Build a Citizen Request Tracker with React, FastAPI and PostgreSQL | Live Product Demo

Build a Citizen Request Tracker, a full stack web application that lets residents report street problems such as potholes, broken streetlights and missed bin collections, and then follow each report online until it is resolved. This hands-on project focuses on capturing and validating citizen reports, issuing reference numbers and target resolution dates, tracking every status change, and giving residents a clear, private view of progress without having to call the council.

Explore how a React front end, a FastAPI service and a PostgreSQL database work together to deliver one complete feature, from the form in the browser to the record in the database. Apply your knowledge by building a practical public service application that solves a real problem: a third of the council’s contact centre calls come from people chasing updates on reports they have already made.

• Citizen Issue Reporting: Build a React form that captures the category, location, description, name and email, shows every validation problem at once, and confirms each report with a reference number and a target date.
• Request Tracking: Create a tracking page where citizens enter their reference number and see the current status, key dates and a timeline of every council update.
• Validation on Both Sides: Apply the same business rules in the browser for instant feedback and again on the server, so invalid data never reaches the database.
• REST API Development with FastAPI: Design clear endpoints for categories, service requests and status updates, with the correct HTTP status codes (201, 404, 409, 422 and 503) and one consistent error format.
• Business Rules and Status Lifecycle: Calculate target dates from each category and move requests through a fixed lifecycle: Submitted, In review, Scheduled, then Resolved or Not actioned. Invalid status changes are refused.
• Database Design and Transactions with PostgreSQL: Model categories, requests and status history, write safe parameterised queries, and save each request together with its first history entry in a single transaction.
• Privacy by Design: Keep personal data out of the public tracking view, so anyone with a reference number can follow progress but never sees the citizen’s name or email.
• Reliability and Error Handling: Handle a database outage gracefully with a friendly message and a Retry button, and connect to the database with or without a password.
• Responsive and Accessible Interfaces: Build screens that work on a phone and with the keyboard alone, with clear loading, empty, error and success states.
• Testing and End to End Delivery: Prove every business rule with automated backend and frontend tests, and deliver one complete feature across the user interface, API and database.