Project Goes Live!
Status: Core Architecture Deployed & Live (Railway + Aiven DB).

Whats working perfect:

• Database Migration & Cloud Infrastructure: Successfully migrated local MariaDB schema to Aiven Managed Cloud MySQL.
• Backend Deployment: Node.js / Express backend is live on Railway with dynamic port handling and SSL configuration (rejectUnauthorized: false).
• Catalog APIs: Core catalog endpoints (/api/products/menu & /api/products/beans) are returning 200 OK responses directly from the cloud database.
• Guest Checkout Schema: Relational database schema refactored to support seamless guest ordering (orders and order_items tables with proper menu_id & product_id key constraints).

Next things to do (Might do later):

1. Email OTP Verification MechanismCurrent Status: Temporarily disabled.Future Idea: Swapping Resend for Nodemailer with Gmail App Passwords so guests can actually get their verification codes… if I feel like setting up SMTP again.
2. Order Queue & Confirmation FlowCurrent Status: The database saves transactions fine, but the post-checkout experience is pretty plain right now.Future Idea: Adding a real-time order queue screen (pending $\rightarrow$ paid $\rightarrow$ completed) and an instant digital receipt, assuming I don’t get distracted by another project.
3. Contact Form MailerCurrent Status: The UI form looks nice, but submit doesn’t send anything yet.Future Idea: Hooking it up to the mailer service whenever I get around to fixing the email pipeline.

Next Steps after that (Maybe)

• Mess around with Nodemailer in Express routes for OTP.
• Auto-clear the localStorage cart after checkout.
• Call it a day and grab an actual coffee