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+# Handoff: Fix CORS for CRDC Arrests API Demo App
+
+## Current Status
+The demo app at `https://pages.civilytics.org/crdc-demo/` loads HTML correctly but shows a blank white screen because browser-based fetch requests to the CRDC API are blocked by CORS (the API doesn't send `Access-Control-Allow-Origin` headers).
+
+## What's Done
+1. ✅ **App code**: React + Vite app fully built with 6 charts, Civilytics visual identity, loading animation, district search — all committed and building cleanly
+2. ✅ **Git Pages deployment**: Gitea Actions workflow (`.gitea/workflows/pages.yml`) successfully builds `dist/` and deploys to a `pages` branch on `Civilytics/crdc-demo` repo at gitea.civilytics.org
+3. ✅ **CORS proxy code added**: 
+   - Updated `src/hooks/useApi.js`, `LoadingAnimation.jsx`, `ChartPanel.jsx` with `VITE_PROXY_URL` support (routes through a query-param-based proxy)
+   - Added `proxy.php` — simple PHP CORS proxy for git-pages hosts that support PHP
+   - Updated Dockerfile nginx.conf to include `/api/v1/` reverse proxy with CORS headers
+
+## What Needs to Be Done Next
+
+### Option A: Fix at the API source (recommended, cleanest)
+The CRDC API is a Plumber/R service deployed behind Cloudflare. The code change has already been made in `crdc-arrests/api/plumber.R` — added CORS headers (`Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *`) to the existing `cacheHeaders` filter and OPTIONS preflight handling.
+
+**Action needed**: Deploy this updated plumber.R to the running API server so it takes effect at https://crdc-api.civilytics.org/. The change is in `/home/jared/Nextcloud/Civilytics/Code/Civilytics/crdc-arrests/api/plumber.R` (lines 56-78).
+
+### Option B: Fix on the git-pages server
+If you can't restart the API, configure the nginx serving `pages.civilytics.org` to add CORS headers when proxying requests to `crdc-api.civilytics.org`. Or deploy `proxy.php` and set `VITE_PROXY_URL=/crdc-demo/proxy.php` at build time.
+
+## Key Files
+- **API fix**: `/home/jared/Nextcloud/Civilytics/Code/Civilytics/crdc-arrests/api/plumber.R` (CORS headers added to cacheHeaders filter)
+- **App code**: `/home/jared/Nextcloud/Civilytics/Code/Civilytics/crdc-demo/src/` — fully built, deployed to pages branch
+- **Proxy fallback**: `proxy.php`, nginx.conf with reverse proxy config
+
+## Verification Steps After Fix
+1. Visit https://pages.civilytics.org/crdc-demo/
+2. Select a state → search for "Denver" → should see district results
+3. Click a district → loading animation runs, then 6 charts appear
+4. Check browser dev tools → no CORS errors in console
+
+## Git Status
+- `crdc-arrests` repo: plumber.R modified (CORS headers added), not yet committed/pushed to API deployment
+- `crdc-demo` repo: All fixes pushed and deployed via Gitea Actions, awaiting CORS resolution at API or server level
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