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Services Requrements

Core Services

1. Authentication Service

Handles all identity and access management for the platform.

What it does:

  • User registration (email, phone, social OAuth)
  • Login/logout with JWT token generation
  • Access token & refresh token management
  • Password reset and email verification
  • Device management and tracking
  • Session management via Redis
  • Multi-factor authentication support

Key concepts:

  • Tokens are short-lived (access) + long-lived (refresh)
  • Each device is fingerprinted and tracked
  • Failed login attempts trigger rate limiting
  • OAuth supports Google, Apple, Facebook

2. User Profile Service

Manages user identity, relationships, and platform reputation.

What it does:

  • Profile creation and editing (bio, avatar, cover photo)
  • Username and display name management
  • Follow/unfollow functionality
  • Followers and following lists
  • Block and mute users
  • Privacy settings (public/private account)
  • Trust score calculation for sellers and organizers
  • Account verification status

Key concepts:

  • Private accounts require follow approval
  • Trust scores build over time based on transactions and feedback
  • Blocking hides all content bidirectionally
  • Profiles link to shops (E-Commerce) and organizer pages (E-Events)

3. File Manager Service

Central media handling for the entire platform.

What it does:

  • Image uploads with compression and resizing
  • Video uploads with FFmpeg transcoding
  • BlurHash generation for image placeholders
  • Multiple format support (JPEG, PNG, WebP, MP4, MOV)
  • Thumbnail generation for videos
  • File validation (size limits, type checking)
  • CDN-ready URL generation via MinIO
  • Parallel upload processing for multiple files

Key concepts:

  • All media goes through this service regardless of source (posts, products, events, messages)
  • Videos are transcoded to web-optimized formats
  • BlurHash provides instant low-res preview while full image loads
  • Files are stored in MinIO with organized bucket structure

4. Payment Service

Handles all money movement on the platform.

What it does:

  • Payment method management (add/remove cards, mobile money)
  • M-Pesa, Selcom, Tembo Plus integration
  • Payment initiation and callback processing
  • Escrow system for marketplace transactions
  • Escrow release upon delivery confirmation or event completion
  • Refund processing
  • Transaction history and receipts
  • Payout to sellers and organizers

Key concepts:

  • Escrow protects buyers — money is held until satisfaction
  • Event payments release after event completes with good feedback
  • Product payments release after delivery confirmation
  • All transactions are logged for audit and dispute resolution

5. Direct Message Service

Private real-time communication between users.

What it does:

  • One-on-one conversations
  • Group conversations
  • Text messages
  • Media sharing (images, videos via File Manager)
  • Read receipts and typing indicators
  • Message reactions
  • Conversation muting
  • Message search

Key concepts:

  • Messages are stored persistently
  • Blocked users cannot send messages
  • Media in DMs goes through File Manager
  • Supports future WebSocket integration for real-time delivery

Business Services

6. E-Commerce Service

Full marketplace functionality for buying and selling products.

What it does:

  • Shop creation and management
  • Product listing with variants (size, color, etc.)
  • Inventory tracking
  • Shopping cart management
  • Multiple checkout options (see below)
  • Order management and status tracking
  • Delivery address management
  • Product reviews and ratings
  • Seller verification and trust badges
  • Wishlist/saved items

Purchase Options:

Type Description
Individual Buy single item, standard checkout
Quantity-based Buy multiple units, bulk pricing available
Group Buy Multiple buyers join to unlock discount, minimum participants required
Buy Together Friends pool money for shared purchase (gifts, shared items)
Installment Pay in scheduled parts, product released after full payment or based on seller terms

Key concepts:

  • Group buy has deadline and minimum participant threshold
  • Installment plans are configured per product by seller
  • Buy together splits payment among participants
  • All payments go through escrow until delivery confirmed
  • Sellers build trust score through successful transactions

7. E-Events Service

Complete event management from creation to check-in.

What it does:

  • Event creation with draft system (step-by-step)
  • Ticket type management (free, paid, VIP, early bird)
  • Ticket quantity and availability tracking
  • RSA-signed secure tickets (QR code)
  • Check-in system with multiple methods
  • Attendee management
  • Event analytics (views, sales, check-ins)
  • Organizer ratings and reviews
  • Refund handling for cancelled events

Event Types:

Type Description
In-Person Physical location, requires venue details and check-in
Online Virtual event, streaming link provided to ticket holders
One-Time Single date/time event
Multi-Day Spans multiple days (festivals, conferences), each day can have separate check-in

Check-in System:

Method Use Case
Mobile App Scan Organizer uses Nexgate app to scan attendee QR
Ticket Scanner Machine Hardware scanner integration via API
Manual Entry Enter ticket code manually for backup
Self Check-in Kiosk Attendee scans own ticket at kiosk

Key concepts:

  • One draft at a time per user (prevents abandoned drafts piling up)
  • Tickets are RSA-signed to prevent forgery
  • Multi-day events track check-in per day
  • Online events auto-deliver streaming link after purchase
  • Escrow holds payment until event completes successfully
  • Bad events (cancellation, poor feedback) affect organizer trust score

8. E-Social Service

The social layer that connects everything together.

What it does:

  • Post creation (text, images, videos)
  • Product embeds in posts (from E-Commerce)
  • Event embeds in posts (from E-Events)
  • Feed generation (following, trending, discover)
  • Like, comment, repost interactions
  • Bookmarks/save posts
  • Polls with voting
  • Mentions: @users, $shops
  • Hashtags (#topics)
  • Collaborative posts (multiple authors)
  • Scheduled posting
  • Post visibility controls (public, followers only)

Post Types:

Type Description
Standard Text + optional media
Product Post Embedded product card, click to buy
Event Post Embedded event card, click to book
Poll Question with voting options, timed or open
Collaborative Multiple users co-author, shared credit
Repost Share another post with optional comment

Key concepts:

  • E-Social is the hub — products and events flow through it
  • Feed algorithm considers follows, engagement, recency
  • Product/event posts drive organic discovery and sales
  • Polls can be standalone or attached to products (customer feedback)
  • Collaborative posts useful for brand partnerships, co-selling

External Service

9. Notification Service

Async notification delivery across all channels.

What it does:

  • Push notifications (mobile/web)
  • In-app notification center
  • Email notifications
  • SMS notifications
  • Notification preferences management
  • Read/unread status tracking
  • Notification grouping (batch similar notifications)
  • Scheduled notifications
  • Delivery status tracking

How it works:

Any Service → Event → RabbitMQ → Notification Service → Deliver

Notification service is fully decoupled. It only listens to RabbitMQ events and decides how to notify based on user preferences.

Notification Triggers:

Source Events
Auth Welcome, password reset, new device login, suspicious activity
User Profile New follower, follow request (private account), mention
Direct Message New message, message reaction
E-Commerce Order placed, order shipped, order delivered, payment received (seller), review received, group buy progress, installment reminder
E-Events Ticket purchased, event reminder, event cancelled, check-in confirmation, event starting soon
E-Social Like, comment, repost, mention (@user), shop mention ($shop), poll ended, collaborative post invite
Payment Payment successful, payment failed, escrow released, refund processed, payout sent

User Preferences:

Setting Options
Push All, important only, none
Email All, digest (daily/weekly), none
SMS Critical only (payments, security), none
Quiet hours Disable notifications during set hours
Per-type toggle Enable/disable specific notification types

Key concepts:

  • User controls what they receive and how
  • Critical notifications (security, payments) bypass quiet hours
  • Similar notifications are grouped (e.g., "5 people liked your post")
  • Failed deliveries are retried with exponential backoff
  • Separate database to not impact core service performance

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