Next.js Restaurant Management System

Expert guidance for working with a Next.js 15 restaurant management application featuring single-user-per-restaurant architecture, comprehensive menu/table/order management, and PM2 deployment.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when working with:

Development Environment

Common Commands

**Development & Build:**

**Database Management:**

Architecture Guidelines

Tech Stack Overview

Single-User Restaurant Model

**Core Principle**: Each user owns and manages exactly one restaurant. The User model includes restaurant information (merged User + Restaurant concept).

**Key Implications**:

Database Schema Structure

**Authentication & Core:**

**Operations:**

Route Structure & Access Control

**Customer-Facing Routes:**

**Staff Management Routes:**

**Admin Routes:**

**Authentication Routes (Public):**

**Post-Auth Behavior**: All authenticated users redirect to `/restaurant`

Development Patterns

Authentication & Sessions

**Configuration**: `lib/auth.ts` contains NextAuth.js setup with:

**Middleware Protection**: `middleware.ts` protects authenticated routes

**Usage Pattern**:

```typescript

import { getServerSession } from "next-auth";

import { authOptions } from "@/lib/auth";

// In API routes or server components

const session = await getServerSession(authOptions);

const userId = session?.user?.id;

```

Database Operations with Prisma

**Always scope queries to the authenticated user**:

```typescript

// ✅ Correct - automatically scoped to user

const menuItems = await prisma.menuItem.findMany({

where: { userId: session.user.id }

});

// ❌ Wrong - fetches all data across users

const menuItems = await prisma.menuItem.findMany();

```

**Error Handling Pattern**:

```typescript

try {

// Database operation

} catch (error) {

console.error("Operation failed:", error);

return NextResponse.json(

{ error: "Operation failed" },

{ status: 500 }

);

}

```

Component Guidelines

**Key Reusable Components** (`lib/components/`):

**Custom Hooks**: Located in `lib/hooks/`

**Utilities**: `lib/utils/imageUrl.ts` for image URL handling

Material-UI Theming

**Provider Setup**: `app/providers.tsx` wraps app with:

**Follow MUI Conventions**:

Environment Configuration

Required Variables

**Database:**

**Authentication:**

**Environments**:

Production Deployment

Prerequisites

Deployment Workflow

**1. Prepare Environment**

```bash

Set production environment variables in .env.production

Ensure DATABASE_URL points to production database

```

**2. Run Migrations**

```bash

npx prisma migrate deploy

```

**3. Deploy Application**

```bash

npm run deploy

```

This command automatically:

PM2 Management

**Configuration**: `ecosystem.config.js`

**PM2 Commands**:

```bash

pm2 list # View app status

pm2 logs mefood-app # Stream logs

pm2 restart mefood-app # Restart app

pm2 stop mefood-app # Stop app

pm2 delete mefood-app # Remove from PM2

```

**Manual Deployment** (without PM2):

```bash

npm run build

npm run start

```

Best Practices

Code Organization

1. **API Routes**: Follow RESTful patterns, always validate sessions

2. **Server Components**: Use for data fetching when possible

3. **Client Components**: Mark with `"use client"` only when needed

4. **Error Boundaries**: Implement proper error handling at route level

Security

1. **Always authenticate**: Check session in API routes and protected pages

2. **Scope data**: Filter all queries by `userId` from session

3. **Validate inputs**: Sanitize user inputs before database operations

4. **Secure secrets**: Never commit `.env` files, use environment variables

Performance

1. **Database indexes**: Ensure Prisma schema has appropriate indexes

2. **Image optimization**: Use Next.js Image component for menu images

3. **Caching**: Leverage Next.js caching strategies for static content

4. **PM2 clustering**: Consider cluster mode for high-traffic scenarios

Maintenance

1. **Migrations**: Always test in development before production

2. **Backups**: Regular database backups before schema changes

3. **Monitoring**: Use PM2 logs and consider error tracking services

4. **Updates**: Keep dependencies updated, test thoroughly

Troubleshooting

**Common Issues:**

Development Workflow

1. **Feature Development**:

- Create feature branch

- Run `npm run dev` for local testing

- Test with `npx prisma studio` for data inspection

- Run `npm run lint` before committing

2. **Schema Changes**:

- Update `prisma/schema.prisma`

- Run `npx prisma migrate dev --name descriptive_name`

- Generate client: `npx prisma generate`

- Test migrations on development database

- Deploy to production: `npx prisma migrate deploy`

3. **Deployment**:

- Merge to main branch

- SSH to production server

- Pull latest changes

- Run `npm run deploy`

- Verify with `pm2 list` and `pm2 logs`