CV Builder

A TypeScript-based CV/Resume generator that creates professional PDF documents from JSON data files. Supports multiple languages and customizable templates.

🚀 Features

• ✅ Multi-language support (English, French, or add your own)
• ✅ Generate professional PDF resumes
• ✅ JSON-based content management
• ✅ Customizable HTML template
• ✅ Environment-based configuration
• ✅ Automatic results folder creation

📋 Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or higher)
• npm or yarn

🛠️ Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone <repository-url>
cd builder

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Configure environment variables (see Environment Configuration)

4. Set up your content files (see Content Structure)

⚙️ Environment Configuration

Create a .env file in the root directory:

fileName=cv_yourname

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Example
fileName	Base name for generated PDF files (without language suffix)	cv_servais_guillaume

The final PDF will be named: {fileName}_{language}.pdf
Example: cv_servais_guillaume_en.pdf, cv_servais_guillaume_fr.pdf

📁 Content Structure

All content files are located in the content/ directory. You need to create/customize the following files:

1. Experiences (content/experiences/)

Create language-specific files: en.json, fr.json

[
	{
		"title": "Software Developer",
		"place": "Company Name",
		"startDate": "2024-01-01",
		"endDate": null,
		"description": "Brief description of the role",
		"tasks": ["Task or achievement 1", "Task or achievement 2"],
		"technologies": [".NET", "React", "SQL"]
	}
]

Fields:

• title (string): Job title
• place (string): Company name
• startDate (string): ISO date format (YYYY-MM-DD)
• endDate (string|null): ISO date format or null for current position
• description (string): Role description
• tasks (array|null): List of responsibilities or achievements
• technologies (array): Technologies used (optional, for reference)

2. Skills (content/skills/content.json)

Not language-specific (same for all languages):

["JavaScript", "TypeScript", "React", "Node.js", "SQL"]

3. Languages (content/languages/)

Create language-specific files: en.json, fr.json

[
	{
		"name": "English",
		"level": "C1"
	},
	{
		"name": "French",
		"level": "Native"
	}
]

Fields:

• name (string): Language name
• level (string): Proficiency level (A1-C2, Native, etc.)

4. Education (content/educations/)

Create language-specific files: en.json, fr.json

[
	{
		"school": "University Name",
		"place": "City",
		"degree": "Bachelor's in Computer Science",
		"year": "2019 - 2022"
	}
]

Fields:

• school (string): Institution name
• place (string): Location
• degree (string): Degree/qualification
• year (string): Period or graduation year

5. Certifications (content/certifications/content.json)

Not language-specific:

[
	{
		"title": "AWS Certified Developer",
		"date": "2024-03-15"
	}
]

Fields:

• title (string): Certification name
• date (string): ISO date format (YYYY-MM-DD)

6. Hackathons (content/hackathons/)

Create language-specific files: en.json, fr.json

[
	{
		"place": "Hackathon Name 2024",
		"project": "Project Title",
		"description": "Brief project description",
		"date": "2024-06-01",
		"price": "First Place Prize"
	}
]

Fields:

• place (string): Hackathon name/event
• project (string): Project name
• description (string): Project description
• date (string): ISO date format (YYYY-MM-DD)
• price (string|null): Award/prize or null

7. Translations (content/translations/)

Create language-specific files: en.json, fr.json

{
	"now": "Present",
	"drivingLicense": "Driver's License",
	"age": "years old",
	"title": "Software Developer",
	"won": "Won"
}

Required Keys:

• now: Text for current/ongoing positions
• drivingLicense: Driving license text
• age: Age suffix text
• title: Your professional title
• won: Text for prizes/awards

8. Profile Picture

Place your profile picture at: content/profile_picture.jpg

Recommended: Square image, 500x500px or larger

9. HTML Template

Edit content/base.html to customize the CV layout and styling.

Available placeholders:

• {{ProfilePicture}} - Base64 encoded profile image
• {{Title}} - Professional title
• {{DrivingLicense}} - Driving license text
• {{Experiences}} - Work experience section
• {{Languages}} - Languages section
• {{Skills}} - Skills section
• {{Educations}} - Education section
• {{Certifications}} - Certifications section
• {{Hackathons}} - Hackathons/Projects section

🏃 Running the CV Builder

Generate your CV PDFs:

npm run build-cv

This will:

1. Read all content files
2. Generate HTML for each language (en, fr)
3. Convert HTML to PDF using Puppeteer
4. Save PDFs in the results/ folder

Output

Generated PDFs will be saved as:

• results/cv_yourname_en.pdf
• results/cv_yourname_fr.pdf

🌍 Adding More Languages

To add a new language (e.g., Spanish):

1. Add language files in these directories:

   • content/experiences/es.json
   • content/educations/es.json
   • content/languages/es.json
   • content/hackathons/es.json
   • content/translations/es.json

2. Update model/LanguageOptions.ts:

export type LanguageOptions = 'fr' | 'en' | 'es';

3. Update builder.ts:

const languages = ['fr' as LanguageOptions, 'en' as LanguageOptions, 'es' as LanguageOptions];

📂 Project Structure

builder/
├── content/              # All CV content
│   ├── certifications/
│   ├── educations/
│   ├── experiences/
│   ├── hackathons/
│   ├── languages/
│   ├── skills/
│   ├── translations/
│   ├── base.html        # HTML template
│   └── profile_picture.jpg
├── model/               # TypeScript interfaces
├── utils/               # Helper functions
├── results/             # Generated PDFs (auto-created)
├── .env                 # Environment configuration
├── builder.ts           # Main entry point
└── package.json

🔧 Development

Build Script

npm run build-cv

TypeScript Compilation

The project uses tsx for TypeScript execution without pre-compilation.

📝 Tips

• Date Formats: Always use ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD) for dates
• Current Position: Set endDate to null for ongoing roles
• Optional Fields: Set tasks, price, or description to null if not needed
• Sorting: Experiences are automatically sorted by most recent first
• Profile Picture: Use JPG format for best compatibility

🐛 Troubleshooting

"ENOENT: no such file or directory"

• Make sure all required JSON files exist for your languages
• Check that file names match exactly (case-sensitive)

PDF not generating

• Verify all JSON files have valid syntax
• Check that dates are in correct ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD)
• Ensure profile picture exists at content/profile_picture.jpg

Missing environment variable

• Create .env file with fileName variable
• Restart the build process after creating .env