

www.your-domain.com ➔ SERVER_PUBLIC_IP

2. Update Caddyfile

Replace localhost with your domain in ./Caddyfile:

your-domain.com, www.your-domain.com {
    # API traffic -> Go backend
    reverse_proxy /api/* backend:8080

    # Everything else -> Next.js frontend
    reverse_proxy frontend:3000
}

3. Deploy on your server

docker compose up -d --build

Notes: The frontend is completely vibe-coded, but the backend is hand-written. The project may contain mistakes =)