Employee Monitoring System

A comprehensive employee monitoring application built with Ruby on Rails 8 that tracks work sessions, captures periodic screenshots, monitors task progress, and provides management dashboards.

Features

• Work Session Tracking: Start, pause, resume, and end work shifts with automatic time tracking
• Screenshot Capture: Automatic screenshot capture with activity level detection (via desktop agent)
• Task Management: Create, assign, and track tasks with time entries
• Project Management: Organize tasks under projects with deadlines
• Role-Based Access Control: Employee, Manager, and Admin roles with appropriate permissions
• Real-time Dashboards: Live updates using Turbo Streams
• Reporting: Daily, weekly, and custom date range reports with CSV export
• API for Desktop Agent: RESTful API for the Electron-based desktop monitoring agent

Tech Stack

• Ruby: 3.3.10
• Rails: 8.x
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Background Jobs: Sidekiq with Redis
• Frontend: Hotwire (Turbo + Stimulus), Tailwind CSS
• Authentication: Devise
• Authorization: Pundit
• File Storage: ActiveStorage (local/S3)

Prerequisites

• Ruby 3.3.10
• PostgreSQL 16+
• Redis 7+
• Node.js 18+
• Yarn

Setup Instructions

Option 1: Using Docker (Recommended)

1. Clone the repository:

git clone <repository-url>
cd employee_monitor

2. Build and start services:

docker-compose up --build

3. In a new terminal, create and seed the database:

docker-compose exec web rails db:create db:migrate db:seed

4. Access the application at http://localhost:3000

Option 2: Local Development

1. Install dependencies:

bundle install
yarn install

2. Configure database:

# Update config/database.yml with your PostgreSQL credentials
rails db:create db:migrate db:seed

3. Start Redis:

redis-server

4. Start Sidekiq:

bundle exec sidekiq

5. Start Rails server:

bin/dev

6. Access the application at http://localhost:3000

Demo Accounts

After running rails db:seed:

Role	Email	Password
Admin	admin@example.com	password123
Manager	manager1@example.com	password123
Employee	alice.anderson@example.com	password123

API Documentation

The API is available at /api/v1/. Authentication is done via Bearer token.

Authentication

Login (Get Token)

POST /api/v1/auth/login
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "email": "user@example.com",
  "password": "password123",
  "device_name": "My Laptop"
}

Response:

{
  "message": "Authentication successful",
  "data": {
    "token": "abc123...",
    "user": { ... },
    "config": {
      "screenshot_interval_seconds": 300,
      "idle_threshold_seconds": 180
    }
  }
}

Session Management

All endpoints require Authorization: Bearer <token> header.

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/v1/session/current	Get current session status
POST	/api/v1/session/start	Start new work session
POST	/api/v1/session/end	End current session
POST	/api/v1/session/pause	Pause current session
POST	/api/v1/session/resume	Resume paused session

Screenshots

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/v1/screenshots	Upload single screenshot
POST	/api/v1/screenshots/batch	Upload multiple screenshots

Screenshot payload:

{
  "image": "<base64-encoded-png>",
  "captured_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "activity_level": "active",
  "mouse_clicks": 42,
  "keystrokes": 156,
  "current_window_title": "VS Code",
  "current_app_name": "Code"
}

Tasks

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/v1/tasks	List user's active tasks
POST	/api/v1/tasks/:id/start	Start tracking time on task
POST	/api/v1/tasks/:id/stop	Stop tracking time on task

Activities

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/v1/activities	Log activity event
POST	/api/v1/activities/heartbeat	Agent heartbeat

Background Jobs

Job	Schedule	Description
DailyReportJob	1:00 AM	Generates daily summary reports
ScreenshotCleanupJob	3:00 AM	Removes screenshots older than retention period
SessionAutoEndJob	Every hour	Auto-ends stale sessions (12+ hours with no activity)

Access Sidekiq dashboard at /sidekiq (admin only).

Project Structure

app/
├── controllers/
│   ├── api/v1/           # API controllers
│   ├── users/            # Devise controllers
│   └── ...               # Web controllers
├── models/               # ActiveRecord models
├── policies/             # Pundit authorization policies
├── jobs/                 # Background jobs
├── views/
│   ├── layouts/          # Application layouts
│   ├── dashboard/        # Dashboard views
│   └── ...               # Other views
└── javascript/
    └── controllers/      # Stimulus controllers

Testing

# Run all tests
rails test

# Run specific test file
rails test test/models/user_test.rb

Deployment

The application includes a production Dockerfile and is configured for deployment with Kamal.

1. Update config/deploy.yml with your server details
2. Run kamal setup to prepare servers
3. Run kamal deploy to deploy

License

MIT License