Architecture Overview

Core Technologies

The backend is a modern, type-safe API server built with AdonisJS v6. It leverages several key technologies and patterns:

TypeScript: The entire codebase is written in TypeScript, providing strong type safety.
AdonisJS Lucid ORM: Used for database queries and model definitions.
VineJS: For request validation.
AdonisJS Bouncer: For handling authorization and policies.
Tuyau: For end-to-end type-safe API route generation, creating a seamless bridge to the frontend.

The project follows the standard AdonisJS directory structure, with some notable conventions:

app/controllers: Controllers are organized into subdirectories based on the user type and feature (e.g., customer/auth, customer/workspace).
app/models: Lucid models are extended with custom Helper, Transformer, and Cacher classes to separate concerns.
app/modules: Contains standalone modules that encapsulate complex business logic, like the TokenModule.
app/validators: Contains reusable VineJS validation schemas.
config/setting.ts: A dedicated, type-safe configuration file for application-specific settings.
database/reference.ts: Provides a type-safe dbRef object for all table and column names, eliminating magic strings in queries.

Type-Safe API Layer: With Tuyau, the backend generates a manifest of all API routes, including their request and response types. The frontend consumes this manifest, enabling full type safety and autocompletion when making API calls.
Service-Oriented Modules: Complex, reusable logic is extracted into modules (e.g., TokenModule) and registered with the AdonisJS IoC container for dependency injection.
Model-Centric Logic: Models are kept lean. Business logic related to a model instance is placed in a Helper class, data transformation in a Transformer class, and caching strategies in a Cacher class. These are accessed via getters on the model (e.g., user.helper, user.transformer).
Centralized Error Handling: The app/exceptions/handler.ts uses a custom parseError utility to standardize all error responses, including validation errors, into a consistent JSON format for the frontend.