This post is a sanitized build log showing how I went from idea → working prototype, including the prompts used and the concrete actions taken.

Note: This is a draft. It intentionally uses placeholders like hpde.example.com, LAN_IP, and ADMIN_EMAIL.

The goal

A modern, sleek web portal where HPDE drivers can:

• Track driving sessions (manual entry for v1)
• See event info for events they’re registered for
• View an event’s published schedule (often multi-day)

Constraints for the first prototype:

• Host it on a Linux server (Docker Compose)
• Put it behind an existing reverse proxy (Nginx Proxy Manager)
• Stub out auth + external integrations

Prompt 1 — Create a web-dev agent and build a working prototype

Prompt (sanitized):

• Create a portal for HPDE drivers to track track-day driving and show event info.
• Host it on Linux via Docker Compose.
• Stub auth/integrations; make the UI modern.

Actions taken:

• Built a Next.js + TypeScript app with Tailwind styling.
• Added Postgres + Prisma (migrations + seed data).
• Implemented pages: Login (demo), Dashboard, Sessions (manual entry), Events (register/cancel), Integrations (stub).
• Added an entrypoint that runs DB migrations + seed at startup.

Prompt 2 — Expose it via reverse proxy and pick a domain

Prompt (sanitized):

• Add it to the reverse proxy so it’s accessible.
• Use hpde.example.com.

Actions taken:

• Checked for port conflicts on the host.
• Chose an available host port for the app.

Prompt 3 — Set up Nginx Proxy Manager (NPM)

Prompt (sanitized):

• Use a specific host port.
• Set up NPM for me.

Actions taken:

• Used the NPM API to create:
  • a Proxy Host for hpde.example.com
  • a Let’s Encrypt certificate
  • websocket support + forced SSL

The 502 gotcha (and fix)

Issue: 502 Bad Gateway after creating the proxy.

Causes & fixes: 1) App port mismatch → publish the chosen host port to container port 3000. 2) NPM runs in a container, so 127.0.0.1 refers to the NPM container, not the host.

• Fix: point upstream to LAN_IP:PORT (or wire Docker networks appropriately).

Prompt 4 — Add per-event schedules (multi-day)

Prompt (sanitized):

• Add a schedule to each event (multi-day supported).

Actions taken:

• Added an EventScheduleItem model tied to Event.
• Seeded example schedules (including multi-day).
• Updated event detail UI to display a schedule grouped by day.

Next upgrades

• Real auth (magic link/OAuth)
• Real event ingestion integrations
• Telemetry imports + charts