EconForecasting / MacroPredictions Website

This is the website code, built with Express and Twig.

Development

Requires Node.js 24. Run Node commands from web/:

cd web
npm ci --include=dev
npm run check
npm test

Build all browser assets with cd web && npm run build. scss/run.sh remains as a shortcut for rebuilding only the stylesheet.

JavaScript bundles are built when the app starts and rebuilt on each request in development. Generated bundles in web/cache/ are not tracked.

Third-party browser and Sass sources in js/libs/ and scss/libs/ are also ignored, so they must be provisioned before a clean checkout can run.

PM2

The app loads shared secrets from .env in the repository root, with site-specific process settings in web/ecosystem.config.cjs.

cd web
pm2 start ecosystem.config.cjs
pm2 reload dev.macropredictions.com
pm2 status
pm2 save

Production should run with NODE_ENV=production. It does not need development mode to generate JavaScript bundles.

cd web
npm ci --include=dev
npm run check
npm test
npm run build
NODE_ENV=production pm2 reload econforecasting.com --update-env
NODE_ENV=production pm2 reload macropredictions.com --update-env
pm2 save

Ansible owns the production ecosystem definition through setup-prod-server/manage-website-runtime.yaml in the vps-admin repository. It keeps both production processes in NODE_ENV=production.

CHANGELOG

2026-07-30 [v4.0]

• Updated runtime and dependencies for Node.js 24, Express 5, and Twig 3; removed unused packages and the duplicate root lockfile
• Cleaned up app startup, static requests, rate limiting, cookie reuse, security headers, and error handling
• Added real 404 and noindex responses for unknown pages, forecasts, and blog posts
• Removed the contact form and reCAPTCHA integration in favor of email
• Fixed site-specific contact links, duplicate SONIA/ESTR navigation, and navigation/search accessibility
• Updated first-party website requests from the /external to /site API routes
• Added responsive homepage forecasts for Treasury, FFR, SOFR, and CPI, including forecast changes and 36-month sparklines
• Built browser JavaScript at startup so production no longer needs to run in development mode
• Hardened homepage environment selection, update dates, and sparkline data handling; clarified forecast names
• Retired the unused dev.econforecasting.com process
• Added middleware and route tests

2026-03-27 [v3.5]

• Removed the Conference Board forecast from CPI-U comparisons

2026-01-04 [v3.4]

• Migrated from jsonwebtoken to jose
• Updated rate forecast documentation

2025-07-04 [v3.3]

• Added dynamic TZ updating
• Added minor styling improvements for Treasury curve pages
• Updated & simplified build system, support for Sass 1.89
• Updated support for DT v2.0+

2025-07-02 [v3.2]

• Updated variable descriptions
• Added Euribor, deprecated BSBY

2024-01-13 [v3.1]

• Misc styling fixes, about page, contact page

2024-01-03 [v3.0]

• Updated homepage UI
• Cleanup UI for forecast history

2023-01-23 [v2.00] (CSS Overhaul & Express Migration)

• Added rebuilt SASS styles
• Added new logo integration
• Added Express migration
• Added new REST API Oauth integration
• Added speed optimizations to load pages and better error handling
• Added reduction of JS load weight and moved variable description loads to server side
• Added new build system
• Added new Treasury docs

2022-12-13 [v1.04] (VPS Migration, API Integration & Misc)

• Added API v0 with JWT auth
• Added some better SCSS compilation documentation
• Added some minor fix for VPS migration
• Fixed bug caused by lack of ordering in get_forecast_values_last_vintage causing charts to not render max date correctly
• Fixed bug with Treasury forecasts not exporting table data correctly
• Moved vintage chart load to an event trigger to reduce initial page load time
• Removed ads code

2022-08-30 [v1.03] (Logo Update & Vintages)

• Added code for displaying forecast vintages (primary forecast)
• Cleaned up old images
• Improved build system for SCSS files
• Removed nowcast from rate forecasts
• Updated all logos to new Inkscape SVGs

2022-06-12 [v1.02] (Cleanup & Homepage Revamp)

• Added homepage new sections & cleanup
• Fixed Treasury yield curve summary chart bug w/date ordering, cleaned up padding & styling on chart
• Improved footer
• Updated Bootstrap to 5.2.0 and cleaned up SCSS

2022-05-16 [v1.01] (Minor Optimizations & Additions, Sentiment Analysis Releases)

• Added server-side meta descriptions
• Added SONIA, ESTR rate pages
• Added limit to max date on forecast chart to be bounded at max date of latest forecast
• Added sentiment analysis page
• Added sentiment analysis gauge, ts, emotion charts
• Added sentiment analysis documentation
• Fixed bug with tables not rendering correct forecast on load
• Removed client-side meta descriptions

2022-03-02 [v0.20 -> v1.00] (Beta Model Release Version)

• Added new SOFR forecast page
• Added new FFR forecast page
• Added new homepage w/autocomplete
• Added new centralized forecast JS template
• Added new descriptions system for varname forecasts
• Added inflation forecasts
• Added composite model forecasts
• Improved CSS styline & SCSS settings
• Improved nowcast page
• Updated BS5 to 5.1.3
• Updated minor version dependencies for Highcharts and DataTables
• Updated CMEFI logo & fixed Chrome rendering issue
• Removed most text on error page

2021-09-21 [v0.17] (Adding Updated Model Forecasts to Site)

• Added new import files to get data from csm_* SQL tables
• Added scenario baseline forecast page
• Added tables & charts
• Improved styling/colors
• Updated SCSS to Bootstrap 5.1.1

2021-09-03 [v0.16] (Minor Update)

• Updated sitemap

2021-08-01 [v0.15] (Minor Bugfix)

• Fixed bug caused by missing GDP release date two quarters out

2021-06-24 [v0.14] (Minor Bugfix)

• Fixed broken GH pages link and replaced with local file for nowcast documentation

2021-05-25 [v0.13] (Updated Nowcasts with Release Calendar)

• Added data release calendar
• Added onHover scrolling for data release calendar
• Added major data release markings on graph
• Added +1 date shift to Treasury yield forecasts
• Fixed bug with contagion index dates being a day behind
• Fixed timezone bug with charts by adding moment-timezone.js

2021-05-09 [v0.12] (Misc Dependencies Update)

• Updated to Bootstrap 5.0.0
• Updated to Highcharts 9.1 (added Highcharts.AST.allowedAttributes to prevent automatic HTML filtration)
• Updated to jQuery 3.6.0

2021-03-12 [v0.11] (Finalize Nowcast Page)

• Added data table with GDP nowcasts
• Added chart data for nowcasts
• Added event listener for button to switch between nowcast forecast dates
• Added nowcast model summary and link to detailed overview
• Added nowcast to navbar and home page

2021-03-08 [v0.10] (Adding Nowcast Models)

• Added PHP code to pull nowcast from SQL
• Added JS code to import nowcast data
• Added nowcast datatables code with correct ordering, indenting for GDP & subcomponents

2021-02-19 [v0.09] (Added Mortgage Models & inflation model)

• Added mortgage models
• Added highcharts theme consistency
• Added inflation rate forecasts
• Improved navbar multi dropdown CSS

2021-02-10 [v0.08] (More General Forecasts)

• Added API model for selecting all last vintage models by date
• Added SCSS compiling code for modifing Bootstrap theming
• Added some raw JS promises in lieu of old JQuery promises
• Added federal funds rate forecast chart
• Added major overhaul of homepage design
• Added nice SVG backgrounds
• Added consistent SCSS styling and replaced all inline CSS color variables
• Added consistent color pallette
• Added banners to homepage
• Added FFR forecasts, API, table, downloads, and methodology
• Added SOFR forecasts, API, table, downloads, and methodology
• Improved sidebar design & grid layout
• Fixed major bug with BS5 gutters causing horizontal overflow/scrolling on every page with a sidebar

2021-02-09 [v0.07] (SEO & First Forecasts)

• Added robots.txt
• Added sitemap.xml
• Added meta description
• Added individual yield curve pages, graphs, and tables
• Added Treasury yield curve pages and graphs
• Added methodology page
• Fixed toolbar color formatting
• Fixed various HTML syntax errors
• Fixed ac-regions and ac-assets table appearance on mobile
• Fixed heatmap bug caused by highcharts upgrade
• Improved frontpage CSS appearance on mobile
• Removed meta keywords

2021-01-29 [v0.06]

• Added description of asset contagion indices
• Added datatables of asset contagion indices
• Added CSV export of asset contagion indices
• Added temporary logo
• Improved homepage code for new data/index additions

2021-01-28 [v0.05]

• Added roll-change option in heatmap title
• Added code to make getAcSeriesDates() pull the dates of the series with the latest obs_start of each usage group
• Added correlation index page and chart
• Improved heatmap appearance significantly
• Improved various formatting issues related to BS5 upgrade
• Fixed bug with buttons not working correctly in heatmap

2021-01-28 [v0.04]

• Added Google Analytics tracking
• Updated from Bootstrap 4.5.3 to Bootstrap 5.0.0-beta1

2021-01-14 [v0.03]

• Added code for non-region correlation matrices
• Added in-development code for S&P 500 daily correlation extraction

2021-01-13 [v0.02]

• Added code for finalizing heatmap
• Added code for time-traveling heatmap
• Improved colors and styling
• Improved organization of AJAX queries

2021-01-11 [v0.01]

• Added code for SELECT statements for asset-correlation tables
• Added initial code for heatmap
• Added code for ordering funds from correlation matrix
• Fixed bug with additional row appearing on heatmap

2021-01-08 [v0.00]

• Initial upload
• Added templating system
• Updated external js links