AI Profile Photo Maker

A full-stack SaaS platform that generates professional headshots from user-uploaded selfies using AI model training and style-based image generation. Built with .NET 8 and Angular 19, deployed to Azure Container Apps with a fully automated CI/CD pipeline.

How It Works

1. Sign up with email/password or Google OAuth
2. Upload selfies -- the app validates image quality, file type, and face detection client-side before upload
3. Train a personal AI model -- selfies are packaged and sent to Replicate for fine-tuning via async webhooks
4. Choose a style and generate -- select from a curated style catalog; the API dispatches generation jobs and streams results back to the gallery
5. Enhance and download -- apply optional AI enhancements, then download high-resolution outputs
6. Purchase credits -- a credit-based billing system powered by Stripe handles pay-as-you-go usage

Architecture

                   +-----------+        +------------------+
  Browser -------> |  Angular  | -----> |  ASP.NET Core    |
  (SPA)            |  19 SPA   |  REST  |  Web API (.NET 8)|
                   +-----------+        +--------+---------+
                                                 |
                        +------------------------+------------------------+
                        |                        |                        |
                 +------+------+          +------+------+          +------+------+
                 |  SQL Server |          | Azure Blob  |          |  Replicate  |
                 |  (EF Core)  |          |  Storage    |          |  AI API     |
                 +-------------+          +-------------+          +------+------+
                                                                         |
                                                                   Webhooks
                                                                   (training complete,
                                                                    generation complete)
                        +------------------------------------------------+
                        |
                 +------+------+
                 |   Stripe    |
                 |  Payments   |
                 +-------------+

Frontend -- Angular SPA handling auth, onboarding, style selection, dashboard, and gallery management with client-side face detection (face-api.js).

Backend -- ASP.NET Core API with thin controllers, service-layer business logic, async background jobs, webhook handlers, and health checks. Structured logging via Serilog.

Data -- SQL Server with EF Core Code-First migrations. Repository pattern for data access.

Infrastructure -- Docker Compose for local development; GitHub Actions CI/CD deploys to Azure Container Apps.

Technology Stack

Area	Technology
Backend	.NET 8, ASP.NET Core Web API, EF Core, Serilog
Frontend	Angular 19, TypeScript, RxJS, face-api.js
Database	SQL Server
Auth	JWT, Google OAuth
AI	Replicate API (Flux model fine-tuning + inference)
Payments	Stripe (PaymentIntents, webhook verification)
Storage	Azure Blob Storage / local dev fallback
Testing	xUnit, Moq, FluentAssertions, Karma, Playwright
DevOps	GitHub Actions, Docker Compose, Azure Container Apps

Key Engineering Decisions

• Webhook-driven async pipeline -- AI training and generation are long-running operations (minutes). The API uses Replicate webhooks with HMAC signature verification rather than polling, keeping the system event-driven and scalable.
• Credit-based billing -- Stripe PaymentIntents with webhook confirmation ensure credits are only granted after successful payment. No raw card data touches the server.
• Storage abstraction -- A strategy pattern switches between Azure Blob Storage (production) and local filesystem (development) without code changes.
• Client-side face detection -- face-api.js validates selfies in the browser before upload, reducing server load and giving instant feedback.
• Data retention and privacy -- Background jobs enforce configurable retention policies. Users can export their data or delete their account (DSAR support).

CI/CD Pipelines

Workflow	Trigger	Purpose
pr-code-review.yml	Pull requests to main/develop	Lint, build, test, security scan
simple-deploy.yml	Push to main	Build, test, deploy to Azure Container Apps

Quick Start

# Clone and configure
git clone https://github.com/alanw707/AI.ProfilePhotoMaker.git
cd AI.ProfilePhotoMaker
cp .env.example .env
# Set MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD, JWT_SECRET, REPLICATE_API_TOKEN, REPLICATE_WEBHOOK_SECRET

# Run with Docker
docker compose build --no-cache
docker compose up -d

# Frontend: http://localhost:4200
# API:      http://localhost:5032

For local development without Docker:

# Backend
dotnet run --project AI.ProfilePhotoMaker.API

# Frontend
cd AI.ProfilePhotoMaker.UI && npm ci && npm run dev:local

Build and Test

# API
dotnet build AI.ProfilePhotoMaker.sln
dotnet test AI.ProfilePhotoMaker.API.Tests

# UI (from AI.ProfilePhotoMaker.UI/)
npm run lint && npm run format:check
npm test
npm run test:e2e

Project Structure

AI.ProfilePhotoMaker/
├── AI.ProfilePhotoMaker.API/        # ASP.NET Core Web API
│   ├── Controllers/                 # Thin HTTP endpoints
│   ├── Services/                    # Business logic layer
│   ├── Models/DTOs/                 # Request/response contracts
│   ├── Data/                        # EF Core DbContext
│   ├── Migrations/                  # Database migrations
│   └── Extensions/                  # DI service registration
├── AI.ProfilePhotoMaker.API.Tests/  # xUnit + Moq + FluentAssertions
├── AI.ProfilePhotoMaker.UI/         # Angular 19 SPA
│   ├── src/app/auth/                # Auth components + guards
│   ├── src/app/pages/               # Feature pages
│   ├── src/app/services/            # HTTP + state services
│   └── src/app/shared/              # Reusable components
├── docs/                            # Architecture + operations docs
├── scripts/                         # Build and deploy scripts
├── .github/workflows/               # CI/CD pipelines
└── docker-compose.yml               # Full local stack

Documentation

• Architecture Overview
• Environment Setup
• API Reference
• Documentation Index

License

MIT -- see LICENSE.txt.