PCT Tracker

A multi-user Pacific Crest Trail tracker built with Next.js, Supabase, and MapLibre. Sign up with email/password or connect your Strava account to get a live map of your PCT progress with stats, trail updates, email subscriptions for followers, and a shareable public tracker page.

Most of this app was built in a weekend with Claude Code.

Stack

Layer	Technology
Framework	Next.js 15
Language	TypeScript
Styling	Tailwind CSS v4
Database	Supabase (Postgres + Storage)
Auth	Custom JWT sessions via jose — email/password or Strava OAuth
Map	MapLibre GL JS
Email	Resend
Linter/Formatter	Biome
Package manager	pnpm
Deployment	Vercel

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• pnpm (npm i -g pnpm)
• A Supabase project
• A Strava API application (optional — for Strava sync)
• A Resend account with a verified domain (for password reset and subscriber emails)

Getting Started

1. Clone the repo

   git clone git@github.com:NoahMLoomis/pct-tracker.git 
   cd pct-tracker

2. Install dependencies

   pnpm install

3. Set up environment variables

   Copy the env.example file and fill in your values:

   cp .env.example .env

   Variable	Description
   SUPABASE_URL	Your Supabase project URL
   SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY	Supabase service role key (server-side only)
   NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL	Same as SUPABASE_URL
   NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY	Supabase anon/public key
   SESSION_SECRET	Random string (32+ chars) for signing session JWTs
   NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL	http://localhost:3000 for local dev, production URL for deployment
   RESEND_API_KEY	From your Resend dashboard
   RESEND_FROM_EMAIL	Sender address on your verified Resend domain (e.g. noreply@mail.yourdomain.com)
   STRAVA_CLIENT_ID	From your Strava API application (optional)
   STRAVA_CLIENT_SECRET	From your Strava API application (optional)
   CRON_SECRET	Protects the /api/cron/sync endpoint (optional, required if using Strava sync)

4. Run database migrations

   Apply the SQL files in supabase/migrations/ in order via the Supabase SQL editor.

5. Start the dev server

   pnpm run dev

   Open http://localhost:3000.

Deployment

The app is designed to deploy on Vercel. Set the same environment variables from .env.example in your Vercel project settings, with NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL set to your production URL.

The cron sync endpoint (/api/cron/sync) can be triggered by Vercel Cron or any external scheduler using the CRON_SECRET for auth.

Notes

The develop branch exists because vercel automatically re-deploys any pushes on main. So when deployment is ready, merge develop into main and vercel should auto deploy

Shoutouts

This project would not have happended without the reddit user r/Fickle_Bed8196 post or work on his app.

Derek Carr's 2025 PCT GPX file also made my job much easier