Social Commerce Platform (Intro)

Nexgate is a unified social commerce platform that combines eCommerce, event management, and social networking into a single ecosystem. Built for the East African market, Nexgate enables users to buy, sell, connect, and experience — all in one place. 
 
 The Concept 
 Nexgate reimagines how commerce happens online. Instead of separating shopping, events, and social media into different apps, Nexgate brings them together. 
 User creates → Product or Event → Posts to Social → Followers see in feed → Purchase or Book 
 A product isn't just listed in a shop — it's shared, liked, and commented on. An event isn't just a ticket page — it's a post that spreads organically through your network. 
 
 Platform Architecture 
 Nexgate follows a microservices architecture with nine independent services communicating via RabbitMQ message broker and backed by PostgreSQL databases. 
 Core Services 
 
 Authentication — User registration, login, JWT tokens, OAuth, device management 
 User Profile — Profiles, followers/following, privacy settings, trust scores 
 File Manager — Media uploads, image processing, BlurHash, video transcoding via FFmpeg 
 Payment — Payment methods, M-Pesa/Selcom/Tembo Plus integration, escrow, transactions 
 Direct Message — Real-time private messaging, conversations, media sharing 
 
 Business Services 
 
 E-Commerce — Shops, products, orders, cart, checkout, reviews, seller verification 
 E-Events — Event creation, ticketing, RSA-signed tickets, check-ins, organizer ratings 
 E-Social — Posts, feeds, likes, comments, reposts, polls, mentions, hashtags 
 
 External Service 
 
 Notification — Push notifications, in-app alerts, email, SMS (async via RabbitMQ) 
 
 
 Architecture Diagram 
 
 
 Service Relationships 
 
 
 
 Service 
 Role 
 Connects To 
 
 
 
 
 Authentication 
 Identity, tokens, sessions 
 Redis, PostgreSQL Core, RabbitMQ 
 
 
 User Profile 
 Profiles, follows, trust scores 
 PostgreSQL Core, RabbitMQ 
 
 
 File Manager 
 Media uploads, processing 
 FFmpeg, MinIO, PostgreSQL Core 
 
 
 Payment 
 Transactions, escrow 
 M-Pesa, Selcom, Tembo Plus, PostgreSQL Core, RabbitMQ 
 
 
 Direct Message 
 Private conversations 
 PostgreSQL Core, RabbitMQ 
 
 
 E-Commerce 
 Shops, products, orders 
 E-Social (embed products in posts), PostgreSQL Core, RabbitMQ 
 
 
 E-Events 
 Events, tickets, check-ins 
 E-Social (embed events in posts), PostgreSQL Core, RabbitMQ 
 
 
 E-Social 
 Posts, feeds, interactions 
 E-Commerce, E-Events (receives embeds), PostgreSQL Core, RabbitMQ 
 
 
 Notification 
 Push, email, SMS 
 RabbitMQ (consumes events), PostgreSQL Notif 
 
 
 
 
 Data Flow Summary 
 
 
 
 Flow 
 Path 
 
 
 
 
 User creates product 
 E-Commerce → Post to E-Social → Followers see in feed 
 
 
 User creates event 
 E-Events → Post to E-Social → Followers see in feed 
 
 
 User uploads media 
 File Manager → FFmpeg (if video) → MinIO → BlurHash generated 
 
 
 User makes payment 
 Payment → External Provider (M-Pesa/Selcom/Tembo) → Callback → Update order 
 
 
 Any action triggers notification 
 Service → RabbitMQ → Notification Service → Push/Email/SMS 
 
 
 
 
 Infrastructure Components 
 
 
 
 Component 
 Purpose 
 
 
 
 
 PostgreSQL (Core) 
 Shared DB for Auth, User, File, Payment, DM, E-Commerce, E-Events, E-Social 
 
 
 PostgreSQL (Notif) 
 Separate DB for Notification service 
 
 
 Redis 
 Session storage, caching, rate limiting 
 
 
 RabbitMQ 
 Async messaging, triggers notifications 
 
 
 MinIO 
 S3-compatible object storage for all media 
 
 
 FFmpeg 
 Video transcoding, thumbnails, compression 
 
 
 
 
 Tech Stack 
 
 
 
 Layer 
 Technology 
 
 
 
 
 Backend 
 Java 21, Spring Boot 3.x 
 
 
 Database 
 PostgreSQL (Core + Notification) 
 
 
 Cache 
 Redis 
 
 
 Messaging 
 RabbitMQ 
 
 
 Storage 
 MinIO (S3-compatible) 
 
 
 Media Processing 
 FFmpeg 
 
 
 Payments 
 M-Pesa, Selcom, Tembo Plus 
 
 
 Security 
 JWT, RSA signatures, device fingerprinting