Internship Tracker

A full-stack Spring Boot web application designed to help users organize and manage internship applications in a structured, secure environment.

The application supports authenticated users and guest sessions, includes secure email verification and password reset flows, and is deployed to a Linux-based cloud server.

Live Demo:
https://internship-tracker.tirsansapkota.com

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Why I Built This

Applying to internships can quickly become disorganized across spreadsheets, notes, and emails. I built this project to create a centralized tracking system while strengthening my skills in backend architecture, authentication flows, database design, and real-world cloud deployment.

This project reflects my ability to build, secure, deploy, and maintain a production-style application independently.

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Core Features

Authentication & Account Management

• User registration and login
• BCrypt password hashing
• Email verification with expiring, one-time tokens
• Secure password reset workflow
• Session fixation protection
• CSRF protection

Internship Application Management

• Create, edit, and delete applications
• Track application status
• Soft-delete support
• Export application data

Guest Mode

• Use the application without creating an account
• Applications stored in session
• Import guest applications after registration

Email System

• SMTP-based email delivery
• Token-based verification links
• Token expiration and invalidation logic
• Protection against reuse of expired or used tokens

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Architecture Overview

The application follows a layered architecture:

• Controller Layer — Handles HTTP requests and routing
• Service Layer — Business logic and security workflows
• Repository Layer — Data persistence using Spring Data JPA
• Model Layer — Entity definitions and domain models
• DTO Layer — Form data validation and transfer objects
• Configuration Layer — Security and application configuration

Security is implemented using Spring Security with custom success handlers and token validation logic.

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Tech Stack

Backend

• Java
• Spring Boot
• Spring Security
• Spring Data JPA (Hibernate)
• Thymeleaf (server-side rendering)

Database

• Relational database (configured via environment variables)

Infrastructure & Deployment

• Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)
• Linux VM
• systemd service management
• Reverse proxy configuration
• Packaged as an executable JAR

Build Tool

• Maven Wrapper

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Security Practices

• No hardcoded credentials
• Environment variable–based configuration
• BCrypt password hashing
• CSRF protection enabled
• Session fixation protection
• Expiring, one-time verification tokens
• Token invalidation on new request

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Environment Configuration

Sensitive configuration is handled through environment variables.

Required variables:

• DB_URL
• DB_USER
• DB_PASS
• MAIL_HOST
• MAIL_PORT
• MAIL_USER
• MAIL_PASS
• APP_BASE_URL

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Running Locally

1. Clone the repository
2. Set the required environment variables
3. Run the application:

./mvnw spring-boot:run