Whats implemented:

1. Backend Cron Scraper: The Express backend runs a background scheduled cron job (every 2 hours) that scrapes public, unarchived organization repositories, filters for merged PRs matching the "recode" label, aggregates repository statistics, and counts discussions.
2. Point & Streak Aggregation: Contributors are scored according to Recode rules (Level 1 = 10, Level 2 = 30, Level 3 = 50 points). Streaks are calculated based on active daily consecutive PR merge dates.
3. Atomic Cache Storage: Scraper data is written atomically to leaderboard.json and stats.json inside the cache directory (compatible with persistent volume mounts).
4. Backend API: Serves the cached datasets instantly via /api/leaderboard and /api/stats.
5. Frontend Context Hook: The frontend React context (CommunityStatsProvider) fetches from these two backend API routes in parallel on page load. Client-side sorting and date filtering (week/month/year/all-time) are preserved in memory for instant, responsive UI transitions.

Files Changed:

Backend (leaderboard repository)

• server.js: Setup API routes, CORS configs, and initialized startup checks.
• utils/cacheHelper.js [NEW]: Implements atomic file writes (writeJsonAtomic) to prevent corruption, file exists checks, and fallback JSON models.
• functions/generateLeaderboard.js: Replaced legacy scraper. Implements GraphQL repository traversal, label scoring weight filters, active streak checks, and discussions count queries.
• functions/generateCALeaderboard.js: Integrates atomic writes and generation locks.
• jobs/updateOSLeaderboard.js: Schedules OS leaderboard cron jobs.
• jobs/updateCALeaderboard.js: Standardizes cron patterns.

Frontend (this repository)

• docusaurus.config.ts: Declares backendApiUrl customField and removes deprecated gitToken client exposing.
• src/lib/statsProvider.tsx: Removes client-side scraping pipelines. Fetches and parses backend API endpoints and binds to context states.
• src/services/githubService.ts: Removes dead code path helper methods.

API Contract

A. GET /api/leaderboard

Returns the contributors array and legacy compatibility aliases.

{
  "success": true,
  "updatedAt": 1781548394726,
  "lastUpdated": 1781548394726,
  "generated": true,
  "contributors": [
    {
      "username": "contributor1",
      "avatar": "https://github.com/contributor1.png",
      "profile": "https://github.com/contributor1",
      "points": 60,
      "prs": 2,
      "prDetails": [
        {
          "title": "PR 2 - Docs",
          "url": "https://github.com/recodehive/repo1/pull/2",
          "mergedAt": "2026-06-15T12:00:00Z",
          "repoName": "repo1",
          "number": 2,
          "points": 50
        }
      ],
      "streak": 2
    }
  ]
}

B. GET /api/stats

{
  "success": true,
  "updatedAt": 1781548394731,
  "lastUpdated": 1781548394731,
  "totalStars": 984,
  "totalForks": 1107,
  "totalContributors": 467,
  "totalRepositories": 10,
  "publicRepositories": 9,
  "discussionsCount": 42
}

Migration Strategy

1. Backend Deploy (Railway): Deploy backend and map CACHE_DIR to a persistent volume (e.g. /data) to preserve cached listings across restarts. Set PORT (default 5000) and the private GIT_TOKEN.
2. Frontend Config: Expose BACKEND_API_URL pointing to the deployed backend server domain.
3. Authentication: Clerk login gate remains unchanged. Discussions panel continues fetching via restricted token until a discussions backend proxy endpoint is introduced in a future PR.

Testing Performed

• Backend Unit Tests: Verified repository discovery, unarchived filters, point weights, and active streak resets using mock datasets.
• E2E Headless Browser Testing: Used Puppeteer to verify:
  • Podium: Rendered 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rank performer cards correctly.
  • Table: Populated ranking rows, usernames, avatars, and badges.
  • Stats Cards: Displayed correct community values.
  • PR Modal: Clicking a row count badge successfully launched the PR List Modal with correct titles, URLs, and points.

Fixes #1362

Type of Change

• New feature (e.g., new page, component, or functionality)
• Bug fix (non-breaking change that fixes an issue)
• UI/UX improvement (design, layout, or styling updates)
• Performance optimization (e.g., code splitting, caching)
• Documentation update (README, contribution guidelines, etc.)
• Other (please specify): backend migration

Checklist

• My code follows the style guidelines of this project.
• I have tested my changes across major browsers and devices
• My changes do not generate new console warnings or errors .
• I ran npm run build and attached screenshot(s) in this PR.
• This is already assigned Issue to me, not an unassigned issue.