dilipbk/payroll-backend — reverse-engineered prompt

Build me a simple backend service for a payroll app. I want it to handle the basics for a small company, things like keeping employee records, storing salary or hourly pay details, tracking pay periods, and generating payroll entries so I can see what each person should be paid for a given cycle. It should expose clean API endpoints that a frontend could use later, with sensible validation and error messages.

Please keep it easy to run locally, with environment variables set up clearly and a container setup so I can spin it up without much hassle. Add a small seed or sample data flow so I can test it quickly. I’d also like a straightforward project structure, a couple of useful scripts for development, and brief setup notes so someone else can clone it and get it running fast.

If anything about payroll rules is unclear, keep it simple and practical, and look up current docs online if you need to.