Homie: A Simple, Secure Family Task Manager

Ever tried to coordinate household chores with your family or roommates? Between group chats, sticky notes, and half-remembered conversations, it's easy for things to slip through the cracks. Most project management tools are overkill for home use, and shared notes lack the structure to actually get things done.

That's the gap Homie aims to fill. It's a clean, focused utility app built to manage family or household tasks without the complexity. What caught my eye was its developer-friendly approach: it's a full-stack project with a clear separation of concerns and, importantly, secure authentication built right in from the start.

What It Does

Homie is a straightforward web application for managing a shared household task list. Family members can have individual accounts, view assigned chores, mark tasks as complete, and track what needs to be done. It strips away the bells and whistles of enterprise tools to provide just the core functionality needed for a family to stay organized.

Why It's Cool

The clever part isn't just the idea—it's the implementation. This isn't a slapped-together prototype. The repo shows a thoughtful full-stack structure. The authentication isn't an afterthought; it's integrated securely, which is a step many side projects gloss over. It makes Homie a great reference for developers looking to see how a simple but complete application with user accounts can be architected.

It's also a fantastic starter project or learning template. You can see how front-end components connect to a back-end, how user roles might be simply handled within a family context, and how state is managed for a real-world use case. It's the kind of project you can run locally, understand end-to-end, and even fork to add your own spin (like recurring tasks, rewards for kids, or calendar integration).

How to Try It

The code is ready to go. To spin up Homie locally:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Brramble/Homie
   cd Homie
   

2. Follow the setup instructions in the project's README.md. You'll likely need to set up environment variables for your database and authentication secrets.
3. Run the installation and start commands (check the repo for the specific tech stack commands—likely npm install and npm run dev or similar).

There's no live demo hosted, which makes sense for an app handling family data. Running it yourself is the way to go.

Final Thoughts

Homie is a practical solution to a common problem, but its real value for developers might be as a well-scoped, full-stack example. It's complex enough to be educational but simple enough to not be overwhelming. Whether you need a family task manager, want to understand integrated auth in a real context, or are looking for a clean codebase to contribute to, this repo is worth a bookmark. It's a solid reminder that useful software doesn't have to be complicated.

@githubprojects