LinkedIn professional network
LinkedIn is an independent, enterprise-deployable professional social network built as a local research replica of common professional-networking interaction patterns. It does not use LinkedIn branding, does not call LinkedIn APIs, and never requests LinkedIn credentials.
Implemented scope
- Public homepage with original LinkedIn branding and neutral professional imagery
- Public Learning, Top Content, Games, and directory authwall routes from the observed public interaction matrix
- Local email/password registration with email verification and PBKDF2 password hashing
- HTTP-only database-backed sessions
- Dynamic feed, post composer, likes, comments, optimistic UI states, and API persistence
- Profile pages, experience data, profile editing API, relationship invitations, suggestions, and notifications
- Messaging inbox with conversation persistence endpoints
- Job search, detail view, API-confirmed saved jobs, application API, and recruiter job creation API with RBAC
- Company pages and company/job APIs
- Global search across people, jobs, companies, and posts
- LinkedIn Premium subscription surface backed by Stripe Checkout, Billing Portal, and signed webhooks in Test Mode
- Multi-tenant foundation through organizations, memberships, roles, tenant-scoped jobs, and audit logs
- Loading, empty, and error states across the app shell
- SQLite/D1 schema, migration SQL, deterministic demo seed data, tests, Docker, Nginx, Apache, systemd, health checks, and deployment preflight validation
Stack
- Next.js 16 App Router + TypeScript + React 19
- Drizzle ORM + Cloudflare D1/SQLite
- Zod request validation
- Node crypto PBKDF2 password hashing
- Nodemailer transactional email adapter with a local development outbox
- Stripe server SDK for test-mode subscription checkout and webhook reconciliation
- Docker Compose with persistent SQLite, app, and Nginx reverse proxy
Local development
npm install
export LINKEDIN_SQLITE_PATH=.data/linkedin.sqlite3
npm run db:migrate
npm run dev
Open http://localhost:3000.
The migration includes the deterministic northstar-systems tenant and demo Feed/Profile records. The TypeScript seeder remains available for idempotent reseeding:
LINKEDIN_SQLITE_PATH=.data/linkedin.sqlite3 npm run db:seed
For a local WebsiteBench-style registration check on port 3103:
LINKEDIN_SQLITE_PATH=.data/linkedin.sqlite3 \
DEFAULT_TENANT_SLUG=northstar-systems \
SESSION_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32) \
SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE=false \
PUBLIC_CLONE_AUTH_MODE=local-dev \
PUBLIC_CLONE_AUTH_LOCAL_DEV_CODE=123456 \
PORT=3103 HOSTNAME=127.0.0.1 npm run start
Then open http://127.0.0.1:3103/public-register and use local verification code 123456. Public deployment uses the authenticated LINKEDIN_D1_PROXY_URL bridge instead of a local database path.
Seeded test account:
maya@example.com / LinkedInDemo123
Validation
npm run typecheck
npm run lint
npm run build
npm test
npm run test:flow
npm run preflight -- --production
npm run verify runs the full validation sequence.
To run the database-backed registration journey after SQLite is initialized:
BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000 npm run test:e2e:registration
That E2E script registers a new account, consumes the local .linkedin-mail verification link when EMAIL_DELIVERY_MODE=console, creates a post, submits a job application, and checks the Premium guardrail. The main test suite also runs a real standalone production server against HTTP Redis/Resend and D1 mocks, then restarts it to verify session and post persistence.
Docker deployment
docker compose up --build
Compose runs the one-shot SQLite migrate service against a persistent volume, then starts the app and Nginx. To rerun the migration job manually:
docker compose run --rm migrate
Open http://localhost:8080 through Nginx.
WebsiteBench public deployment
WebsiteBench public deployment is packaged separately in sources/w2w_workflow/examples/linkedin-public. That flow uses /public-register, /api/auth/send-code, /api/auth/verify-code, and the vendored websitebench.public_clone_auth runtime. It does not use the local SMTP/nodemailer registration path or require Stripe checkout for core validation; Stripe remains workflow-pending for public deployment until WebsiteBench provides an approved adapter.
Environment
Required production values:
LINKEDIN_D1_PROXY_URL=http://d1.internal/linkedin-db
SESSION_SECRET=<32+ character random secret>
EMAIL_VERIFICATION_SECRET=<32+ character random secret>
SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE=true
APP_URL=https://linkedin.example.com
APP_ENV=production
DEFAULT_TENANT_SLUG=northstar-systems
EMAIL_DELIVERY_MODE=smtp
MAIL_FROM="LinkedIn <no-reply@linkedin.example.com>"
SMTP_HOST=<smtp host>
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_SECURE=false
SMTP_USER=<smtp user>
SMTP_PASS=<smtp password>
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=<Stripe Test Mode secret key>
STRIPE_PREMIUM_PRICE_ID=price_...
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=<Stripe Test Mode webhook signing secret>
Before promoting a release, run a strict deployment preflight with production environment values loaded:
npm run preflight -- --production
The preflight prints a sanitized JSON report. It checks the D1 proxy, session and email-verification secrets, HTTPS app URL, secure cookies, SMTP delivery, default tenant, and Stripe Test Mode configuration without printing secret values.
Security boundary
- This project creates only local LinkedIn accounts.
- New local accounts must verify email before receiving a session.
- The login page explicitly states that it is not a LinkedIn sign-in.
- Billing code rejects non-test Stripe secret keys in this environment.
- No route asks for LinkedIn credentials, tokens, cookies, or profile export files.
- Mutating API routes reject cross-origin writes.
- Tenant write operations check membership role before creating recruiter-owned resources.
Production hardening checklist
- Put D1 behind managed backup and restore drills.
- Run migrations in CI/CD before promoting a release.
- Add centralized logging and trace request IDs before accepting real user data.
- Add password reset, MFA, and rate limiting before public launch.
- Complete accessibility, privacy, and security review.