# visitor-signin — overview

Self-hosted visitor sign-in/out kiosk for school campuses. Visitors sign in at an iPad kiosk
(photo, WWCC/VIT, host), recurring visitors use mobile number + 4-digit PIN, and a label badge
prints automatically from a networked Brother QL-820NWB. Staff manage everything from an admin
console. A Google Sheet mirrors who is currently on site for evacuation roll calls.

## Stack
- Node.js 22, Express, SQLite (`better-sqlite3`), vanilla JS front end — no build step.
- Single Docker container on an Ubuntu docker host; authoring happens on Windows.
- Server-side badge rendering with `@napi-rs/canvas`; printing via `brother_ql` (Python) over
  TCP 9100.
- Self-signed TLS: local CA + auto-renewing server certificate, distributed to iPads via Jamf Pro.

## Surfaces
- `/` — kiosk (guest sign in, PIN sign in, sign out). No admin link on purpose.
- `/admin/login` — standalone login (email + password + TOTP).
- `/admin` — console: on site, visit log, recurring visitors, people to visit, sites, admins, system.
- HTTP helper port — serves the CA (`/ca.crt`, `/ca.cer`, `/ca.zip`) and redirects to HTTPS.

## Running it
- Deploy branch: **`deploy`**. Host update:
  `git fetch origin && git reset --hard origin/deploy && docker compose up -d --build`
- After changing `.env`: `docker compose up -d` (never `restart`).
- Check what's deployed: `docker compose exec visitor-signin npm run version`.
- Printing diagnostics: `docker compose exec visitor-signin node scripts/print-test.mjs`.

## Branches
- `deploy` — live branch (this one).
- `feature/native-ql-protocol` — unmerged native Node QL printing stack; see the 2026-09-07 session before merging.
- `main` — stale since 2026-09-07.

## Where to look
- `01-architecture.md` — current design and the reasoning behind it.
- `sessions/` — dated session records.
- `README.md` in the repo root — operator documentation.

## Session Log
- 2026-09-07 — Native Brother QL Protocol (replacing brother_ql subprocess) — Built native raster/TCP print modules and photo dithering on a feature branch; tested, not yet merged into deploy.
- 2026-09-23 — Visitor sign-in kiosk: build, HTTPS, and server-side label printing — Built the app end to end; added multi-site, 2FA admin accounts, self-signed CA for Jamf-managed iPads, server-side QL-820NWB printing (found `--red` is mandatory on DK-22251), single-tab evacuation sheet, branding, and photo halftoning.