Bars Bookkeeper Manager

iPad companion app for Bars Bookkeeper — the inventory management, forecasting, and ordering platform for bars and restaurants.

Overview

Bars Bookkeeper Manager is a landscape-only iPad app designed for managers to access their Bars Bookkeeper account on the go. It connects to the same backend API and provides a native iPadOS experience with sidebar navigation optimized for tablet use.

Features

• Inventory Management — View all on-hand inventory with real-time stock levels, par level indicators, category grouping, and detailed item inspection
• Stock Requests — Review, approve, or deny staff stock requests with batch processing
• Predictions — View ML-driven forecasts with run-out dates, daily usage trends, and recommended order quantities. Run new forecasts directly from the app
• Orders — Generate AI-powered purchase orders, manage vendors, preview email drafts, and send orders to vendors
• Settings — Manage your profile, organization, password, and API connection

Requirements

• iPad running iOS 17.0+
• Landscape orientation
• Active Bars Bookkeeper account (manager or owner role)

Tech Stack

• SwiftUI — Native declarative UI framework
• Swift 5 — Modern Swift with async/await concurrency
• Keychain — Secure token storage
• URLSession — Native networking with the Bars Bookkeeper REST API

Design

The app mirrors the web application's design language:

• Matching color system (light/dark theme support)
• Consistent typography and spacing scale
• Sidebar navigation pattern optimized for iPad landscape
• Detail panels for in-depth item inspection

Setup

1. Open BarsBookkeeperManager.xcodeproj in Xcode 15+
2. Set your development team in Signing & Capabilities
3. Build and run on an iPad or iPad Simulator
4. Sign in with your Bars Bookkeeper credentials

The app connects to https://barsbookkeeper.com/api by default. You can change the API URL in Settings > Connection.

Documentation

• Contributor workflow: CONTRIBUTING.md
• Architecture overview: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
• API contract and compatibility checklist: docs/API_COMPATIBILITY.md
• Repo strategy (split repo + integration): docs/REPO_STRATEGY.md

If you plan to contribute across both repos (backend + iPad app), start with CONTRIBUTING.md and docs/API_COMPATIBILITY.md first.

Project Structure

BarsBookkeeperManager/
├── App/                    # App entry point & root view
├── Models/                 # Data models (Auth, Inventory, Requests, Forecasts, Orders)
├── Services/               # API client, Auth service, Keychain
├── Views/
│   ├── Auth/               # Login screen
│   ├── Dashboard/          # Main layout with sidebar
│   ├── Inventory/          # Inventory list & detail panel
│   ├── Requests/           # Stock request management
│   ├── Predictions/        # Forecast predictions
│   ├── Orders/             # Order management & vendor sheet
│   ├── Settings/           # Account, connection, about
│   └── Components/         # Shared UI components
├── Theme/                  # Design tokens matching the web app
└── Assets.xcassets/        # App icon & accent color

Relationship to Bars Bookkeeper

This is not a standalone app — it works alongside your existing Bars Bookkeeper web deployment. It uses the same:

• Authentication system (JWT tokens)
• REST API endpoints
• Database and tenant isolation
• Role-based access control

Any changes made in the iPad app are immediately reflected in the web app and vice versa.

Safe Contribution Strategy

Contributing is a good idea if you treat this as an API-coupled client:

1. Keep PRs small and focused.
2. Run the simulator build before every PR.
3. Validate impacted screens manually.
4. Coordinate backend response changes with matching app model updates.