Feature #7138
openDispatchHub – End-to-End System Design, Migration, and AWS Production Infrastructure Setup
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Description
Description
Project Overview
DispatchHub is an enterprise bulk email dispatch platform designed for vendor communication with strict requirements around reliability, quota enforcement, multi-tenancy, and production-grade security. The goal was to build a scalable, AWS-native system without third-party platform dependency.
Work Completed (Full Timeline)
1. Product & Architecture Definition
Defined DispatchHub as a non-marketing bulk email system (no campaigns, no analytics, no tracking).
Finalized core modules:
Inbox / Sent
Vendor management with vendor lists
Dispatch creation and execution
Usage quotas and enforcement
Super Admin portal (tenants, plans, billing, tickets)
Finalized multi-tenant architecture with strict data isolation.
Defined Super Admin vs Tenant User access model.
2. Base44 Prototype & Validation
Built initial UI and workflow using Base44 for rapid validation.
Implemented:
Authentication
Tenant routing
Vendor lists
Dispatch flow
Completed Phase 1–4 business logic validation on Base44.
3. Strategic Decision: Full Base44 Removal
Decided to fully remove Base44 for production readiness.
Identified Base44 dependencies:
Authentication
Database entities
Backend functions
Approved Option B: Full replacement with in-house AWS-native backend.
4. Backend Re-Architecture (AWS-Native)
Designed new backend architecture:
Frontend → REST API (Fastify) → PostgreSQL
→ SQS → Worker → SES
Implemented backend using:
Fastify (TypeScript)
Prisma ORM
JWT authentication
PostgreSQL (multi-tenant schema)
5. Backend Core Features Implemented
Authentication system:
JWT-based auth
Role-based access (Super Admin / Tenant)
Multi-tenant enforcement:
tenant_id enforced at database level
Tenant lifecycle:
Active / Suspended states
Dispatch system:
Dispatch creation
Queue-based execution
Usage & quota enforcement:
Atomic quota checks (transaction-safe)
Worker-level re-validation before each email
Race-condition safe quota increments
Worker crash-safe design (no quota corruption)
6. Frontend Integration (Base44 → REST API)
Removed all Base44 SDK usage from frontend.
Implemented centralized REST API client.
Migrated:
Authentication flow
Route guards
Tenant context
All UI pages (Dashboard, Vendors, Dispatch, Admin pages)
Updated environment configuration (VITE_API_URL).
Verified frontend → backend communication.
7. Backend Stability & Startup Hardening
Fixed backend startup issues:
JWT secret validation
Logger (pino) configuration
Improved error messaging
Added fail-fast config validation for:
JWT_SECRET
DATABASE_URL
Documented backend startup procedure.
8. AWS Production Infrastructure Setup
Created AWS production environment.
Provisioned Aurora PostgreSQL (Serverless v2) cluster:
Database: dispatchhub-db
Region: us-east-1
Encrypted at rest
Configured database users and credentials.
9. Secure Credential Management
Created AWS Secrets Manager vault.
Stored database credentials securely.
Updated backend to fetch credentials dynamically.
Removed hardcoded secrets from codebase.
10. Backend–Database Connectivity
Launched production EC2 instance (dispatchhub-backend-prod).
Attached IAM role to backend instance.
Verified:
Encrypted SSL connection
Database write access
Proper authentication and authorization
11. Production Security Hardening
Identified backend EC2 security group (dispatchhub-backend-sg).
Updated database security group (dispatchhub-db-sg):
Removed public PostgreSQL access (0.0.0.0/0)
Restricted access to backend security group only
Result:
Database is fully private
Only backend server can connect
12. Verification & Validation
Verified:
Backend startup
Database connectivity
Tenant isolation logic
Quota enforcement logic
Infrastructure meets production security standards.
Current Status
Application code: complete
Backend: AWS-native, production-ready
Database: secure, private, connected
Base44: fully removed
System ready for backend deployment and live testing.
Next Planned Steps
Deploy backend application on EC2.
Configure runtime environment variables from Secrets Manager.
Start backend service.
Perform end-to-end API and dispatch testing.
Proceed toward controlled production launch.
Subtasks
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