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professional_management/professional_management_platform_rest_plan_v2.md
2026-08-27 21:52:21 -04:00

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Professional Management Platform

Full REST-First System Design Plan

Revision: v2 — Review-integrated architecture
Status: Implementation-ready baseline, not a claim of regulatory or production certification.
Primary vertical: Engineering
API style: REST + JSON + OpenAPI 3.1
Backend style: Modular monolith
Data: PostgreSQL + profession-specific tables
Tenant model: Organization-scoped, explicit tenant context

Review Integration Notes

The external review was incorporated selectively rather than mechanically.

Accepted and strengthened:

  • explicit session management and refresh-token rotation
  • token reuse detection and revocation
  • idempotency for high-risk commands
  • richer engineering design and inspection state machines
  • legal conflict-check workflow
  • healthcare record history and access auditing
  • standardized error taxonomy
  • permission matrices and credential-aware authorization
  • layered caching with explicit invalidation
  • database index conventions
  • rate-limiting framework
  • CI/CD, migration compatibility, and deployment gates
  • OpenAPI contract validation
  • performance and security test categories

Adjusted rather than copied:

  • tenant-scoped endpoints always require X-Organization-Id; no silent auto-selection
  • no extra X-Organization-Context header
  • idempotency is not mandatory for every PATCH; it is required for commands where duplicate execution is dangerous
  • critical idempotency records are durable in PostgreSQL; Redis may accelerate lookups but is not the sole source of truth
  • UUIDv7 remains the identifier standard; UUIDv4 gen_random_uuid() examples are not adopted
  • high-risk credential checks are revalidated against authoritative data rather than trusting a stale cache
  • healthcare prescribing rules are jurisdiction-specific and are not hard-coded to a single profession or U.S.-only credential
  • signed clinical records are amended/versioned rather than casually overwritten by PATCH
  • read replicas, materialized views, trigram indexes, and fixed rate-limit numbers are introduced only when workload evidence justifies them
  • database migrations use expand/contract compatibility; production rollback is not assumed to be a simple reverse migration

1. Product Vision

Build one shared backend platform that powers multiple profession-specific management applications.

Initial professions:

  • Engineering
  • Legal
  • Healthcare

Future professions may include accounting, architecture, consulting, property management, veterinary practices, financial advisory, and other regulated or professional-service industries.

The core design principle is:

Share infrastructure, not domain meaning.

Engineering projects, legal matters, and medical patients are fundamentally different concepts and should not be forced into the same universal business table.


2. Core Architecture Decision

The platform will use:

  • REST
  • JSON
  • OpenAPI
  • Versioned endpoints
  • PostgreSQL
  • Modular monolith backend
  • Profession-specific frontends
  • Profession-specific database tables
  • Shared identity, security, billing, documents, audit, and infrastructure

Base API path:

/api/v1

GraphQL is not part of v1.


3. High-Level Architecture

                        FRONTENDS

       ┌──────────────────┼──────────────────┐
       │                  │                  │
 Engineering Web       Legal Web       Healthcare Web
       │                  │                  │
       └──────────────────┼──────────────────┘
                          │
                          ▼
                       REST API
                       /api/v1
                          │
              ┌───────────┼───────────┐
              │           │           │
            Core     Engineering     Legal
              │           │           │
              │       Healthcare      │
              │           │           │
              └───────────┼───────────┘
                          │
                      PostgreSQL
                          │
          ┌───────────────┼────────────────┐
          │               │                │
     Shared Tables   Profession Tables   Audit/Event Tables

Shared infrastructure:

PostgreSQL
Redis
Object Storage
Queue / Workers
Audit
Notifications
Billing
Observability

4. System Architecture Strategy

Start with a modular monolith.

Do not start with microservices.

Initial deployment:

Frontend Apps
     │
     ▼
Backend API
     │
     ├── PostgreSQL
     ├── Redis
     ├── Object Storage
     └── Worker Queue

Benefits:

  • simpler transactions
  • easier development
  • easier deployment
  • clearer domain boundaries
  • lower operational burden
  • easier refactoring
  • future service extraction remains possible

5. Repository Structure

Recommended monorepo:

professional-platform/
│
├── apps/
│   ├── engineering-web/
│   ├── legal-web/
│   ├── healthcare-web/
│   ├── platform-admin/
│   ├── api/
│   └── workers/
│
├── packages/
│   ├── ui/
│   ├── api-client/
│   ├── auth-client/
│   ├── validation/
│   ├── types/
│   ├── config/
│   └── testing/
│
├── database/
│   ├── migrations/
│   ├── seeds/
│   └── scripts/
│
├── infrastructure/
│   ├── docker/
│   ├── deployment/
│   └── monitoring/
│
└── docs/
    ├── architecture/
    ├── api/
    ├── security/
    └── domains/

6. Frontend Strategy

Every profession receives its own frontend application.

Avoid one giant frontend filled with profession checks.

Engineering Frontend

Suggested navigation:

Dashboard
Clients
Projects
Project Phases
Project Team
Sites
Designs
Design Reviews
Inspections
Specifications
Tasks
Documents
Timesheets
Billing
Reports
Administration

Suggested navigation:

Dashboard
Clients
Matters
Cases
Hearings
Courts
Deadlines
Documents
Conflict Checks
Time Tracking
Retainers
Billing
Reports
Administration

Healthcare Frontend

Suggested navigation:

Dashboard
Patients
Appointments
Practitioners
Encounters
Clinical Records
Diagnoses
Prescriptions
Insurance
Documents
Billing
Reports
Administration

Platform Admin Frontend

Suggested functions:

Organizations
Users
Profession Modules
Subscriptions
System Health
Audit
Support
Global Configuration

Platform administrators and organization administrators are separate concepts.


7. REST API Structure

Shared endpoints:

/api/v1/auth
/api/v1/me
/api/v1/organizations
/api/v1/memberships
/api/v1/membership-invitations
/api/v1/roles
/api/v1/permissions
/api/v1/documents
/api/v1/invoices
/api/v1/payments
/api/v1/audit-events

Engineering:

/api/v1/engineering/clients
/api/v1/engineering/projects
/api/v1/engineering/project-members
/api/v1/engineering/phases
/api/v1/engineering/sites
/api/v1/engineering/tasks
/api/v1/engineering/designs
/api/v1/engineering/inspections
/api/v1/engineering/specifications
/api/v1/engineering/time-entries

Legal:

/api/v1/legal/clients
/api/v1/legal/matters
/api/v1/legal/cases
/api/v1/legal/hearings
/api/v1/legal/deadlines
/api/v1/legal/conflict-checks
/api/v1/legal/retainers
/api/v1/legal/time-entries

Healthcare:

/api/v1/healthcare/patients
/api/v1/healthcare/practitioners
/api/v1/healthcare/appointments
/api/v1/healthcare/encounters
/api/v1/healthcare/clinical-records
/api/v1/healthcare/diagnoses
/api/v1/healthcare/prescriptions
/api/v1/healthcare/insurance

8. REST Conventions

All APIs use JSON over HTTPS.

Typical tenant-scoped request:

Authorization: Bearer <access-token>
X-Organization-Id: org_123
X-Request-Id: req_123
Content-Type: application/json

Organization Context

X-Organization-Id is mandatory for every tenant-scoped endpoint.

It is deliberately explicit even when a user currently belongs to only one organization. Silent organization selection creates ambiguous clients and becomes dangerous the moment the user later joins a second organization.

Global endpoints such as these do not require tenant context:

POST /api/v1/auth/login
POST /api/v1/auth/token/refresh
GET  /api/v1/me
GET  /api/v1/me/organizations
GET  /api/v1/auth/sessions

Tenant-context resolution rules:

Organization Context:
  header_missing_on_tenant_endpoint:
    status: 400
    code: ORGANIZATION_CONTEXT_REQUIRED

  organization_not_found:
    status: 404
    code: RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND

  membership_not_found:
    status: 404
    code: RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND

  membership_inactive:
    status: 403
    code: AUTHZ_MEMBERSHIP_INACTIVE

  organization_inactive:
    status: 403
    code: AUTHZ_ORGANIZATION_INACTIVE

  resource.organization_id_mismatch:
    status: 404
    code: RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND

Do not return another organization's name or membership details in tenant-error responses.

Idempotency

Use:

Idempotency-Key: 8f7d6c5e-4b3a-2b1c-9d8e-7f6a5b4c3d2e

Idempotency is required for commands where duplicate execution can create financial, regulated, external, or otherwise material side effects.

Examples:

POST /api/v1/invoices
POST /api/v1/invoices/{id}/payments
POST /api/v1/payments/{id}/refund

POST /api/v1/engineering/designs/{id}/approve
POST /api/v1/engineering/inspections/{id}/complete

POST /api/v1/legal/retainers
POST /api/v1/legal/conflict-checks/{id}/approve

POST /api/v1/healthcare/prescriptions
POST /api/v1/healthcare/clinical-records/{id}/sign

Do not require idempotency on every ordinary PATCH by default.

Idempotency records must include:

organization_id
actor_id
route/action
idempotency_key
canonical_request_hash
response_status
response_body or resource reference
created_at
expires_at

Rules:

Same key + same operation + same request hash:
  return: original result

Same key + different request hash:
  status: 409
  code: IDEMPOTENCY_KEY_CONFLICT

Durability:

  • PostgreSQL is authoritative for critical idempotency records.
  • Redis may cache recent records for speed.
  • Redis eviction must not make a payment or regulated command executable twice.
  • Downstream providers should receive their own idempotency key where supported.

9. Standard Response Format

Single resource:

{
  "data": {
    "id": "project_123",
    "name": "Central Tower"
  }
}

Collection:

{
  "data": [],
  "meta": {
    "pagination": {
      "nextCursor": null,
      "hasMore": false
    }
  }
}

Standard error:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND",
    "message": "Resource not found.",
    "details": {},
    "requestId": "req_123"
  }
}

Clients depend on error.code, not message text.

Error Taxonomy

Authentication:

AUTH_INVALID_CREDENTIALS
AUTH_TOKEN_EXPIRED
AUTH_TOKEN_INVALID
AUTH_MFA_REQUIRED
AUTH_SESSION_REVOKED
AUTH_REFRESH_TOKEN_REUSED

Authorization:

AUTHZ_PERMISSION_DENIED
AUTHZ_ORGANIZATION_INACTIVE
AUTHZ_MEMBERSHIP_INACTIVE
AUTHZ_CREDENTIAL_INVALID
AUTHZ_SCOPE_MISMATCH

Tenant context:

ORGANIZATION_CONTEXT_REQUIRED

Resource/state:

RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND
RESOURCE_ALREADY_EXISTS
RESOURCE_CONCURRENT_MODIFICATION
RESOURCE_INVALID_STATE
RESOURCE_ARCHIVED

Validation:

VALIDATION_ERROR
VALIDATION_REQUIRED_FIELD
VALIDATION_INVALID_FORMAT
VALIDATION_BUSINESS_RULE

Idempotency:

IDEMPOTENCY_KEY_REQUIRED
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY_CONFLICT

Rate limiting:

RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED

System/dependency:

INTERNAL_ERROR
SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE
DATABASE_UNAVAILABLE
DEPENDENCY_FAILED

Validation example:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "VALIDATION_ERROR",
    "message": "Request validation failed.",
    "requestId": "req_123",
    "details": {
      "fields": [
        {
          "field": "email",
          "code": "INVALID_FORMAT",
          "message": "Must be a valid email address"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Business-state example:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "RESOURCE_INVALID_STATE",
    "message": "Cannot approve design in current state.",
    "requestId": "req_123",
    "details": {
      "resourceType": "engineering_design",
      "resourceId": "design_123",
      "currentState": "draft",
      "requiredState": "under_review",
      "allowedActions": [
        "submit_review"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Do not expose internal stack traces, SQL, policy internals, secrets, or cross-tenant information.

10. HTTP Status Rules

200 Success
201 Created
202 Accepted
204 No Content
400 Bad Request
401 Unauthorized
403 Forbidden
404 Not Found
409 Conflict
422 Validation Error
429 Too Many Requests
500 Internal Server Error

Cross-tenant resource access should return 404.


11. API Versioning

Current API:

/api/v1

Breaking changes require:

/api/v2

Additive fields generally do not require a new version.


12. Authentication

Initial authentication:

Email
+
Password
+
Access Token
+
Refresh Token
+
Server-side Session

Endpoints:

POST   /api/v1/auth/register
POST   /api/v1/auth/login

POST   /api/v1/auth/token/refresh
POST   /api/v1/auth/token/revoke
POST   /api/v1/auth/token/revoke-all

GET    /api/v1/auth/sessions
DELETE /api/v1/auth/sessions/{sessionId}

GET    /api/v1/me

Access Token Policy

Access Token:
  lifetime: 15 minutes
  format: signed JWT
  encrypted: false
  preferred_signing: asymmetric key or managed signing service
  claims:
    - subject/userId
    - sessionId
    - issuer
    - audience
    - issuedAt
    - expiresAt
  organizationId:
    optional: true
    authority: false

If organizationId appears in the token, it is a convenience hint only. The request header and active membership still determine tenant context.

Do not embed the user's full permission set into long-lived access tokens.

Refresh Token Policy

Refresh Token:
  lifetime: 7 days
  format: cryptographically random opaque token
  storage: hashed
  rotation: every successful refresh
  sliding_expiration: configurable
  reuse_detection: required

If a previously rotated refresh token is reused:

  1. treat it as possible token theft
  2. revoke the token family/session
  3. optionally revoke all user sessions according to risk policy
  4. generate a security audit event
  5. require reauthentication

Session Model

Suggested fields:

id
user_id
refresh_token_family_id
refresh_token_hash
device_id
device_type
device_os
app_version
ip_address
user_agent
created_at
last_active_at
expires_at
revoked_at
revocation_reason

Example response:

{
  "data": {
    "id": "sess_123",
    "userId": "user_456",
    "deviceInfo": {
      "type": "mobile",
      "os": "iOS",
      "appVersion": "2.1.0",
      "deviceId": "device_789"
    },
    "createdAt": "2026-08-20T12:00:00Z",
    "lastActiveAt": "2026-08-26T01:30:00Z",
    "expiresAt": "2026-08-27T12:00:00Z",
    "isActive": true
  }
}

Do not trust user-supplied device metadata as security proof. It is session context and audit information.

Future authentication capabilities:

  • MFA
  • passkeys/WebAuthn
  • SSO
  • OAuth/OIDC
  • enterprise identity providers
  • risk-based authentication

13. Shared Core Backend

Recommended modules:

core/
├── auth/
├── users/
├── organizations/
├── memberships/
├── roles/
├── permissions/
├── authorization/
├── documents/
├── billing/
├── notifications/
├── audit/
└── events/

Dependency rule:

Profession module → Core

Never:

Core → Profession module

14. Organizations

Organizations are tenants.

Examples:

Atlas Structural Engineering
Smith & Associates Law
North Shore Medical Practice

Suggested fields:

id
name
slug
status
country_code
timezone
currency_code
created_at
updated_at

15. Profession Enablement

Use:

organization_professions

Suggested fields:

organization_id
profession
enabled_at
configuration

Possible professions:

engineering
legal
healthcare

An organization may eventually enable more than one profession module.


16. Users and Memberships

Users are global identities.

A user gains tenant access through membership.

User
  │
  ▼
Membership
  │
  ▼
Organization

Suggested users fields:

id
email
first_name
last_name
phone
avatar_url
status
created_at
updated_at

Suggested memberships fields:

id
organization_id
user_id
status
joined_at
created_at
updated_at

17. Membership Invitations

Keep invitations separate from memberships.

Suggested table:

membership_invitations

Fields:

id
organization_id
email
invited_by_user_id
expires_at
accepted_at
revoked_at
created_at

Flow:

Invitation
   ↓
Accepted
   ↓
User
   ↓
Membership

18. Authorization

Use:

RBAC
+
Permission Scope
+
Resource Policies
+
Professional Qualification Policies
+
Domain State Rules

Decision flow:

Authenticated User
       ↓
Explicit Organization Context
       ↓
Active Membership
       ↓
Enabled Profession Module
       ↓
Roles
       ↓
Permissions
       ↓
Permission Scope
       ↓
Tenant-scoped Resource Query
       ↓
Resource Policy
       ↓
Credential/Jurisdiction Policy
       ↓
Domain State Rule
       ↓
ALLOW / DENY

Default decision:

DENY

Authorization rules:

  1. Controllers never perform ad-hoc role comparisons.
  2. Tenant resource queries always include organization_id.
  3. Do not load an arbitrary resource first and then discover it belongs to another tenant.
  4. High-risk professional actions perform credential checks at command execution time.
  5. A permission grants the ability to attempt an action, not a guarantee the domain state allows it.
  6. Cross-tenant resources appear nonexistent.
  7. Profession module enablement is checked before profession-specific authorization.

19. Roles and Permissions

Roles are organization-scoped collections of permissions.

Example roles:

Owner
Administrator
Project Manager
Engineer
Reviewer
Inspector
Lawyer
Paralegal
Doctor
Nurse
Billing Manager
Viewer

Roles are not professional credentials.

Engineering Permissions

engineering.clients.read
engineering.clients.create
engineering.clients.update
engineering.clients.archive

engineering.projects.read
engineering.projects.create
engineering.projects.update
engineering.projects.activate
engineering.projects.close
engineering.projects.archive

engineering.project_members.manage
engineering.phases.manage
engineering.tasks.manage
engineering.sites.manage

engineering.documents.read
engineering.documents.upload
engineering.documents.delete

engineering.designs.read
engineering.designs.create
engineering.designs.update
engineering.designs.review
engineering.designs.approve
engineering.designs.reject
engineering.designs.supersede

engineering.inspections.read
engineering.inspections.manage
engineering.inspections.complete

engineering.time_entries.manage
engineering.reports.read
legal.clients.read
legal.clients.create
legal.clients.update

legal.matters.read
legal.matters.create
legal.matters.update
legal.matters.close
legal.matters.reopen

legal.cases.read
legal.cases.manage
legal.hearings.manage
legal.deadlines.manage

legal.documents.read
legal.documents.upload

legal.conflicts.manage
legal.conflicts.approve

legal.retainers.manage
legal.time_entries.manage

Healthcare Permissions

healthcare.patients.read
healthcare.patients.create
healthcare.patients.update

healthcare.appointments.read
healthcare.appointments.manage

healthcare.encounters.read
healthcare.encounters.manage

healthcare.records.read
healthcare.records.write
healthcare.records.sign
healthcare.records.amend
healthcare.records.access_log.read

healthcare.prescriptions.read
healthcare.prescriptions.write
healthcare.prescriptions.sign

healthcare.insurance.read
healthcare.insurance.manage

Shared Permissions

documents.read
documents.upload

billing.read
invoices.create
invoices.issue
invoices.void
payments.record
payments.refund

members.read
members.invite
members.update
members.remove

roles.read
roles.manage

audit.read

Avoid vague permissions such as admin_everything in normal tenant RBAC.

20. Permission Scopes

Initial scopes:

assigned
organization

Examples:

Engineer:
engineering.projects.read = assigned

Principal Engineer:
engineering.projects.read = organization

Potential future scopes:

owned
team
department
restricted

Do not implement until required.


21. Professional Credentials

Professional qualification is separate from RBAC.

Suggested shared profile:

professional_profiles

Fields:

id
organization_id
user_id
profession
title
credential_status
primary_license_number
primary_license_jurisdiction
valid_from
expires_at
created_at
updated_at

Profession modules may add dedicated credential tables when one generic profile is insufficient.

Credential Policy Examples

Engineering design approval may require:

permission: engineering.designs.approve
credential:
  profession_family: engineering
  status: verified
  active_license: true
  jurisdiction_match: when required
  discipline_match: when required

Healthcare record signing may require:

permission: healthcare.records.sign
credential:
  profession_allowed_by_policy: true
  status: verified
  active_license: true
  scope_of_practice_allows_action: true
  jurisdiction_match: true

Prescribing must not be hard-coded to profession = doctor or to a single U.S. credential such as a DEA number.

Prescribing authority varies by:

  • jurisdiction
  • profession
  • drug class
  • supervising relationship
  • organization policy
  • credential status

Therefore use a policy concept such as:

PrescribingAuthorityPolicy

rather than a permanent global rule.

Cache Safety

Credential status may be cached briefly for ordinary reads, but high-risk writes such as:

engineering.designs.approve
healthcare.records.sign
healthcare.prescriptions.sign

must use authoritative or revocation-aware credential validation. A five-minute stale cache is unacceptable if a license was just suspended.

22. Database Architecture

Use PostgreSQL.

Start with:

One database
+
Shared schema
+
Profession-specific tables

Do not begin with database-per-profession or database-per-customer unless compliance or residency requirements force that choice.


23. Shared Tables

Recommended shared tables:

organizations
organization_professions

users
user_credentials
sessions

memberships
membership_invitations

roles
permissions
role_permissions
membership_roles

professional_profiles

documents
document_versions

invoices
invoice_items
payments

notifications
notification_deliveries

audit_events
outbox_events

24. Multi-Tenancy Rule

Every tenant-owned row must contain:

organization_id

Examples:

engineering_projects.organization_id
legal_matters.organization_id
healthcare_patients.organization_id

Enforce tenant boundaries at:

  • API layer
  • authorization layer
  • repository/query layer
  • database constraints

25. Tenant-Safe Foreign Keys

Use composite tenant-aware foreign keys when possible.

Example:

engineering_projects
organization_id
client_id

references:

engineering_clients
organization_id
id

This prevents linking a resource from one organization to another organization's data.


Engineering Domain

26. Engineering Tables

Initial tables:

engineering_clients
engineering_projects
engineering_project_members
engineering_project_phases
engineering_sites
engineering_tasks
engineering_designs
engineering_design_versions
engineering_design_reviews
engineering_inspections
engineering_inspection_findings
engineering_specifications
engineering_change_requests
engineering_time_entries

27. Engineering Clients

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
client_type
display_name
legal_name
contact_name
email
phone
address_line_1
address_line_2
city
region
postal_code
country_code
status
created_at
updated_at
version

REST:

GET    /api/v1/engineering/clients
POST   /api/v1/engineering/clients
GET    /api/v1/engineering/clients/{clientId}
PATCH  /api/v1/engineering/clients/{clientId}

POST   /api/v1/engineering/clients/{clientId}/archive
POST   /api/v1/engineering/clients/{clientId}/restore

GET    /api/v1/engineering/clients/{clientId}/projects
GET    /api/v1/engineering/clients/{clientId}/invoices

A client may only be restored if retention and organization policy permit it.

Example response:

{
  "data": {
    "id": "client_123",
    "organizationId": "org_456",
    "clientType": "commercial",
    "displayName": "Riverside Development Corp",
    "legalName": "Riverside Development Corporation LLC",
    "contactName": "Jane Williams",
    "email": "jwilliams@example.com",
    "phone": "+15125551234",
    "address": {
      "line1": "789 Riverside Dr",
      "city": "Austin",
      "region": "TX",
      "postalCode": "78701",
      "country": "US"
    },
    "status": "active",
    "version": 1,
    "createdAt": "2026-08-20T10:00:00Z",
    "updatedAt": "2026-08-26T01:00:00Z"
  }
}

28. Engineering Projects

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
client_id
project_number
name
description
discipline
stage
status
project_manager_user_id
start_date
expected_completion_date
completed_date
budget_minor
currency_code
created_at
updated_at
version

REST:

GET    /api/v1/engineering/projects
POST   /api/v1/engineering/projects
GET    /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}
PATCH  /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}

POST   /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/activate
POST   /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/close
POST   /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/archive

Purpose-built read models may be added when the frontend requires them:

GET /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/summary
GET /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/timeline
GET /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/budget

These are read-model endpoints, not necessarily separate aggregate tables.

Do not put arbitrary budget-breakdown JSON into the core project row merely because the response can display it. Model detailed budget data in dedicated tables when that feature is implemented.

29. Engineering Project Members

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
project_id
user_id
project_role
joined_at
left_at

REST:

GET    /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/members
POST   /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/members
PATCH  /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/members/{memberId}
DELETE /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/members/{memberId}

30. Engineering Project Phases

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
project_id
name
sequence
status
start_date
end_date
created_at
updated_at

Typical phases:

Concept
Preliminary Design
Detailed Design
Construction
Inspection
Closeout

REST:

GET  /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/phases
POST /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/phases
PATCH /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/phases/{phaseId}
POST /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/phases/{phaseId}/complete

31. Engineering Sites

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
project_id
name
address
latitude
longitude
created_at
updated_at

REST:

POST  /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/sites
GET   /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/sites
GET   /api/v1/engineering/sites/{siteId}
PATCH /api/v1/engineering/sites/{siteId}

32. Engineering Tasks

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
project_id
title
description
status
priority
created_by_user_id
assigned_to_user_id
due_at
completed_at
created_at
updated_at
version

REST:

POST  /api/v1/engineering/tasks
GET   /api/v1/engineering/tasks
GET   /api/v1/engineering/tasks/{taskId}
PATCH /api/v1/engineering/tasks/{taskId}

POST /api/v1/engineering/tasks/{taskId}/complete
POST /api/v1/engineering/tasks/{taskId}/reopen
POST /api/v1/engineering/tasks/{taskId}/cancel

33. Engineering Designs

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
project_id
design_number
title
description
discipline
status
owner_user_id
prepared_by_user_id
approved_by_user_id
approved_at
created_at
updated_at
version

States:

draft
under_review
changes_requested
approved
rejected
superseded

REST:

GET    /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/designs
POST   /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/designs

GET    /api/v1/engineering/designs/{designId}
PATCH  /api/v1/engineering/designs/{designId}

POST   /api/v1/engineering/designs/{designId}/submit-review
POST   /api/v1/engineering/designs/{designId}/request-changes
POST   /api/v1/engineering/designs/{designId}/approve
POST   /api/v1/engineering/designs/{designId}/reject
POST   /api/v1/engineering/designs/{designId}/supersede

GET    /api/v1/engineering/designs/{designId}/versions
POST   /api/v1/engineering/designs/{designId}/versions

GET    /api/v1/engineering/designs/{designId}/reviews
POST   /api/v1/engineering/designs/{designId}/reviews

Design State Machine

draft
  └── submit-review ───────────────► under_review

under_review
  ├── request-changes ─────────────► changes_requested
  ├── approve ─────────────────────► approved
  └── reject ──────────────────────► rejected

changes_requested
  └── submit-review ───────────────► under_review

approved
  └── supersede ───────────────────► superseded

rejected
  └── revise ──────────────────────► draft

Authorization policy examples:

submit_review:
  permissions:
    - engineering.designs.review
  resource_policy:
    - design owner OR project manager

request_changes:
  permissions:
    - engineering.designs.review

approve:
  permissions:
    - engineering.designs.approve
  requires:
    - project access
    - valid professional qualification
    - valid design state
    - organization approval policy

reject:
  permissions:
    - engineering.designs.reject

supersede:
  permissions:
    - engineering.designs.supersede

Design approval must be audited and idempotent.

Do not approve by generic PATCH of status.

34. Design Versions and Reviews

engineering_design_versions:

id
design_id
version_number
document_id
created_by_user_id
created_at

engineering_design_reviews:

id
organization_id
design_id
reviewer_user_id
status
comments
reviewed_at

Possible review statuses:

pending
approved
changes_requested
rejected

35. Engineering Inspections

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
project_id
site_id
inspection_type
inspector_user_id
status
scheduled_at
started_at
performed_at
cancelled_at
summary
created_at
updated_at
version

REST:

GET    /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/inspections
POST   /api/v1/engineering/projects/{projectId}/inspections

GET    /api/v1/engineering/inspections/{inspectionId}
PATCH  /api/v1/engineering/inspections/{inspectionId}

POST   /api/v1/engineering/inspections/{inspectionId}/schedule
POST   /api/v1/engineering/inspections/{inspectionId}/start
POST   /api/v1/engineering/inspections/{inspectionId}/complete
POST   /api/v1/engineering/inspections/{inspectionId}/cancel

GET    /api/v1/engineering/inspections/{inspectionId}/findings
POST   /api/v1/engineering/inspections/{inspectionId}/findings

Example state model:

draft
  └── schedule ─────► scheduled
scheduled
  ├── start ────────► in_progress
  └── cancel ───────► cancelled
in_progress
  ├── complete ─────► completed
  └── cancel ───────► cancelled

Inspection completion is a domain command that should:

  1. validate inspector/project access
  2. validate required findings/fields
  3. update state
  4. write audit event
  5. write outbox event
  6. trigger follow-up workflows if required

36. Inspection Findings

Suggested fields:

id
inspection_id
severity
description
status
resolved_at

Possible severities:

observation
minor
major
critical

REST:

POST  /api/v1/engineering/inspections/{inspectionId}/findings
PATCH /api/v1/engineering/inspection-findings/{findingId}
POST  /api/v1/engineering/inspection-findings/{findingId}/resolve

37. Engineering Specifications

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
project_id
specification_number
title
version
status
document_id
created_at
updated_at

38. Engineering Change Requests

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
project_id
request_number
title
description
status
requested_by_user_id
approved_by_user_id
estimated_cost_minor
created_at
updated_at

39. Engineering Time Entries

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
project_id
user_id
work_date
duration_minutes
description
billable
billing_rate_minor
currency_code
created_at
updated_at

REST:

POST  /api/v1/engineering/time-entries
GET   /api/v1/engineering/time-entries
GET   /api/v1/engineering/time-entries/{id}
PATCH /api/v1/engineering/time-entries/{id}

Store duration as integer minutes.


Legal Domain

Initial tables:

legal_clients
legal_matters
legal_matter_members
legal_cases
legal_case_parties
legal_courts
legal_hearings
legal_deadlines
legal_documents
legal_time_entries
legal_retainers
legal_conflict_checks
legal_conflict_parties
legal_conflict_matches

REST namespace:

/api/v1/legal

Core examples:

GET    /api/v1/legal/matters
POST   /api/v1/legal/matters
GET    /api/v1/legal/matters/{matterId}
PATCH  /api/v1/legal/matters/{matterId}
POST   /api/v1/legal/matters/{matterId}/close
POST   /api/v1/legal/matters/{matterId}/reopen

GET    /api/v1/legal/matters/{matterId}/cases
GET    /api/v1/legal/matters/{matterId}/documents
GET    /api/v1/legal/matters/{matterId}/time-entries
GET    /api/v1/legal/matters/{matterId}/invoices

POST   /api/v1/legal/conflict-checks
GET    /api/v1/legal/conflict-checks/{conflictCheckId}
POST   /api/v1/legal/conflict-checks/{conflictCheckId}/approve
POST   /api/v1/legal/conflict-checks/{conflictCheckId}/decline

Legal remains a later vertical. These endpoints define intended boundaries, not a P0 build commitment.

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
client_id
matter_number
title
practice_area
responsible_lawyer_user_id
status
opened_date
closed_date
created_at
updated_at

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
matter_id
case_number
court_id
jurisdiction
case_type
status
filed_date
created_at
updated_at

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
case_id
hearing_type
scheduled_at
courtroom
judge
status
notes

Suggested tables:

legal_conflict_checks
legal_conflict_parties
legal_conflict_matches

Conflict-check fields:

id
organization_id
potential_client_name
matter_description
requested_by_user_id
reviewed_by_user_id
status
decision
decision_reason
created_at
reviewed_at
version

Request example:

{
  "potentialClientName": "Acme Corporation",
  "relatedParties": [
    {
      "name": "John Smith",
      "relationship": "CEO"
    },
    {
      "name": "Acme Subsidiary LLC",
      "relationship": "Subsidiary"
    }
  ],
  "matterDescription": "Corporate acquisition"
}

Response may contain possible matches:

{
  "data": {
    "id": "conflict_123",
    "status": "pending_review",
    "potentialConflicts": [
      {
        "type": "possible_direct_adversity",
        "partyName": "Acme Corporation",
        "existingMatterId": "matter_456",
        "existingMatterNumber": "MAT-2026-089"
      }
    ]
  }
}

The system should distinguish:

automated possible match

from:

lawyer-approved conflict determination

The software may assist discovery; it should not silently make the professional judgment.

Approvals and declines are auditable commands.

45. Healthcare Tables

Initial tables:

healthcare_patients
healthcare_patient_contacts
healthcare_patient_addresses
healthcare_practitioners
healthcare_appointments
healthcare_encounters
healthcare_clinical_records
healthcare_clinical_record_versions
healthcare_clinical_record_amendments
healthcare_diagnoses
healthcare_prescriptions
healthcare_insurance_policies
healthcare_allergies
healthcare_medications

REST namespace:

/api/v1/healthcare

Examples:

GET    /api/v1/healthcare/patients
POST   /api/v1/healthcare/patients
GET    /api/v1/healthcare/patients/{patientId}
PATCH  /api/v1/healthcare/patients/{patientId}
POST   /api/v1/healthcare/patients/{patientId}/archive

GET /api/v1/healthcare/patients/{patientId}/appointments
GET /api/v1/healthcare/patients/{patientId}/encounters
GET /api/v1/healthcare/patients/{patientId}/clinical-records
GET /api/v1/healthcare/patients/{patientId}/prescriptions
GET /api/v1/healthcare/patients/{patientId}/allergies

POST /api/v1/healthcare/encounters
POST /api/v1/healthcare/encounters/{encounterId}/clinical-records

GET  /api/v1/healthcare/clinical-records/{recordId}
GET  /api/v1/healthcare/clinical-records/{recordId}/history
GET  /api/v1/healthcare/clinical-records/{recordId}/access-log

POST /api/v1/healthcare/clinical-records/{recordId}/sign
POST /api/v1/healthcare/clinical-records/{recordId}/amend

Healthcare is intentionally not treated as ordinary CRM plus extra columns.

46. Healthcare Patients

Core patient fields:

id
organization_id
patient_number
first_name
middle_name
last_name
date_of_birth
sex_or_administrative_gender_as_required
status
created_at
updated_at
version

Do not make a single default patient DTO return every available PHI field.

Use minimum-necessary response shapes.

Example general patient response:

{
  "data": {
    "id": "patient_123",
    "patientNumber": "PAT-2026-001",
    "name": {
      "firstName": "Alice",
      "middleName": "Marie",
      "lastName": "Johnson"
    },
    "dateOfBirth": "1985-03-15",
    "status": "active",
    "version": 2
  }
}

More sensitive subresources should have separate permissions and endpoints where useful:

contact information
addresses
emergency contacts
insurance policies
clinical records
prescriptions

Do not return insurance member IDs or emergency contact details on every patient read merely because the database has them.

47. Healthcare Practitioners

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
user_id
specialty
license_number
license_jurisdiction
credential_status
created_at
updated_at

48. Healthcare Appointments

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
patient_id
practitioner_id
appointment_type
starts_at
ends_at
status
reason
created_at
updated_at

49. Healthcare Encounters

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
patient_id
practitioner_id
appointment_id
encounter_type
started_at
ended_at
status

50. Clinical Records

Suggested tables:

healthcare_clinical_records
healthcare_clinical_record_versions
healthcare_clinical_record_amendments

Core record fields:

id
organization_id
patient_id
encounter_id
author_practitioner_id
record_type
sensitivity_level
status
signed_by_practitioner_id
signed_at
created_at
updated_at
version

Draft content may be editable according to workflow.

Once signed/finalized:

  • do not overwrite history
  • create amendments or new versions
  • preserve previous signed content
  • audit reads when policy requires
  • audit all writes/signatures/amendments

REST:

POST /api/v1/healthcare/encounters/{encounterId}/clinical-records

GET  /api/v1/healthcare/clinical-records/{recordId}

PATCH /api/v1/healthcare/clinical-records/{recordId}
# Only when editable/draft according to policy.

POST /api/v1/healthcare/clinical-records/{recordId}/sign
POST /api/v1/healthcare/clinical-records/{recordId}/amend

GET /api/v1/healthcare/clinical-records/{recordId}/history
GET /api/v1/healthcare/clinical-records/{recordId}/access-log

Clinical content representation should be designed around actual healthcare requirements and interoperability needs rather than permanently committing to one ad-hoc JSON SOAP-note structure.

Sensitive record access should support an accessReason when organization or regulatory policy requires it.

51. Documents

Use shared object storage.

Database:

documents
document_versions

Actual binary files:

S3-compatible Object Storage

Suggested documents fields:

id
organization_id
name
mime_type
size_bytes
created_by_user_id
created_at
updated_at

Suggested document_versions fields:

id
document_id
version_number
storage_key
checksum
size_bytes
uploaded_by_user_id
created_at

52. Document Upload Flow

Frontend
   ↓
Request upload URL
   ↓
Backend authorizes
   ↓
Signed upload URL
   ↓
Frontend uploads to object storage
   ↓
Backend finalizes document
   ↓
Virus/security scan
   ↓
Document becomes available

REST:

POST /api/v1/documents/upload-url
POST /api/v1/documents/{documentId}/complete-upload
GET  /api/v1/documents/{documentId}
GET  /api/v1/documents/{documentId}/download-url
POST /api/v1/documents/{documentId}/versions

Use explicit tables where possible.

Engineering:

engineering_project_documents
engineering_design_documents
engineering_inspection_documents

Legal:

legal_matter_documents
legal_case_documents

Healthcare:

healthcare_patient_documents
healthcare_encounter_documents

This gives stronger foreign-key integrity than generic polymorphic document links.


54. Billing

Shared financial core:

invoices
invoice_items
payments

Profession-specific modules may extend billing workflows.

Engineering examples:

project billing
hourly billing
milestone billing

Legal examples:

matter billing
time billing
retainers
trust accounting

Healthcare examples:

insurance
claims
patient billing

REST:

POST  /api/v1/invoices
GET   /api/v1/invoices
GET   /api/v1/invoices/{invoiceId}
PATCH /api/v1/invoices/{invoiceId}

POST /api/v1/invoices/{invoiceId}/issue
POST /api/v1/invoices/{invoiceId}/void
POST /api/v1/invoices/{invoiceId}/payments
POST /api/v1/payments/{paymentId}/refund

55. Money Representation

Use integer minor units:

{
  "amountMinor": 12550,
  "currency": "USD"
}

Meaning:

$125.50

Never use floating point for money.


56. Audit Logging

Table:

audit_events

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
actor_type
actor_user_id
actor_service_account_id
action
resource_type
resource_id
request_id
correlation_id
ip_address
user_agent
metadata
occurred_at

Audit events are append-only.

Mandatory Engineering Audit Events

engineering.projects.create
engineering.projects.close
engineering.designs.approve
engineering.designs.reject
engineering.designs.supersede
engineering.inspections.complete
legal.matters.create
legal.matters.close
legal.matters.reopen
legal.conflicts.approve
legal.conflicts.decline
legal.retainers.manage

Mandatory Healthcare Audit Events

healthcare.records.read
healthcare.records.write
healthcare.records.sign
healthcare.records.amend
healthcare.prescriptions.write
healthcare.prescriptions.sign

Example:

{
  "id": "audit_123",
  "organizationId": "org_456",
  "actorUserId": "user_789",
  "action": "healthcare.records.read",
  "resourceType": "healthcare_clinical_record",
  "resourceId": "record_456",
  "requestId": "req_abc",
  "ipAddress": "192.0.2.10",
  "userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0",
  "metadata": {
    "patientId": "patient_123",
    "recordType": "progress_note",
    "accessReason": "clinical_review"
  },
  "occurredAt": "2026-08-26T01:30:00Z"
}

Audit metadata must never contain:

  • passwords
  • access or refresh tokens
  • full clinical note content
  • secret keys
  • unnecessary payment data

REST:

GET /api/v1/audit-events

No public create/update/delete endpoints.

57. Domain Events and Transactional Outbox

Profession modules produce internal domain events.

Examples:

engineering.project.created
engineering.design.approved
engineering.inspection.completed

legal.matter.closed
legal.conflict_check.approved

healthcare.appointment.created
healthcare.clinical_record.signed

invoice.issued
payment.recorded

Consumers:

notifications
webhooks
analytics
search indexing
integrations
background workflows

Use:

outbox_events

Suggested fields:

id
organization_id
event_type
aggregate_type
aggregate_id
payload
occurred_at
available_at
processed_at
attempt_count
last_error
dead_lettered_at

Correct transaction pattern:

BEGIN

business change
audit event
outbox event

COMMIT

The outbox component does not own or prematurely commit the caller's business transaction.

Workers claim committed outbox rows using a safe concurrency strategy such as:

SELECT ...
FROM outbox_events
WHERE processed_at IS NULL
  AND available_at <= now()
ORDER BY occurred_at
FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED
LIMIT ...

Worker behavior:

  1. claim event
  2. execute handler
  3. mark processed on success
  4. increment attempt count on failure
  5. apply exponential/backoff policy
  6. dead-letter after configured failure threshold
  7. preserve enough metadata for replay and diagnosis

A best-effort post-commit notification may wake workers, but workers must also poll. Otherwise a lost wake-up can strand committed events forever.

Event consumers must be idempotent.

58. Background Jobs

Workers handle:

Email
SMS
Notifications
Report generation
PDF generation
File scanning
Document processing
Imports
Exports
Webhook delivery
Search indexing
Large data operations

Architecture:

API
 ↓
Queue
 ↓
Worker

59. Redis

Use Redis as an acceleration and coordination layer, not the authoritative system of record.

Appropriate uses:

job queue
rate-limit counters
short-lived authorization caches
organization configuration cache
session lookup acceleration
idempotency lookup acceleration
distributed locks when justified

Cache Layers

L1 optional application-memory cache:

static permission definitions
non-sensitive configuration

L2 Redis shared cache:

organization settings
membership snapshots
role permission snapshots
rate-limit counters
session lookup cache
recent idempotency lookups

CDN:

frontend static assets
explicitly public assets only

Do not cache private professional API responses at a CDN by default.

Cache Invalidation

Invalidate or version caches when:

membership changes
role permissions change
organization settings change
professional credentials change
session is revoked
profession module enablement changes

High-risk authorization decisions must not depend solely on stale cached credential state.

Idempotency Durability

Redis may improve idempotency lookup latency, but PostgreSQL remains authoritative for high-risk commands.

60. Pagination

Use cursor pagination.

Example:

GET /api/v1/engineering/projects?limit=25

Response:

{
  "data": [],
  "meta": {
    "pagination": {
      "nextCursor": "...",
      "hasMore": true
    }
  }
}

Maximum page size:

100

61. Filtering

Use explicit resource-specific filters.

Examples:

GET /api/v1/engineering/projects?status=active&discipline=structural
GET /api/v1/engineering/tasks?status=todo&assignedToUserId=user_123

Do not build a generic query DSL in v1.


62. Sorting

Examples:

GET /api/v1/engineering/projects?sort=createdAt
GET /api/v1/engineering/projects?sort=-createdAt

Only explicitly supported fields may be sorted.


Start with PostgreSQL search.

Engineering search may cover:

project number
project name
client name

Legal:

matter number
client
case number

Healthcare:

patient number
patient identity

Healthcare search requires stricter privacy and authorization controls.

Potential PostgreSQL capabilities:

  • B-tree indexes for exact/filter queries
  • PostgreSQL full-text search where appropriate
  • pg_trgm only when fuzzy search requirements justify it

Do not introduce Elasticsearch/OpenSearch until real query volume, relevance requirements, or indexing features justify another distributed system.

Do not create every conceivable search index on day one. Indexes cost memory, storage, and write performance.

64. Optimistic Concurrency

Important mutable resources should use a version field.

Example:

{
  "id": "project_123",
  "version": 6
}

Update:

{
  "version": 6,
  "name": "Central Tower Phase II"
}

If the current database version differs:

409 CONCURRENT_MODIFICATION

65. Domain-Oriented REST

Important state transitions use explicit command endpoints.

Good:

POST /engineering/projects/{id}/close
POST /engineering/designs/{id}/approve
POST /engineering/tasks/{id}/complete
POST /engineering/inspections/{id}/complete
POST /invoices/{id}/issue

Avoid:

PATCH /resource/{id}
{
  "status": "approved"
}

when the change has significant rules or side effects.


66. Transaction Boundaries

Create project:

BEGIN

create project
assign project manager
write audit event
write outbox event

COMMIT

Approve design:

BEGIN

validate permission
validate project access
validate credentials
validate design state
create review result
mark approved
write audit event
write outbox event

COMMIT

67. Request Context

Every authenticated request should resolve:

RequestContext
{
    requestId
    userId
    sessionId
    organizationId
    membershipId
    permissions
}

Profession modules consume this context.


68. Request IDs

Every request has:

X-Request-Id

If missing, the server generates one.

Use it in:

  • logs
  • audit context
  • error diagnostics
  • asynchronous correlation

69. OpenAPI

Maintain:

openapi.yaml

Use OpenAPI 3.1.

Production server example:

servers:
  - url: https://api.example.com/api/v1

The server URL and path definitions must remain consistent with the platform base path.

OpenAPI defines:

  • routes
  • request DTOs
  • response DTOs
  • security schemes
  • organization header
  • request IDs
  • idempotency header
  • pagination
  • filters
  • error schemas
  • examples
  • profession tags

Security scheme:

components:
  securitySchemes:
    bearerAuth:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
      bearerFormat: JWT

Reusable headers/parameters:

X-Organization-Id
X-Request-Id
Idempotency-Key
limit
cursor

CI must validate the OpenAPI document.

Contract tests should detect drift between implementation and specification.

Generated clients may be used by the separate frontends, but generated transport code should not dictate frontend domain architecture.

70. DTO Rule

Database models are not public API contracts.

Use:

Request DTO
Response DTO

A database migration should not accidentally change the public API.


71. Backend Module Structure

Recommended:

src/
├── core/
│   ├── auth/
│   ├── organizations/
│   ├── memberships/
│   ├── authorization/
│   ├── documents/
│   ├── billing/
│   ├── audit/
│   └── events/
│
├── engineering/
│   ├── clients/
│   ├── projects/
│   ├── project-members/
│   ├── phases/
│   ├── sites/
│   ├── tasks/
│   ├── designs/
│   ├── inspections/
│   └── specifications/
│
├── legal/
│   ├── clients/
│   ├── matters/
│   ├── cases/
│   ├── hearings/
│   ├── conflicts/
│   └── retainers/
│
└── healthcare/
    ├── patients/
    ├── practitioners/
    ├── appointments/
    ├── encounters/
    ├── records/
    └── prescriptions/

72. Internal Module Structure

Example:

projects/
├── domain/
│   ├── project.entity.ts
│   ├── project-status.ts
│   └── project.errors.ts
│
├── application/
│   ├── commands/
│   │   ├── create-project.ts
│   │   ├── update-project.ts
│   │   └── close-project.ts
│   │
│   └── queries/
│       ├── get-project.ts
│       └── list-projects.ts
│
├── infrastructure/
│   └── project.repository.ts
│
└── api/
    ├── project.controller.ts
    ├── project.request.ts
    └── project.response.ts

73. Controllers

Controllers should handle:

HTTP
authentication context
input DTO parsing
application command/query invocation
response mapping

Controllers should not contain:

business rules
raw SQL
role logic
transaction orchestration
email sending
audit implementation

74. Commands and Queries

Mutations use commands.

Examples:

CreateEngineeringProjectCommand
ApproveEngineeringDesignCommand
CloseLegalMatterCommand
CompleteHealthcareEncounterCommand

Reads use queries.

Examples:

GetEngineeringProjectQuery
ListLegalMattersQuery
GetHealthcarePatientQuery

75. Repositories

Use domain-specific repositories.

Examples:

EngineeringProjectRepository
LegalMatterRepository
HealthcarePatientRepository

Avoid one massive generic repository abstraction that eventually needs dozens of flags.


76. Security Baseline

Minimum controls:

TLS everywhere
strong password hashing
short-lived access tokens
refresh-token rotation
refresh-token reuse detection
server-side session revocation
rate limiting
RBAC
resource policies
credential-aware authorization
tenant isolation
input validation
SQL injection protection
signed object-storage URLs
virus/malware scanning for uploaded files
audit trails
secret management
encryption at rest
dependency scanning
security headers
request/correlation IDs
backup and restore testing

Rate Limiting Framework

Rate limits are endpoint-specific policy, not permanent architecture constants.

Required categories:

authentication attempts
password reset/recovery
general authenticated API traffic
search
file upload initiation
expensive report generation
clinical record access
webhook/API integration traffic

Use Redis-backed counters or a managed gateway.

Responses:

429 Too Many Requests
Retry-After: ...

Use:

RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED

in the error body.

Authentication endpoints should have substantially stricter anti-abuse controls than ordinary reads.

Healthcare record access may require anomaly detection beyond simple rate limits.

Exact numeric limits are established through load testing, product usage, and security analysis, not copied from a design review.

Secrets

Production secrets should live in a managed secret/key system where possible.

Avoid treating a checked-in .env file as secret management.

Prefer asymmetric JWT signing or managed signing keys where practical, with rotation support.

77. Data Classification

Suggested classes:

Public

marketing configuration

Internal

organization settings
tasks

Confidential

engineering documents
legal matters
billing

Highly Sensitive

clinical records
professional credentials
authentication secrets

78. Healthcare Security

Before healthcare production use, define:

privacy model
minimum-necessary access model
clinical access policies
break-glass/emergency access policy if required
audit policy
record-signing policy
amendment policy
retention policy
credential policy
scope-of-practice policy
jurisdiction requirements
encryption strategy
consent requirements
data residency requirements
backup/restore handling
export/portability requirements
breach-response requirements

Healthcare is a stricter security tier.

Key rules:

  1. default patient responses do not contain all available PHI
  2. clinical record reads may be auditable events
  3. signed records are immutable except through explicit amendment/version workflows
  4. prescribing authorization is jurisdiction-specific
  5. privileged clinical commands revalidate professional authority
  6. caches must not allow revoked credentials to remain effective for high-risk writes
  7. healthcare search results themselves are protected data
  8. access logs may require dedicated permissions
  9. do not claim regulatory compliance from architecture alone

79. Observability

Use:

structured logs
metrics
distributed tracing
request IDs
correlation IDs

Recommended:

OpenTelemetry

Track:

API latency
error rate
database latency
database connection pool saturation
queue depth
outbox backlog
worker failures
authentication failures
refresh-token reuse detections
authorization denials
credential-policy denials
rate-limit events
external dependency failures
file-processing failures

Performance SLOs

Define performance targets per environment and endpoint class.

Do not hard-code claims such as "100k-row list query under 100 ms" or "100 MB upload under 30 seconds" into architecture without measurement.

Direct-to-object-storage upload performance depends heavily on client network and storage provider.

Establish:

p50
p95
p99
error budget
throughput
concurrency

from realistic load tests.

Reporting endpoints may have different SLOs from interactive CRUD endpoints.

80. Logging

Useful fields:

request_id
route
method
status
duration
user_id when appropriate
organization_id when appropriate

Never log:

passwords
tokens
clinical record text
full sensitive documents
payment secrets

81. Testing Strategy

Unit Tests

Test:

domain rules
state transitions
authorization policies
credential policies
money calculations
idempotency request hashing

Integration Tests

Test:

repositories
PostgreSQL constraints
tenant-aware foreign keys
transactions
outbox persistence
idempotency persistence
cache invalidation hooks

API Tests

Every important endpoint should cover:

happy path
request validation
authentication
organization context
permission denial
scope denial
credential denial where relevant
cross-tenant access
concurrent modification
invalid state transition
idempotent replay
idempotency conflict
audit event creation
outbox event creation

Engineering Design Approval Tests

At minimum:

qualified assigned approver → success
missing permission → 403
invalid credential → 403
wrong organization → 404
wrong state → 422/409 according to contract
duplicate idempotency key + same payload → same result
duplicate idempotency key + different payload → 409
approval creates audit event
approval creates outbox event

Healthcare Record Tests

At minimum:

authorized record read → success + audit where required
unauthorized practitioner → deny
wrong organization → 404
signed record direct overwrite → deny
amendment creates preserved history
access-log permission enforced
credential revocation blocks high-risk command immediately

Performance Tests

Create workload profiles rather than one universal test:

interactive reads
interactive writes
search
dashboard read models
reporting
file-upload orchestration
outbox processing
notification bursts

Record p50/p95/p99 latency and database saturation.

Targets become release gates only after a realistic baseline is established.

82. Tenant Security Tests

For every major resource, attempt:

Organization A resource
using Organization B context

Test:

read
update
delete/action
list filtering
search
documents

Expected result:

404 / denied

83. Engineering MVP

Engineering is the first vertical.

Initial features:

Authentication
Organization management
Users / memberships / roles
Engineering clients
Projects
Project members
Project phases
Tasks
Sites
Documents
Basic design records
Inspections
Time entries
Basic billing
Audit history

Do not initially build:

advanced CAD integration
BIM integration
full document markup
advanced resource planning
procurement
complex accounting
AI design analysis
IoT integrations

84. Engineering MVP Workflow

User registers
      ↓
Creates engineering organization
      ↓
Invites engineer
      ↓
Assigns role
      ↓
Creates client
      ↓
Creates project
      ↓
Assigns project team
      ↓
Creates project phases
      ↓
Creates tasks
      ↓
Uploads documents
      ↓
Creates design
      ↓
Reviews / approves design
      ↓
Schedules inspection
      ↓
Records inspection findings
      ↓
Records engineering time
      ↓
Creates invoice
      ↓
Records payment
      ↓
Closes project
      ↓
Audit history contains lifecycle

85. Development Phases

Phase 0: Architecture Foundation

Deliver:

domain boundaries
database conventions
REST conventions
authorization model
organization-context rules
session/token policy
idempotency strategy
error taxonomy
OpenAPI skeleton
engineering state machines
migration conventions
threat model

Phase 1: Shared Platform Core

Build:

auth
sessions
token rotation and revocation
users
organizations
organization professions
membership invitations
memberships
roles
permissions
authorization
audit
outbox
request context
idempotency persistence
rate-limit framework

Phase 2: Engineering CRM

Build:

engineering_clients
client archive/restore
client-project relationship

Phase 3: Engineering Projects

Build:

engineering_projects
engineering_project_members
engineering_project_phases
project activation/close/archive commands

Phase 4: Work Management

Build:

engineering_tasks
engineering_sites

Phase 5: Documents

Build:

documents
document_versions
object storage
signed uploads
malware scanning
engineering document links

Phase 6: Designs

Build:

engineering_designs
engineering_design_versions
engineering_design_reviews
explicit design state machine
credential-aware approval
approval audit/outbox/idempotency

Phase 7: Inspections

Build:

engineering_inspections
inspection state machine
engineering_inspection_findings
follow-ups
attachments
completion audit/outbox/idempotency

Phase 8: Time and Billing

Build:

engineering_time_entries
invoices
invoice_items
payments
financial idempotency
provider reconciliation

Phase 9: Notifications

Build:

in-app notifications
email
worker processing
retry/dead-letter handling

Initial reports:

project status
overdue tasks
inspection status
billable time
revenue
outstanding invoices

Add advanced indexes, materialized views, read replicas, or external search only if measurement justifies them.

Implement legal domain only after shared core assumptions survive the engineering product.

Phase 12: Healthcare Readiness

Before implementation:

healthcare threat model
privacy review
jurisdiction analysis
credential/scope-of-practice policy
record signing/amendment model
retention model
audit requirements

Then build the healthcare vertical.

Only after engineering proves the shared platform assumptions.

Build:

Legal Client
    ↓
Matter
    ↓
Case
    ↓
Hearings / Deadlines / Documents

Do not redesign engineering around legal terminology.

Extract only genuinely reusable infrastructure.


87. Healthcare Expansion

Healthcare comes after:

  • core platform is stable
  • audit model is proven
  • permission model is proven
  • tenant isolation is tested
  • retention and encryption strategies are defined

Healthcare should be treated as its own security and compliance workstream.


88. Deployment Environments

Use:

development
testing
staging
production

Each environment has independent:

database
object storage
secrets
queues
API keys

89. Initial Deployment Architecture

CDN
 │
 ├── Engineering Web
 ├── Legal Web
 └── Healthcare Web

Load Balancer
      │
   Backend API
      │
      ├── PostgreSQL
      ├── Redis
      ├── Object Storage
      └── Queue
             │
          Workers

Prefer managed infrastructure where practical.


90. Backup Strategy

Database:

automated backups
point-in-time recovery
tested restores

Object storage:

versioning
retention policies
backup or replication where required

A backup strategy is incomplete until restoration is tested.


91. Migration Strategy

Use explicit immutable migration files.

Recommended naming:

YYYYMMDDHHMMSS_description.sql

Example:

20260826010000_create_organizations.sql
20260826011000_create_users.sql
20260826012000_create_memberships.sql
20260826013000_create_rbac.sql
20260826014000_create_audit_outbox.sql
20260826015000_create_engineering_clients.sql

UUID Standard

The platform standard remains UUIDv7.

Do not silently switch to PostgreSQL gen_random_uuid() if that produces UUIDv4 and violates the identifier convention.

Generate UUIDv7 in the application or use a database UUIDv7 implementation whose behavior is explicitly controlled and tested.

Production Migration Rules

Use expand/contract migration patterns:

1. add backward-compatible schema
2. deploy code supporting old + new schema
3. migrate/backfill data
4. switch reads/writes
5. remove obsolete schema in a later deployment

Do not assume every production migration can be cleanly rolled back by executing a reverse SQL file.

For destructive changes:

  • backup/restore plan
  • compatibility window
  • dry run on production-like data
  • explicit operational approval

Never use automatic ORM schema synchronization in production.

92. Technology Recommendation

Backend:

TypeScript
NestJS or Fastify-based architecture

Database:

PostgreSQL

ORM/query layer candidates:

Prisma
Drizzle
Kysely

Frontend:

React / Next.js

Queue:

Redis + BullMQ

Storage:

S3-compatible storage

Observability:

OpenTelemetry

Containers:

Docker

93. REST API Milestones

Milestone 1: Platform Access and Security

POST /auth/register
POST /auth/login

POST /auth/token/refresh
POST /auth/token/revoke
POST /auth/token/revoke-all

GET    /auth/sessions
DELETE /auth/sessions/{sessionId}

GET /me

POST /organizations
GET  /me/organizations

POST /membership-invitations
GET  /memberships

GET  /roles
POST /roles
GET  /permissions

Includes:

explicit organization context
session revocation
refresh-token reuse detection
audit foundation
outbox foundation
idempotency foundation
rate limiting

Milestone 2: Engineering Clients

GET    /engineering/clients
POST   /engineering/clients
GET    /engineering/clients/{id}
PATCH  /engineering/clients/{id}
POST   /engineering/clients/{id}/archive
POST   /engineering/clients/{id}/restore
GET    /engineering/clients/{id}/projects

Milestone 3: Engineering Projects

GET    /engineering/projects
POST   /engineering/projects
GET    /engineering/projects/{id}
PATCH  /engineering/projects/{id}

POST /engineering/projects/{id}/activate
POST /engineering/projects/{id}/close
POST /engineering/projects/{id}/archive

GET /engineering/projects/{id}/summary

Timeline and budget read models follow when the frontend requires them.

Milestone 4: Collaboration

POST /engineering/projects/{id}/members
GET  /engineering/projects/{id}/members

POST /engineering/tasks
GET  /engineering/tasks
POST /engineering/tasks/{id}/complete

Milestone 5: Sites and Documents

Build:

engineering sites
signed file uploads
document versions
malware scanning
project document links

Milestone 6: Designs

Build:

design lifecycle
versions
reviews
submit-review
request-changes
approve
reject
supersede
credential validation
audit + outbox + idempotency

Milestone 7: Inspections

Build:

schedule
start
complete
cancel
findings
finding resolution
audit + outbox + idempotency

Milestone 8: Commercial Workflows

Build:

time entries
invoices
payments
refunds
financial idempotency
reports

94. Architecture Rules to Freeze

  1. REST is the primary frontend and integration API.
  2. Base path is /api/v1.
  3. OpenAPI 3.1 is the public REST contract.
  4. GraphQL is not part of v1.
  5. One shared backend platform is deployed initially as a modular monolith.
  6. Each profession has a separate frontend application.
  7. Each profession owns its domain tables and state machines.
  8. Shared modules contain infrastructure, not forced cross-profession business semantics.
  9. Every tenant-owned row has organization_id.
  10. Tenant-scoped endpoints require explicit X-Organization-Id.
  11. The API never silently chooses a tenant.
  12. Tenant isolation is enforced in queries and database relationships.
  13. Cross-tenant resources appear nonexistent.
  14. Authorization is server-side and deny-by-default.
  15. Roles and professional qualifications are separate.
  16. High-risk professional actions revalidate authoritative credential state.
  17. Healthcare prescribing authority is jurisdiction/policy driven, not hard-coded to one profession.
  18. Signed clinical records use version/amendment workflows, not destructive overwrite.
  19. Important state changes use explicit REST command endpoints.
  20. Important/regulated mutations are audited.
  21. Clinical record reads are auditable where policy requires.
  22. Domain events use a transactional outbox.
  23. Outbox consumers are idempotent.
  24. High-risk POST commands use durable idempotency records.
  25. Redis may accelerate idempotency but is not the sole source of truth for financial/regulated commands.
  26. PostgreSQL is the authoritative application datastore.
  27. UUIDv7 is the identifier standard.
  28. Files live in object storage and use signed access.
  29. File uploads support security scanning before availability.
  30. Background side effects run through workers.
  31. Cache invalidation is explicit for memberships, roles, sessions, module settings, and credentials.
  32. Do not trust stale credential caches for regulated write authorization.
  33. Rate limits are endpoint-specific policies calibrated by testing.
  34. Search starts in PostgreSQL.
  35. Materialized views, read replicas, external search, and specialized indexes require workload evidence.
  36. Database models and public DTOs are separate contracts.
  37. API collections use cursor pagination.
  38. Mutable important resources use optimistic concurrency.
  39. Do not replace proper domain modeling with arbitrary JSON blobs.
  40. Do not hard-delete professional or financial records without explicit retention rules.
  41. Production migrations follow expand/contract compatibility.
  42. Do not assume destructive migrations are trivially reversible.
  43. Secrets are managed outside source control.
  44. CI validates OpenAPI, tests, migrations, types, and security checks.
  45. Engineering remains the first product vertical.
  46. Legal follows after the engineering platform proves shared assumptions.
  47. Healthcare requires an explicit security/privacy/compliance readiness review before implementation.
  48. Architecture documentation must distinguish "designed for" from "certified/compliant".

95. Required Design Artifacts

Prepare and maintain:

01_PROJECT_ARCHITECTURE.md
02_DATABASE_CONVENTIONS.md
03_AUTHORIZATION_MODEL.md
04_ENGINEERING_DOMAIN.md
05_ENGINEERING_DATABASE_SCHEMA.md
06_API_CONVENTIONS.md
07_ENGINEERING_API_SPEC.md
08_FRONTEND_ARCHITECTURE.md
09_SECURITY_MODEL.md
10_DEPLOYMENT_ARCHITECTURE.md
11_TESTING_STRATEGY.md
12_MVP_BACKLOG.md
13_OPENAPI.yaml

Foundation
   ↓
Authentication
   ↓
Organizations
   ↓
Memberships
   ↓
RBAC
   ↓
Engineering Clients
   ↓
Engineering Projects
   ↓
Project Team
   ↓
Tasks
   ↓
Sites
   ↓
Documents
   ↓
Designs
   ↓
Inspections
   ↓
Time Tracking
   ↓
Billing
   ↓
Notifications
   ↓
Reports
   ↓
Legal Vertical
   ↓
Healthcare Vertical

97A. Database Indexing Strategy

All tenant-owned tables should have an index supporting tenant lookup.

Baseline patterns:

(organization_id, id)
(organization_id, created_at)

Add query-specific indexes based on real access patterns:

(organization_id, status)
(organization_id, client_id)
(organization_id, project_id)
(organization_id, assigned_to_user_id)

Rules:

  1. every index must correspond to a known query or constraint
  2. composite index order follows the actual WHERE/ORDER BY pattern
  3. verify with EXPLAIN (ANALYZE, BUFFERS) on representative data
  4. do not index every column
  5. index write cost is part of the decision
  6. full-text/trigram indexes are introduced when search requirements are known

Read replicas and materialized views are later scaling tools, not baseline dependencies.


97B. CI/CD and Deployment Gates

Pipeline stages:

lint/typecheck
    ↓
unit tests
    ↓
integration tests
    ↓
OpenAPI validation + contract tests
    ↓
security/dependency scan
    ↓
container build + image scan
    ↓
migration compatibility check
    ↓
deploy development
    ↓
smoke tests
    ↓
deploy staging
    ↓
E2E + performance/security baseline
    ↓
manual production approval
    ↓
production deployment
    ↓
post-deploy verification

Production deployment should support:

rolling or blue/green application deployment
backward-compatible database migrations
health checks
fast application rollback
feature flags for incomplete features
observability gates

Database schema rollback is not treated as equivalent to application rollback.

Configuration and Secrets

Non-secret configuration may use environment variables.

Secrets should use a managed secret store where possible:

database credentials
Redis credentials
JWT/private signing keys
object storage credentials
SMTP/API provider credentials
monitoring credentials

Do not publish real secrets in sample configuration.

Organization profession enablement remains primarily data-driven through organization_professions.

Global feature flags may be used for staged rollout, kill switches, or incomplete features.


97C. Review-Driven Deferred Decisions

The following ideas are valid possibilities but are explicitly not frozen into v1:

read replicas
materialized views
Elasticsearch/OpenSearch
universal 100 MB file limit
fixed 100 req/min user limit
fixed 1000 req/hour organization limit
specific cache-hit-ratio target
specific p95 latency promise
database-per-tenant
microservices
GraphQL

These require evidence from:

load tests
security analysis
customer requirements
compliance requirements
real production workloads

This prevents benchmark-shaped guesses from becoming architecture law.


97. Final Design Position

The platform is not a generic management system with profession names painted on top.

It is:

One Shared Platform
      │
      ├── Shared Identity
      ├── Shared Security
      ├── Shared Infrastructure
      ├── Shared Documents
      ├── Shared Financial Core
      ├── Shared Audit/Event Platform
      │
      ├── Engineering Product
      │   ├── Engineering Frontend
      │   ├── Engineering REST APIs
      │   └── Engineering Tables
      │
      ├── Legal Product
      │   ├── Legal Frontend
      │   ├── Legal REST APIs
      │   └── Legal Tables
      │
      └── Healthcare Product
          ├── Healthcare Frontend
          ├── Healthcare REST APIs
          └── Healthcare Tables

The system shares infrastructure where reuse is valuable while preserving independent domain models where professional workflows differ.

This document is an implementation-ready architectural baseline. It is not by itself proof of production readiness, regulatory compliance, security certification, or performance at a particular scale. Those claims require implementation evidence, threat modeling, testing, operational controls, and profession/jurisdiction-specific review.