Reactive Resume

Reactive Resume: A Thorough Exploration of an Open-Source Resume Builder

[Banner Image: Reactive Resume banner is displayed at the top to welcome readers and set the tone for a modern, privacy-first resume builder.]

Introduction: A Free, Open-Source Path to a Professional Resume

Reactive Resume is a free, open-source resume builder that guides you from idea to polished resume with ease. Built around simplicity and privacy, it helps you create your resume, update it as your career evolves, and share it with prospective employers—all without requiring you to surrender control of your data. The project embraces a philosophy of transparency: the codebase is MIT-licensed, there are no ads or tracking, and you can run the entire application on your own infrastructure if you wish. This makes Reactive Resume valuable for freelancers, students, job seekers, and teams who want a consistent, trustworthy resume workflow.

Key promises of Reactive Resume include straightforward creation, secure data handling, and flexible export options. You can start from a professionally designed template, fill in your details in real time, and export your finished resume to formats like PDF, JSON, and DOCX. For those who want maximum control, the application is self-hostable, ensuring you retain complete ownership of your data. The project emphasizes privacy as a core principle, so you’re not locked into centralized services or invasive analytics.

Core Principles: Privacy, Control, and Open Collaboration

Reactive Resume is designed around four core principles:

• Privacy and control: You own your data. Self-hosting on your own infrastructure means you decide where data is stored and who can access it. There is no mandatory data collection, and exporting or deleting data can be done at any time.

• Open-source transparency: The codebase is fully open-source under the MIT license, inviting contributions, audits, and improvements from the community. There are no hidden costs or trackers; you can inspect how data flows through the app and modify it to suit your needs.

• Flexibility and customization: The platform supports custom sections, drag-and-drop ordering, multiple export formats, and CSS customization for advanced styling. This means you can tailor the resume experience to fit different industries, languages, and presentation preferences.

• Self-hosting as a feature: For users who require complete privacy or enterprise deployment, Reactive Resume can be deployed on your own servers, containers, or cloud infrastructure. This approach ensures data sovereignty and alignment with internal security policies.

What You Can Do: Features that Power Your Resume Journey

Reactive Resume brings a robust set of features designed to streamline the resume-building process, while giving you room to customize and refine your document.

• Real-time resume building:

• As you type, you get an immediate live preview, helping you see how each addition affects layout and readability.

• The experience mirrors modern document editors, reducing the friction between drafting and finalizing.

• Multiple export formats:

• Export to PDF for professional printing and online submissions.

• Export to JSON to save a portable, machine-readable version of your resume.

• Export to DOCX for compatibility with word processors and hiring portals that prefer Word documents.

• Drag-and-drop section ordering:

• Reorganize sections on the fly to emphasize different experiences or projects.

• Move memories of work experience, education, skills, projects, and achievements to suit a role.

• Custom sections for any content type:

• Add non-traditional sections to showcase portfolio highlights, certifications, open-source contributions, or speaking engagements.

• The schema supports rich text formatting for emphasis and clarity.

• Rich text editor with formatting support:

• Bold, italics, lists, and headings help structure content for readability.

• You can craft job descriptions, achievements, and project narratives with clarity.

Templates: Professionally Designed Foundations for Every Voice

Reactive Resume ships with a gallery of ready-to-use templates to give your resume a polished, professional look. Each template is designed to be visually distinct while maintaining readability and compatibility with common printing formats. The gallery includes a diverse set of styles, color palettes, and typographic treatments so you can match tone to industry.

• Azurill template:

• Image: Azurill template preview

• Description: A clean, modern layout with generous white space and a balanced emphasis on sections.

• Bronzor template:

• Image: Bronzor template preview

• Description: A slightly more compact design that prioritizes information density without sacrificing readability.

• Chikorita template:

• Image: Chikorita template preview

• Description: A friendly, approachable design suitable for creative roles and early-career professionals.

• Ditto template:

• Image: Ditto template preview

• Description: Minimalist formatting with emphasis on concise content and scannable bullet points.

• Gengar template:

• Image: Gengar template preview

• Description: A bold, confident layout with strong typographic choices for impact.

• Glalie template:

• Image: Glalie template preview

• Description: A crisp, geometric structure that guides the reader through your journey with precision.

• Kakuna template:

• Image: Kakuna template preview

• Description: A balanced, classic resume look with an emphasis on clarity and accessibility.

• Lapras template:

• Image: Lapras template preview

• Description: A generous layout with room for project showcases and portfolio links.

• Leafish template:

• Image: Leafish template preview

• Description: A contemporary feel with tasteful color accents and readable typography.

• Onyx template:

• Image: Onyx template preview

• Description: A darker theme option for those who prefer a high-contrast, bold presentation.

• Pikachu template:

• Image: Pikachu template preview

• Description: Playful yet professional, suitable for startups and tech roles.

• Rhyhorn template:

• Image: Rhyhorn template preview

• Description: A strong, structured design focused on hierarchy and scannability.

• Ditgar template:

• Image: Ditgar template preview

• Description: A versatile format that pairs well with varied career paths.

• Meowth template:

• Image: Meowth template preview

• Description: A stylish design with a contemporary editorial vibe.

• Scizor template:

• Image: Scizor template preview

• Description: A robust, enterprise-ready look ideal for formal industries.

Quick Start: Launching Reactive Resume Locally

For those who want to run Reactive Resume in a local environment quickly, the quickest route is to clone the repository and start the services with containerized tooling. Here is a concise guide to get you up and running:

1) Clone the repository:

• git clone https://github.com/amruthpillai/reactive-resume.git

2) Navigate into the project directory:

• cd reactive-resume

3) Start all services in the background:

• docker compose up -d

4) Open the application in your browser:

• http://localhost:3000

This quick start is designed for developers who want a fast path to testing and tweaking the application. It aligns with Reactive Resume’s self-hosting philosophy, ensuring you can operate the tools behind your own firewall or on a private cloud, free from external dependencies.

For more comprehensive setup instructions, environment configuration, and detailed self-hosting guides, the documentation site offers step-by-step directions and best practices.

Technology Stack: The Backbone of Reactive Resume

Reactive Resume’s architecture reflects modern, scalable web development practices. The stack emphasizes type safety, performance, and maintainability.

• Framework:

• TanStack Start (React 19, Vite) provides a modern, fast foundation for building interactive user interfaces with robust state management.

• Runtime:

• Node.js serves as the runtime environment for server-side processes and tooling.

• Language:

• TypeScript adds strong typing, reducing runtime errors and improving developer experience.

• Database:

• PostgreSQL with Drizzle ORM supports structured data storage with a type-safe query interface.

• API:

• ORPC (Object RPC) delivers a type-safe remote procedure call mechanism for client-server interactions.

• Authentication:

• Better Auth is employed to manage authentication securely and efficiently.

• Styling:

• Tailwind CSS offers a utility-first approach to styling, enabling rapid design iterations.

• UI Components:

• Base UI combined with shadcn-style components provides a cohesive design language and reusable components.

• State Management:

• Zustand and TanStack Query handle client-side state and data fetching with simplicity and reliability.

Documentation and Learning Resources: Guides for Every Stage

Comprehensive documentation is available to help new users, developers, and administrators. The docs cover everything from getting started to self-hosting, development setup, and architecture.

• Getting Started:

• This guide introduces first-time setup, creating your first resume, and understanding the core workflow.

• Self-Hosting:

• A dedicated guide explains how to deploy Reactive Resume on your own server, whether you’re using Docker, Kubernetes, or another environment.

• Development Setup:

• Contributors can follow this guide to establish a local development environment, run tests, and contribute code.

• Project Architecture:

• This section dives into the codebase structure, patterns, and design decisions that shape the project.

• Exporting Your Resume:

• Details on PDF and JSON export options, including formatting considerations and compatibility tips.

Self-Hosting: Docker, Data, and Client-Side PDF generation

Reactive Resume supports self-hosting to give users complete autonomy over their data and deployment. The self-hosting stack includes:

• PostgreSQL: A robust database for storing user data and resumes, ensuring data integrity and reliable querying.

• SeaweedFS (optional): An S3-compatible object storage option for file uploads, enabling scalable storage for assets like resumes, PDFs, and media.

• Client-side PDF generation: From version 5.1.0 onward, PDF generation runs entirely on the client side using @react-pdf/renderer. This eliminates reliance on external print services and browser automation, simplifying deployment and reducing the operational burden.

• Environment considerations: The system’s environment variables and deployment configurations can be adjusted to suit different hosting scenarios. The classic Browserless or other external print services are no longer required in recent deployments, streamlining the stack.

• Image assets and deployment packages: Docker Hub and GitHub Container Registry host the latest images, making it straightforward to pull and deploy with minimal setup.

• Self-hosting guide: A dedicated guide walks you through setting up PostgreSQL, SeaweedFS, and the front-end service in a cohesive environment, ensuring a smooth deployment experience.

Supporting and Contributing: A Vibrant Open-Source Community

Reactive Resume is committed to remaining free and open-source. The project invites users and developers to contribute, star the repository, report issues, propose features, and contribute to the documentation. Community support channels include:

• GitHub Sponsors: A mechanism to financially support ongoing development and maintenance.

• Open Collective: A platform for donations and community fundraising to support the project’s sustainability.

• Other ways to contribute: Star the repository, fix bugs, improve documentation, and help with translations and localization.

• Documentation and guides: The project provides development setup guides to help new contributors get started quickly, including instructions for setting up a local development environment and contributing code.

• Star history and recognition: The project tracks and showcases its popularity through star history charts, reflecting community interest and engagement over time.

Star History and Community Growth: Seeing the Impact

The project maintains visual indicators of its community engagement, including star history charts. These charts illustrate how interest in Reactive Resume has evolved, offering a marker of ongoing community involvement and adoption. A healthy and growing star history signals trust from developers and job seekers who appreciate the tool’s open-source nature and privacy promises.

Contributing: How to Make an Impact

Open-source contributions help Reactive Resume evolve. The process is straightforward and welcoming:

• Fork the repository to create a personal working copy.
• Create a feature branch with a descriptive name for your improvement.
• Make your changes with clear, concise commits.
• Push the branch to your fork and open a Pull Request to propose changes.
• Review and respond to feedback from maintainers and other contributors.

The documentation provides a detailed development setup guide to help you clone the repository, run the development environment locally, and test changes before submission.

Licensing: Freedom to Use, Modify, and Distribute

Reactive Resume is released under the MIT license, meaning you can use, modify, and distribute the software freely. This permissive license supports both personal experimentation and professional deployment, aligning with the project’s ethos of openness and collaboration.

Visual Gallery: A Snapshot of the Template Collection

To give readers a sense of the visual diversity available in Reactive Resume, a gallery of template previews accompanies the description. Each template image represents a unique style, color treatment, and typographic system, allowing users to preview how their information might appear in different layouts before making a choice.

• Azurill

• Image: Azurill template preview

• Bronzor

• Image: Bronzor template preview

• Chikorita

• Image: Chikorita template preview

• Ditto

• Image: Ditto template preview

• Gengar

• Image: Gengar template preview

• Glalie

• Image: Glalie template preview

• Kakuna

• Image: Kakuna template preview

• Lapras

• Image: Lapras template preview

• Leafish

• Image: Leafish template preview

• Onyx

• Image: Onyx template preview

• Pikachu

• Image: Pikachu template preview

• Rhyhorn

• Image: Rhyhorn template preview

• Ditgar

• Image: Ditgar template preview

• Meowth

• Image: Meowth template preview

• Scizor

• Image: Scizor template preview

Why Users Choose Reactive Resume

• Privacy-first mindset:

• The platform is designed so users retain control over their data, with no mandatory analytics or tracking. Self-hosting is a primary path for organizations seeking to meet strict data governance requirements.

• Cost-free core functionality:

• The basic resume-building workflow requires no payment or account signup, making it accessible to anyone who wants to craft a resume quickly and efficiently.

• Extensible architecture:

• With a modular approach, the system can be extended by developers who want to add new features, templates, or integrations. The documented APIs and architecture support growth without compromising stability.

• Multilingual and accessible features:

• The platform includes multi-language support and accessibility considerations to ensure that resumes can be created by a wide range of users worldwide. This broadens the tool’s applicability to non-English-speaking audiences and users with accessibility needs.

• AI integrations as optional extras:

• For users seeking advanced enhancements, optional AI integrations with leading providers (OpenAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude) can assist with drafting, editing, and content enhancement.

• No vendor lock-in:

• Given its open-source nature and export capabilities, you can move your resume data between tools or back up to your own systems without losing access or control.

• Community-driven improvements:

• Contributions from developers around the world help Reactive Resume stay current with design trends, browser changes, and evolving resume conventions.

Final Thoughts: A Practical, Ethical Tool for Modern Job Seekers

Reactive Resume stands out as a practical solution for anyone who wants a reliable, privacy-conscious, and open-source path to building a professional resume. Its emphasis on self-hosting, transparent operation, and flexible design makes it a strong choice for individuals who value data sovereignty and long-term control over their career documents. The template gallery provides a broad spectrum of visual styles, ensuring that users can find a look that matches their industry and personality. Export options in PDF, JSON, and DOCX cover the common submission formats, while the ability to add custom sections ensures that distinctive experiences—like open-source contributions, portfolios, and speaking engagements—can be highlighted effectively.

Whether you’re a student crafting your first resume, a professional updating a career portfolio, or an organization implementing a standard resume workflow across teams, Reactive Resume offers a structured, user-friendly solution. The project’s ongoing development, active documentation, and welcoming community invite participation, exploration, and optimization. And because the code is MIT-licensed and the project is committed to privacy and user ownership, you can rely on Reactive Resume as a trustworthy partner in the journey from resume creation to opportunity realization.

Images from the Input: Visual Anchors for the Story

• Banner at the top: a visual introduction to Reactive Resume (reactive-resume banner).
• Template gallery previews: a dozen-plus thumbnail images representing the Azurill, Bronzor, Chikorita, Ditto, Gengar, Glalie, Kakuna, Lapras, Leafish, Onyx, Pikachu, Rhyhorn, Ditgar, Meowth, and Scizor templates.
• Supplemental badges and status indicators (where appropriate to illustrate openness, community, and project activity) provide a sense of the project’s health and community engagement.

Closing Note: Your Path to a Stronger Resume, With Full Control

Reactive Resume invites you to explore a modern, privacy-respecting approach to resume building. It provides a practical framework for creating compelling documents, while honoring your ownership of data and your ability to host and customize the tool to your needs. If you’re curious to learn more, you can visit the project’s site, review the documentation, and consider contributing to ensure that Reactive Resume continues to grow in ways that serve job seekers and professional communities around the world. Whether you download a template, export a polished PDF, or set up a self-hosted instance for a team, Reactive Resume offers a roadmap to a clearer, more confident presentation of your skills and experiences.