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4 months ago
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Actively maintained
Intent turns event-sourcing theory into a platform you can demo in five minutes. It’s a pragmatic, ports-first reference for multi-tenant, event-sourced CQRS back-ends powered by TypeScript and uses Temporal for durable workflow execution.
| Lossless backend processing | Event-sourced core guarantees no data loss, even under retries, crashes, or partial failures. Structure follows DDD. Every command, event, and projection is persisted and replayable. Here's an explanation and following code |
| Ports-first hexagon | Technology-agnostic core logic. Adapters for PostgreSQL (event store + RLS) and Temporal (workflows) plug in via explicit, testable ports. Read more on architecture reasoning |
| Tenant isolation by default | Tenant IDs propagate edge → core → infra. Row isolation in DB and namespaced workflows prevent accidental cross-tenant access or leaks. See what, why and how it is implemented in Intent |
| Self-healing infra bootstrap | Unified CLI flow runner sets up eventstore, scheduler, and projections interactively or in CI -- zero manual scripting, clear test feedback, and easily extendable for new providers. |
| Built-in authorization | Each projection declares access rules in metadata; they are compiled into Postgres RLS policies. CI linter blocks insecure access before it ships. |
| Configurable, centralized observability | Unified structured logging with context-aware LoggerPort, customizable log levels, and error serialization. OpenTelemetry spans wrap all key flows; logs and traces correlate via causation/correlation IDs. Logging behavior tunable via .env for local vs production. |
| Workflow-native execution | Commands and events are processed in durable Temporal workflows → supports back-pressure, retries, and exactly-once delivery at the source of truth. |
| Full-circle event governance | Events flow from command → event → projection → saga with full traceability. Snapshot-aware loading and event upcasting support long-lived schemas and backward compatibility. See ADR-017 and ADR-010 for snapshot implementation and upcasting rules. |
| Projection drift protection | Tools detect schema drifts vs. history and auto-generate repair plans. Avoids full rebuilds, supports CI failure gating and controlled rewinds. |
| Schema evolution support | Events are immutable, but projections and snapshots are versioned. Upcasters evolve event formats safely without breaking consumers. |
| Tooling for velocity | Includes drift scanner, RLS linter, interactive setup runner, and a DevX-UI companion with event stream viewer and command issuer to ensure reproducibility and rapid local debugging. See tools and DevX |
Current target scale: low thousands of TPS single-tenant backends. Open path to scale mid-thousands.
Current target use cases: high-fidelity, multi-tenant, event-sourced backends with complex business logic. Examples include AI orchestration, financial systems, manufacturing industries, async-heavy workflows, SaaS platforms, and high-complexity business domain applications.
Intent is a reference platform for event-sourced CQRS systems. Built from first principles to favor clarity, speed, and strong boundaries in multi-tenant TypeScript backends.
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Reference Architecture: Strict hexagonal boundaries, ports/adapters separation, and vertical slicing, DCB-aligned. Every workflow and projection is testable, composable, and observable. Patterns align with the latest event modeling literature -- no magic, no leaks.
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Built for Safety and Evolution: Automated RLS policy generation, drift detection and repair, snapshotting, and schema upcasting are not afterthoughts -- they are part of the platform’s DNA. CI lints, policy gates, and repair tools keep safety guardrails up as you move fast.
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Full-Stack Dev Experience: The DevX companion UI, CLI flows, and local-first patterns make simulating, debugging, and evolving your event-sourced system immediate and visual. Real-time traceability, role simulation, and AI-assisted scaffolding let you reason about systems before they run in prod.
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Multi-Tenant and Policy-First: Tenant isolation and access policies are enforced from edge to core to database -- by design, not convention. Row-level security and role-based projection policies are automated and audited.
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Transparent, Documented, and Extensible: Every architectural decision is captured in living ADRs. The codebase is structured for clarity, modification, and onboarding -- backed by docs and rationale, not just code comments.
You can see the demo at https://intent.heart.dev
Interested in taking Intent to production, collaborating, or supporting real-world use cases? Contact: gy at heart dot dev
| Docker | 24.x | Engine + CLI; enables docker compose used by the Quick-start. |
| Node.js | 22.x (current LTS) | TS/ESM project; lower versions are not tested. |
| Git | any modern release | Needed to clone the repo. |
| Unix-like shell | bash/zsh/fish | Commands assume a POSIX shell. Windows users can use WSL2 or Git Bash (untested; PRs welcome) |
- You can find the full rationale in docs/reflections,
- History of design decisions made in ADRs,
- and references to follow the code in core/README and infra/README.
| Run aggregates worker | npm run dev:worker aggregates |
| Run sagas worker | npm run dev:worker sagas |
| Unit tests (pure domain) | npm run test:core |
| Integration tests (Postgres + Temporal) | npm run test:integration |
| Dev tools: setup, repair, drift-check, and more | View available DevEx tools at tools/README.md. |
See docs/structure.md for the full tree.
- Architecture Overview
A guided walk through Intent’s hexagonal structure, CQRS patterns, and why it was built this way. - ADR Index
All architectural decisions made explicit. Design rationale with no hand-waving. - DevX UI Docs
Explore commands, projections, and traces in real time through the browser companion. - Tools Index
CLI and CI tooling for projection drift, RLS enforcement, and setup flows. - Roadmap
Upcoming features, enhancements, and goals for scaling Intent beyond the reference model.
- Fork -> feature branch.
- npm run test:core and npm run test:integration must pass.
- Use conventional-commits (feat:, fix:).
- PRs touching architecture must link an ADR.
Got questions or want to share what you're building with Intent?
Use the Discussions tab.
Open-sourced it early to align with the community and grow it in the open.
⚠️ Intent is not a product. It’s a developer-first reference implementation of modern event-sourcing patterns with a clear architectural spine. Hosted/cloud support, multi-backend support, and full admin UI are on the roadmap.
Licensed under AGPL-3.0. Commercial licenses available. See LICENSE. Other open-source licenses are under consideration. By contributing, you agree to the Contributor License Agreement.
