1┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
2│                         USER INTERFACE                          │
3│                      (Next.js Frontend)                         │
4│  - Bill Browse/Search  - Category Filters  - Bill Details       │
5└─────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────┘
6                        │
7┌─────────────────────────▼───────────────────────────────────────┐
8│                    NEXT.JS API ROUTES                           │
9│  - /api/bills       - /api/search      - /api/inngest          │
10│  - /api/categories  - /api/bills/[id]                           │
11└─────────┬───────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
12        │                               │
13        │                               │ Trigger Jobs
14┌─────────▼───────────┐         ┌────────▼──────────────────────┐
15│   PostgreSQL DB     │         │  INNGEST JOB PROCESSOR        │
16│   (Prisma ORM)      │         │                               │
17│                     │         │ - fetch-bills (6h schedule)   │
18│ - Bills             │◄────────┤ - fetch-executive-orders      │
19│ - Summaries         │         │ - batch-summarize-bills       │
20│ - Categories        │         │ - summarize-bill              │
21│ - Actions           │         │ - categorize-bill             │
22│ - Members           │         │                               │
23└─────────────────────┘         └───────────────────────────────┘

1# Required software
2Node.js 18+
3PostgreSQL 14+
4
5# Required API keys (all free)
6
7Congress.gov API key (from Library of Congress)
8Anthropic API key (from Anthropic Console)
9Inngest account (free tier available)

1# Database
2DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/legislation_tracker"
3
4# API Keys
5
6CONGRESS_API_KEY="your_congress_gov_api_key"
7ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your_anthropic_api_key"
8
9# Inngest (for background jobs)
10
11INNGEST_EVENT_KEY="your_inngest_event_key"
12INNGEST_SIGNING_KEY="your_inngest_signing_key"

# Start dev server
npm run dev

# Visit http://localhost:3000

1// Scheduled jobs run automatically
2export const fetchBills = inngest.createFunction(
3{ 
4  id: "fetch-bills",
5  name: "Fetch Bills from Congress.gov"
6},
7{ cron: "0 */6 * * *" }, // Every 6 hours
8async ({ step }) => {
9  const bills = await step.run("fetch-bills", async () => {
10    return await congressAPI.fetchRecentBills();
11  });
12  
13  await step.run("save-bills", async () => {
14    return await db.bill.createMany({ data: bills });
15  });
16}
17);

1model Bill {
2id                String    @id @default(uuid())
3billNumber        String    @unique
4billType          String
5congress          Int
6title             String
7introducedDate    DateTime?
8status            BillStatus
9fullText          String?   @db.Text
10
11// Relationships
12summaries         Summary[]
13categories        Category[]
14sponsors          Member[]
15actions           Action[]
16amendments        Amendment[]
17votes             Vote[]
18
19createdAt         DateTime  @default(now())
20updatedAt         DateTime  @updatedAt
21}
22
23model Summary {
24id String @id @default(uuid())
25billId String
26bill Bill @relation(fields: [billId], references: [id])
27summaryType SummaryType // EXECUTIVE, TECHNICAL, PLAIN_LANGUAGE
28content String @db.Text
29model String? // AI model used
30createdAt DateTime @default(now())
31}

1const SUMMARIZATION_PROMPT = `You are an expert at summarizing U.S. federal legislation in plain language.
2
3Your task is to summarize the following bill in a way that is:
4
5- BRIEF: 2-3 paragraphs maximum
6- CLEAR: Use plain English, avoid legal jargon
7- COMPLETE: Capture the bill's purpose, key provisions, and impact
8
9Bill Title: {{title}}
10Bill Number: {{billNumber}}
11Bill Text:
12{{fullText}}
13
14Provide a summary that helps ordinary citizens understand what this legislation does and why it matters.`;

1// GET /api/bills - List bills with pagination and filtering
2// Query parameters:
3// - page: Page number (default: 1)
4// - limit: Results per page (default: 20)
5// - status: Filter by bill status
6// - category: Filter by category slug
7// - congress: Filter by congress number
8// - search: Full-text search query
9
10// Example response:
11{
12"bills": [
13{
14"id": "uuid",
15"billNumber": "H.R. 1234",
16"title": "Sample Bill Title",
17"status": "INTRODUCED",
18"introducedDate": "2025-03-15T00:00:00Z",
19"categories": ["healthcare", "budget"],
20"summaries": [
21{
22"type": "EXECUTIVE",
23"content": "Brief summary..."
24}
25]
26}
27],
28"pagination": {
29"total": 150,
30"page": 1,
31"limit": 20,
32"pages": 8
33}
34}

1// Prisma provides full type safety
2const bill = await prisma.bill.findUnique({
3where: { billNumber: "H.R.1234" },
4include: {
5  summaries: true,
6  categories: true,
7  sponsors: true,
8  actions: {
9    orderBy: { actionDate: "desc" },
10    take: 10
11  }
12}
13});
14
15// TypeScript knows exact shape of returned data
16// No runtime errors from typos or incorrect field access

1// Automatic retries with exponential backoff
2export const summarizeBill = inngest.createFunction(
3{
4  id: "summarize-bill",
5  retries: 3
6},
7{ event: "bill/summarize" },
8async ({ event, step }) => {
9  // Step-by-step execution with automatic retries
10  const billData = await step.run("fetch-bill", async () => {
11    return await db.bill.findUnique({ where: { id: event.data.billId }});
12  });
13  
14  const summary = await step.run("generate-summary", async () => {
15    return await claudeAI.summarize(billData.fullText);
16  });
17  
18  await step.run("save-summary", async () => {
19    return await db.summary.create({ data: summary });
20  });
21}
22);

1Frontend/API: Vercel
2- Automatic deployments from Git
3- Edge network for global performance
4- Built-in analytics and monitoring
5
6Database: Neon PostgreSQL
7
8- Serverless Postgres with branching
9- Automatic scaling and backups
10- Generous free tier
11
12Background Jobs: Inngest Cloud
13
14- Managed job processing
15- Built-in monitoring dashboard
16- Automatic retries and error handling
17
18Monitoring: Sentry
19
20- Error tracking and alerting
21- Performance monitoring
22- User session replay

1# Run database migrations
2npx prisma migrate deploy
3
4# Build and deploy (automatic on Vercel)
5
6npm run build
7
8# Configure Inngest webhook
9
10# Set endpoint: https://your-domain.com/api/inngest