Matchmake Pro — Dating App Overhaul
Parachuted into an existing codebase, audited backend and frontend, resolved critical bugs, and integrated PayPal payments. Ongoing engagement resuming April 2026.
Overview
Parachuted into an existing codebase for a dating application, audited both backend and frontend, resolved critical bugs, refactored Supabase queries for performance, and integrated PayPal as the payment platform. Four-month engagement, shipped stable.
The Situation
The client had a dating app built on Next.js and Supabase that was experiencing performance issues, bugs in the matching logic, and needed a payment system integrated. The previous developer had moved on, and the codebase needed someone who could quickly get up to speed and ship fixes.
What I Did
Codebase Audit: Started with a full audit of both frontend and backend. Identified performance bottlenecks in Supabase queries — missing indexes, N+1 query patterns, and overly broad selects that were pulling entire rows when only a few fields were needed.
Bug Resolution: Fixed critical bugs in the matching and messaging systems. The matching algorithm had edge cases where users could see profiles they’d already rejected, and the real-time messaging had race conditions causing duplicate messages.
Supabase Optimization: Refactored data access patterns — added proper indexes, rewrote queries to use Supabase’s RPC functions for complex operations, and implemented row-level security policies that had been left as TODOs.
PayPal Integration: Integrated PayPal as the payment platform for premium features. Built the full flow — subscription creation, webhook handling, access control based on subscription status, and graceful degradation when PayPal’s API is slow.
Result
The initial four-month engagement shipped a stable app with significantly improved query performance, resolved bugs, and a working payment system. The client was able to launch their premium tier on schedule.
Status
Work is resuming in April 2026 for the next phase of development.