# analytics-dashboard template — Next.js + Mongo usage analytics

A minimal but real, deployable analytics dashboard. It stores **events**
(`{ type, value, at }`) in the grid-shared MongoDB, computes usage metrics
(total count, total value, distinct types, top type) plus a recent-events table,
and records new events via a POST. Data persists across refresh and is shared
across users/sessions — unlike a static page whose state is in memory only.

## How the grid gives you a database

You do **not** provision a database or set a connection string. In
`cloudgrid.yaml` you declare `needs: { database: true }`, and the grid:

- provisions shared Mongo for the app, and
- injects the connection string as the **`DATABASE_MONGODB_URL`** environment
  variable (plus the legacy `MONGODB_URL` alias) — at dev-time (`grid dev`) and
  at runtime (after `grid plug`).

The app reads it via `process.env.DATABASE_MONGODB_URL` (with a legacy
`process.env.MONGODB_URL` fallback) in `services/web/lib/db.js` — **lazily,
inside the `getDb` getter, never at module top level** (a top-level read fails
`next build`, which imports the module for route analysis before the grid injects
the var). Never hardcode a connection string; never commit a secret.

> **Declare `needs: { database: true }` (the canonical shape).** The deployer
> provisions Mongo and injects `DATABASE_MONGODB_URL` (plus the legacy
> `MONGODB_URL` alias). `requires:` is the deprecated v1 alias — don't author new
> yaml with it, and never set `needs:` and `requires:` together (the validator
> rejects the combination).

## The domain

An **event** document is `{ type: string, value: number, at: Date }`:

- `type` — what happened (e.g. `page_view`, `signup`, `purchase`).
- `value` — a numeric measure (a count of 1, a dollar amount, a duration…).
- `at` — the server timestamp, set on insert.

The dashboard reads the collection server-side and shows: **total event count**,
**total value (sum)**, **distinct event types**, **top type by value**, and a
**recent-events table**. The form POSTs a new event.

## Service layout

App code lives under **`services/web/`**, not the template root. `path:` in
`cloudgrid.yaml` is the URL mount, not the filesystem path — the service named
`web` means the CLI looks for `services/web/`. Files at the root fail with
`Error: Service directory not found: …/services/web`.

## Run locally

```bash
npm install
grid dev          # runs Next.js with DATABASE_MONGODB_URL injected against dev Mongo
```

## Deploy

```bash
grid plug         # builds + deploys the folder (async — poll status until live)
```

A runtime deploy is asynchronous: `plug` returns `status: building`; poll status
until the app is live, then use the returned live URL. Re-plug the same entity
to update the same URL.

## File tree

```
cloudgrid.yaml                        # name + services.web (nextjs) + needs: { database: true }
services/web/package.json             # next, react, react-dom, mongodb driver only
services/web/lib/db.js                # lazy Mongo client from DATABASE_MONGODB_URL (legacy MONGODB_URL fallback)
services/web/app/layout.js            # root layout + inline CSS
services/web/app/page.js              # server component: reads events, computes counts/sums
services/web/app/event-form.js        # client form + recent-events table: POST/DELETE via the API
services/web/app/api/events/route.js  # GET (list) / POST (record) / DELETE (remove)
```

## Adapt it

- Rename the `events` collection in `services/web/app/api/events/route.js` and
  `services/web/app/page.js`.
- Change the document fields (add a `source`, a `userId`, tags).
- Add more aggregations (per-day buckets, per-type breakdown) in `summarize`.
- Add `cache: true` to `needs:` only if you actually need Redis.