Workanda is a next-generation AI-powered freelance marketplace designed to connect African talent with global opportunities. The platform ensures secure payments through escrow, provides multi-currency support, AI-driven matching, and comprehensive trust & safety features for a seamless freelancing experience.
African Stronghold: Workanda is built to empower African freelancers by providing niche specialization capabilities, local payment methods, and regional focus while connecting them to global clients.
Niche Specialization: Freelancers can define their exact expertise (e.g., Legal Transcriptionist, Law Enforcement Transcriptionist, API Documentation Writer) to stand out and attract the right clients.
- Location:
/src(root directory) - Framework: Actix-web
- Database: PostgreSQL (via SQLx)
- Authentication: JWT tokens, OAuth2 (Google), 2FA/TOTP
- Caching: Redis
- Event Streaming: Kafka (optional)
- Location:
/frontend - Framework: React 19.1 with Vite 7.1
- Routing: React Router v7
- Styling: Custom CSS with CSS variables, responsive design
- API Communication: Centralized API service layer
Completed Today:
- β Fixed initial import issues (npm dependencies, syntax errors)
- β
Created comprehensive API service layer (
services/api.js) - β Built category and specialization system with African focus
- β Implemented AI Matching page with compatibility scores
- β Built AI Proposal Assistant with win rate predictions
- β Created Freelancer Profile Setup with niche specialization flow
- β Implemented Escrow Management with milestone-based payments
- β Built Time Tracking interface for freelancers
- β Updated navigation and routing for all new features
- Smart freelancer-to-project matching
- Compatibility scores based on:
- Skills and proficiency levels
- Experience and track record
- Budget alignment
- Success probability
- Detailed match explanations
- Team composition suggestions
- AI-powered proposal writing assistance
- Win rate prediction (estimated probability of success)
- Quality scoring (structure, relevance, clarity, professionalism)
- Personalized suggestions based on job requirements
- Client preference analysis
- Key points and recommended structure
- Project success prediction
- Dynamic pricing suggestions
- Timeline estimation
- Risk assessment
- AI-powered trust scores
- Fraud detection
- Dispute risk prediction
- Behavioral analytics
Profile Setup (/freelancer/setup)
- Category selection (Writing, Design, Development, Data, Marketing, Business, Admin, Engineering, Audio)
- Specialization selection within categories
- Niche definition (e.g., Legal Transcriptionist, Medical Transcriptionist, Law Enforcement)
- Hourly and project-based pricing
- Location and availability status
- Skills with proficiency levels
- Portfolio showcase
- Trust score display
Features:
- Browse AI-matched jobs
- Submit proposals with AI assistance
- Manage multiple projects
- Track time and earnings
- Build reputation through reviews
- Team collaboration
Profile Features:
- Company information
- Industry/sector specification
- Hiring preferences
- Trust score
Features:
- Post detailed job listings
- Review AI-matched freelancers
- Manage proposals
- Milestone-based project tracking
- Secure escrow payments
- Rate and review freelancers
- Secure escrow account management
- Milestone-based payment releases
- Fund hold until work completion
- Dispute resolution system
- Payment history tracking
- Automatic fee calculation
- Multi-currency support
- African payment methods (M-Pesa, Flutterwave, Paystack)
- Full project lifecycle management
- Task and subtask creation
- Milestone tracking
- Workflow stages
- Dependency management
- Progress monitoring
- Time tracking integration
- File uploads and sharing
- Active timer for work sessions
- Time entry logging
- Billable vs non-billable hours
- Timesheet management
- Earnings calculator
- Weekly/monthly reports
- Real-time messaging system
- Chat rooms for projects
- Notification system
- File sharing in messages
- Team creation and management
- Agency dashboards
- Team proposals
- Revenue distribution
- Collaborative workspaces
- Add/edit reviews
- Paginated review display
- Aggregate ratings
- Review moderation
- User management
- Job approval and moderation
- Dispute resolution
- System analytics
- Membership tier management
- Activity logs
- M-Pesa (East Africa)
- Flutterwave (West & East Africa)
- Paystack (West Africa)
- Bank Transfer
- Cryptocurrency
- Stripe
- USD, EUR, GBP
- NGN (Nigerian Naira)
- KES (Kenyan Shilling)
- ZAR (South African Rand)
- GHS (Ghanaian Cedi)
- EGP (Egyptian Pound)
Freelancers can specify their region:
- West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Mali)
- East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda)
- Southern Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia)
- North Africa (Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya)
- Central Africa (Cameroon, DRC, Gabon, Chad, CAR)
Base URL: /api/v1
Endpoints:
/auth/*- Authentication (login, register, logout, OAuth)/freelancer/*- Freelancer profile and job browsing/client/*- Client profile and job posting/jobs/*- Job listings and details/proposals/*- Proposal management/projects/*- Project CRUD and team management/contracts/*- Contract creation and management/milestones/*- Milestone tracking/escrow/*- Escrow and payment management/payments/*- Payment processing and history/reviews/*- Review system/messages/*- Messaging system/teams/*- Team management/agencies/*- Agency management/ai/matches/*- AI matching service/ai/proposal/*- Proposal assistant/ai/team/*- Team composition AI/predictive/*- Predictive analytics/trust/*- Trust & safety features
User Management:
- User (with role-based access)
- FreelancerAccount (with specializations, niches, rates)
- ClientAccount (with company details)
Work Management:
- Job (with category, skills, budget)
- Proposal (with bid amount, message)
- Project (with milestones, tasks, dependencies)
- Contract (with terms, parties)
- Milestone (with payment amount, due date)
Financial:
- Escrow (with holds and releases)
- Payment (with history)
- Fee (fixed and percentage-based)
Communication:
- Message
- Notification
- ChatRoom
Teams:
- Team
- Agency
- TeamProposal
- RevenueDistribution
Quality:
- Review
- Rating
- TrustScore
DATABASE_URL: PostgreSQL connection stringJWT_SECRET_KEY: Secret key for JWT token signingREDIS_URL: Redis connection URLGOOGLE_CLIENT_ID: OAuth2 Google client IDGOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET: OAuth2 Google client secret
- Frontend: 5000 (Vite dev server)
- Backend: 8001 (Actix-web server)
- API Proxy: Frontend proxies
/api/*tohttp://localhost:8001
cd frontend && npm run devcargo run --release/- Home/Landing page/login- User login/signup- User registration/jobs- Browse all jobs/jobs/:id- Job details
/dashboard- Freelancer dashboard/freelancer/setup- Complete profile with niche specialization/ai/matching- AI-matched job recommendations/ai/proposal-assistant- AI-powered proposal help/time-tracking- Track billable hours/proposals- Manage proposals/projects- Active projects
/post-job- Create new job posting/proposals/:jobId- Review proposals for a job/escrow- Manage payments and milestones/projects- Manage active projects
/profile- User profile (view/edit)/messages- Communication center/teams- Team management/reviews- Reviews and ratings/settings- Account settings/notifications- Notifications/analytics- Performance analytics
/admin- Admin dashboard/admin/users- User management/admin/jobs- Job moderation/admin/disputes- Dispute resolution/admin/analytics- System analytics
- Writing & Translation - Content, Copywriting, Technical, Creative, Transcription (Legal, Medical, Law Enforcement), Translation, Editing
- Design & Creative - Graphic Design, UI/UX, Illustration, Video/Animation, Photography
- Development & IT - Web, Mobile, Software, Game Dev, Blockchain, DevOps, Cybersecurity
- Data & Analytics - Data Science, Data Analysis, Data Engineering
- Marketing & Sales - Digital Marketing, Content Marketing, Sales, Market Research
- Business & Consulting - Business, Financial, Legal, HR
- Admin & Customer Support - Virtual Assistant, Customer Support, Project Management
- Engineering & Architecture - CAD, Architecture, Mechanical Engineering
- Audio & Music - Music Production, Voice Over, Audio Editing
Total Specializations: 40+ Total Niches: 150+
- Modern, clean UI design
- Purple/blue gradient color scheme (#6366f1, #8b5cf6)
- Responsive design for all devices
- Fast page loads with Vite
- Accessibility features
- Dark/light theme toggle
- African market focus
- Connect all frontend pages to backend API
- Implement authentication flow
- Add error handling and loading states
- Test all AI features with real backend
- Real-time notifications
- WebSocket for live chat
- Advanced search and filters
- File upload system
- Payment gateway integration (Stripe, M-Pesa, Flutterwave)
- Email notification system
- Mobile app (React Native)
- Local language support (Swahili, Yoruba, Zulu, etc.)
- Regional job categories
- Currency conversion
- Timezone handling
- Mobile money integration
- SMS notifications for low-internet areas
- Frontend runs on port 5000 (only port accessible in Replit)
- Backend uses SQLx with compile-time query verification
- All routes are protected with JWT authentication
- RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) implemented
- Rate limiting on sensitive endpoints
- Database migrations in
src/database/migrations/ - Passwords hashed with Bcrypt
- 2FA/TOTP support available
- OAuth2 (Google) integration ready
- π― Niche specialization for better targeting
- π€ AI-powered job matching
- π° Transparent pricing with escrow protection
- π Career growth through analytics
- π Global opportunities, African-first
- β±οΈ Easy time tracking and invoicing
- π₯ Team collaboration features
- π Find specialized talent quickly
- π€ AI-recommended freelancers
- π Secure milestone-based payments
- π Project progress tracking
- β Verified reviews and trust scores
- π Access to African talent pool
- π¬ Direct communication tools
- Lower fees than competitors
- AI-driven matching and recommendations
- Strong trust & safety features
- African payment methods
- Multi-currency support
- Comprehensive dispute resolution
- Focus on quality over quantity
Built with β€οΈ for the African freelance community
Last Updated: October 19, 2025