How I Built PATH SSC — A Government Exam Companion (Frontend Prototype, Verified Features Only)

PATH SSC is a government exam preparation companion I built for Indian aspirants — SSC GD, CHSL, CGL, MTS and Railway NTPC / Group D students. It runs as a React 18 + Vite 5 frontend with 22 screens, a verified design system (teal #218DAE, cyan #2BBBD7, yellow #FFD758) and a PWA manifest. This article is honest: the app is a frontend-only prototype (ARCHITECTURE_AUDIT.md verified 2026-11-03). No backend exists yet. No real notifications. Job data is hardcoded samples with invented vacancy numbers — not live government feeds. AI Teacher uses static replies, not live models. Notes library has category metadata but no real PDFs yet. Quiz bank holds 12 real-style seed questions; leaderboard and user accounts are mock. What IS verified: design system, navigation, exam categories, notes categories, quiz seed, plans pricing demo, and branding. I advertise only what's real. Stack: React 18.3.1, Vite 5.3.4, lucide-react. No TypeScript. State-based navigation (custom). Planned upgrade: Node.js + Express backend, SQLite, Python Control Center, secure PDF delivery, verified AI routing. Only verified product links referenced. No fabricated Play Store links or statistics.