Get Set Up in 5 Minutes

Clone the repository to a convenient location on your machine. The ~/tools/ directory works well, but anywhere is fine.

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/junjizhi/job-application-tracking-system.git

# Move into the project directory
cd job-application-tracking-system

The server is a lightweight Python app that runs entirely on your machine at 127.0.0.1:8235. It stores all your data in a SQLite database at ~/data/job-applications.db.

# Navigate to the server directory
cd server

# Create a virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv

# Activate the virtual environment
source venv/bin/activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Start the server
python app.py

# Navigate to the server directory
cd server

# Create a virtual environment
python -m venv venv

# Activate the virtual environment
venv\Scripts\activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Start the server
python app.py

The extension adds a badge to your browser that shows whether you've already tracked a job. Here's how to install it in developer mode:

• 1
  Open Chrome Extensions

  Go to chrome://extensions in your Chrome address bar, or click the three-dot menu → More Tools → Extensions.

• 2
  Enable Developer Mode

  Find the "Developer mode" toggle in the top-right corner of the Extensions page and turn it on.

• 3
  Click "Load unpacked"

  A new button will appear. Click "Load unpacked" — it opens a file picker dialog.

• 4
  Select the extension folder

  Navigate to where you cloned the repo and select the extension/ folder (not the whole repo — just the extension subfolder).

• 5
  Pin the extension

  Click the puzzle icon in Chrome's toolbar and pin JobTracker so the badge is always visible.

You're all set. Here's how to add your first job application:

• 1
  Browse to a job posting

  Visit any job listing on LinkedIn, Greenhouse, Lever, Workday, Indeed, or any company careers page.

• 2
  Click the JobTracker badge

  Click the extension icon in your toolbar. It will pre-fill the company name, job title, and URL from the page.

• 3
  Confirm and save

  Review the pre-filled details, add any notes, and click Save. The application is now in your database.

• 4
  Open the dashboard

  Click the extension icon again and choose "Open Dashboard", or visit http://127.0.0.1:8235 in your browser to see all your applications.

Tired of manually starting the server every time? Set it up to start automatically when you log in.

# Create the LaunchAgent plist (replace /YOUR/PATH/ with actual path)
cat > ~/Library/LaunchAgents/co.jobstash.server.plist << 'EOF'
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN"
  "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>Label</key>
  <string>co.jobstash.server</string>
  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array>
    <string>/YOUR/PATH/server/venv/bin/python</string>
    <string>/YOUR/PATH/server/app.py</string>
  </array>
  <key>RunAtLoad</key>
  <true/>
  <key>KeepAlive</key>
  <true/>
</dict>
</plist>
EOF

# Load it
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/co.jobstash.server.plist

# Create a systemd user service
mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user
cat > ~/.config/systemd/user/jobtracker.service << 'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=JobTracker Local Server
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
WorkingDirectory=/YOUR/PATH/server
ExecStart=/YOUR/PATH/server/venv/bin/python app.py
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
EOF

# Enable and start
systemctl --user enable jobtracker
systemctl --user start jobtracker

:: Create jobtracker.bat (save this file)
@echo off
cd C:\YOUR\PATH\server
call venv\Scripts\activate
start /min python app.py

:: Then press Win+R and type:
shell:startup

:: Drag jobtracker.bat into the Startup folder that opens

Already tracking applications in Excel or Google Sheets? Import them so you have a complete history from day one.

# Make sure your virtual environment is active
cd server
source venv/bin/activate  # macOS/Linux

# Run the import script with your CSV file
python import_csv.py ~/Desktop/my-applications.csv