Full-stack salon management system for clients, appointments, services, and attentions, built with Laravel 12 + Breeze auth, Inertia.js + Vue 3, MySQL (SSL CA), and Docker (CA injection via Base64).

Problem

A technical assessment required a production-minded full-stack system to manage a small business workflow: clients, appointments, and services performed. The app needed authentication, a clean Laravel + SPA-like structure, and a deployment approach compatible with a cloud MySQL database that enforces SSL (CA certificate required).

What I built

A full-stack salon management web app to track:
- Clients
- Appointments
- Services
- Attentions (service sessions performed, typically linked to an appointment)
- Service prices (historical pricing support)
Authentication & protected routes with Laravel Breeze.
System user management (operators/staff accounts), distinct from salon clients:
- Users ≠ Clients: users log into the system; clients are the customers served.
Audit log for tracking relevant actions (entity, timestamp, description).
A deployment-friendly setup that works reliably for reviewers using Docker and env-driven configuration.

Screenshots

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Core workflow (data model)

A Client can have many Appointments
An Appointment can have many Attentions
Each Attention references one Service and stores the applied price (capturing historical pricing)
Services can have multiple prices over time (price history)

Architecture

Laravel 12 backend using Eloquent models and controllers.
Inertia.js routes serving Vue 3 pages/components with server-provided props.
Vite for asset bundling and Tailwind CSS for styling.
Dockerized runtime bundling PHP + Node dependencies for consistent execution.
Container startup approach to materialize SSL CA cert at runtime:
- CA certificate stored as Base64 in env (MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CA_B64)
- Startup script decodes it into storage/certs/ca.pem
- Laravel connects to MySQL using SSL CA without shipping secrets in the image

Challenges & tradeoffs

Reproducible setup for reviewers: Docker was the most reliable way to avoid “it works on my machine” issues.
Cloud DB SSL requirement: ensured the application can connect securely using a CA cert provided via environment variables (no secrets committed).
Env-driven asset URLs: misconfiguring ASSET_URL (e.g., ASSET_URL=localhost) can break Vite asset paths, producing /localhost/build/assets/... 404s—documented clearly to avoid setup friction.
Balanced assessment scope vs maintainability: kept structure clean and extensible without overengineering.

Results / Impact

Delivered a complete full-stack workflow (auth + CRUD modules + audit log) ready for evaluation.
Demonstrated end-to-end delivery: backend modeling, full-stack integration, Docker packaging, and secure environment configuration for cloud DBs.

What I’d improve next

Add automated testing (feature/integration) + CI pipelines.
Add role-based access control (admin/staff) and more detailed audit events.
Improve UX: filters, pagination, and stronger validation feedback.
Add observability: structured logs, error reporting, and standardized exception handling.

Hair Salon Anita (Laravel + Inertia + Vue)