WalletWize — Local Setup & Launch (Windows)

Predicts a student’s monthly budget (Education, Housing, Food, Transport) using a Flask backend and a React+Vite frontend. Food/Housing use CPI-based projections. Includes Google Maps autocomplete and a map pin on the Results page.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+ (python --version)
• Node.js LTS (npm included). If npm isn’t on PATH, call it via: C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.cmd -v
• Google Maps API key with Maps JavaScript API and Places API enabled (Google Cloud → APIs & Services → Credentials)

🔒 Never commit your API key. It lives only in frontend/.env.local which is git-ignored.

Clone

cd D:\workspace   # or any folder you like
git clone https://github.com/<your-user-or-org>/walletwize.git
cd walletwize

#BACKEND
cd backend
python -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install --upgrade pip
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install -r requirements.txt
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe .\app.py

#FRONTEND
# New PowerShell
cd D:\workspace\walletwize\frontend

# Local env (never committed)
'VITE_GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY=PASTE_YOUR_KEY_HERE' | Set-Content -Encoding UTF8 .env.local
Get-Content .env.local  # verify your key

# Install deps (use full path if npm isn't on PATH)
& "C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.cmd" install

# Start dev server
& "C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.cmd" run dev

#BLAHBLAH Sure just copy these
# Backend
cd walletwize\backend
python -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install -r requirements.txt
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe .\app.py     # http://127.0.0.1:5000

# Frontend (new PowerShell)
cd walletwize\frontend
'VITE_GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY=YOUR_KEY' | Set-Content .env.local
& "C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.cmd" install
& "C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.cmd" run dev   # http://localhost:5173