Learn The FAR

A local-first flashcard app for studying the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Built as a pure static site with Astro, Svelte 5, shadcn-svelte, Tailwind CSS, and TypeScript.

Progress lives only in the browser (localStorage). There is no database, authentication, API, or backend infrastructure.

Live site: https://learnthefar.com

Quick start

Requirements: Node.js 24.x (see .nvmrc).

git clone https://github.com/jsolly/learn-the-far.git
cd learn-the-far
npm ci
npm run dev

Open the URL Astro prints (typically http://localhost:4321).

Command	Action
npm ci	Install dependencies from the lockfile
npm run dev	Start the local dev server
npm run check	Run Astro/Svelte type checks
npm run build	Build the static app to dist/
npm run preview	Preview the production build locally
npm run check:actions	Lint GitHub Actions workflows

Optional (Cursor only): npm run mcp:echarts starts a project-local Apache ECharts MCP server. Copy .env.example to .env and fill Baidu BOS credentials if you use that server to publish chart images. The app itself does not need .env to build or run.

Architecture

• Static SPA — astro build emits dist/; Vercel serves that directory (vercel.json).
• Svelte islands — interactive study/quiz UI under src/components/app/.
• FAR content — chapters and decks live under src/lib/far/ (shelves, glossary, questions). Source links point at acquisition.gov.
• Routes — home (/) plus shareable learn routes (/learn/[unit]/, /learn/[unit]/[chapter]/).
• State — quiz progress and reading state in localStorage only (src/lib/local-storage.ts, src/lib/reading-storage.ts).

No env vars are required for the production app. Site URL for the sitemap is set in astro.config.mjs (site).

Deploy your own copy (Vercel)

This project is designed to fork and redeploy with zero backend setup.

1. Fork (or clone) the repository on GitHub.
2. In Vercel, Add New Project → import the fork.
3. Leave Framework Preset as Astro (or Other). Build settings are already in vercel.json:
   • Build Command: npm run build
   • Output Directory: dist
4. Deploy. No environment variables are required for the app.
5. (Optional) Attach a custom domain in the Vercel project settings.

Pointing the site at your domain

If you are not deploying to learnthefar.com, update:

File	What to change
astro.config.mjs	site: 'https://your-domain.example'
public/robots.txt	Sitemap URL host
vercel.json	www → apex redirect has / destination hosts (or remove that redirect)

Production for this repo stays Git-connected: pushes to main deploy automatically after CI.

CI and commits

GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/ci.yml) runs on every PR and on main: actionlint, typecheck, and build.

Local pre-commit (.git-hooks/pre-commit) runs the same checks. npm run prepare points core.hooksPath at .git-hooks when you are not in CI. Contributors do not need any private tooling — the hook falls back to a built-in gate when the author’s optional shared gate library is absent.

Contributing

1. Create a branch from main.
2. Make changes; keep the app static and local-first (no new secrets or server APIs without discussion).
3. Run npm run check and npm run build before opening a PR.
4. Open a pull request against main.

UI is public-only (no login). Prefer small, focused PRs.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.