Order Local

Order Local Link to heading

Self-Hosted Restaurant Ordering System for Raspberry Pi

Overview Link to heading

Order Local is a self-hosted restaurant ordering system designed to run on Raspberry Pi. Customers scan QR codes at their table to browse the menu and place orders directly from their mobile browsers—no app installation required.

The system prioritizes simplicity and reliability: a single Go binary with zero runtime dependencies, optimized to run on hardware as modest as a Raspberry Pi 3B+ with just 1GB of RAM.

Key Features Link to heading

Single Binary Deployment - Pure Go executable with no CGO, no runtime dependencies
Low Resource Consumption - Works within 1GB RAM, < 2 second startup time
Real-time Updates - Server-Sent Events (SSE) for live order tracking
Mobile-first Design - Responsive web UI optimized for customer ordering
Role-based Access - Customer (anonymous), Waiter (PIN), Admin (email/password)
Clean Architecture - TDD approach with 95%+ test coverage on core components

Technical Implementation Link to heading

Architecture Link to heading

The project follows clean architecture principles with distinct layers:

Domain → Repository → Handler

Layer	Responsibility
Domain	Business logic, models, interfaces
Repository	Data access via sqlc-generated code
Handler	HTTP handlers, SSE, middleware

Technologies Link to heading

Category	Stack
Backend	Go 1.22+, Chi Router, golang-jwt
Database	SQLite (modernc.org/sqlite - pure Go)
Query Gen	sqlc (type-safe SQL)
Migrations	goose
Frontend	templ + templui + HTMX + Alpine.js
Styling	Tailwind CSS via CDN

Order Status Flow Link to heading

pending → confirmed → preparing → ready → completed
    ↘                                  ↗
      → cancelled ←←←←←←←←←←←←←←←←←←←

Development Highlights Link to heading

Test-Driven Development - Tests written before implementation
Race Detection - All tests pass with -race flag
Pre-commit Hooks - Format → Test → Lint pipeline
Conventional Commits - Structured git history

Test Coverage Link to heading

Package	Coverage
internal/auth	95.7%
internal/domain	90.9%
internal/repository	85.4%
internal/config	100%

Project Status Link to heading

Phase	Status
Foundation	✅ Complete
Core Backend	✅ Complete
API Layer	✅ Complete
Frontend	✅ Complete
Testing	✅ Complete
Raspberry Pi Deployment	⏳ Pending

Lessons Learned Link to heading

SQLite with pure Go drivers enables truly portable single-binary deployments
HTMX + templ provides an excellent developer experience for server-rendered apps
SSE is simpler than WebSockets for unidirectional real-time updates
Clean architecture pays dividends in testability and maintainability