Ever Gauzy

Ever Gauzy is an open‑source, self‑hosted business management platform that unifies ERP, CRM, HRM, ATS, and project‑management workflows under a single API surface. From a developer’s perspective it is essentially a headless micro‑service architecture that exposes GraphQL and REST endpoints for every domain entity (employees, projects, timesheets, invoices, etc.). The platform’s core logic lives in a NestJS backend, while the frontend is built with Next.js and React Native (Expo) for web and mobile UIs. This separation allows teams to consume the same data layer from any client, whether it is a custom dashboard, a mobile app, or an external integration.

Technical Stack

• Backend – NestJS (TypeScript) on Node.js, leveraging TypeORM for ORM abstraction over PostgreSQL. The API layer is split into modular feature modules (e.g., employees, projects, timesheets) that can be swapped or extended independently.
• Frontend – Next.js (React) for the web portal, with server‑side rendering and static site generation. Mobile experience is powered by React Native via Expo.
• Database – PostgreSQL, with optional support for MariaDB/MySQL through TypeORM. The schema is designed for multi‑tenant use, with organization_id and user_id columns on every table.
• Auth & Security – JWT‑based authentication, role‑based access control (RBAC), and OAuth2 support for third‑party providers.
• Testing – Jest for unit tests, SuperTest for integration testing of API endpoints.

Core Capabilities

• Headless APIs – A comprehensive GraphQL schema and RESTful endpoints expose CRUD operations, complex queries (e.g., timesheet aggregation), and subscription hooks for real‑time updates.
• Time Tracking – Accurate, timezone‑aware time entries with support for offline mode on mobile clients. The backend exposes a /timesheets endpoint that accepts batched entries and validates against user permissions.
• Workflow Automation – Built‑in workflow engine that can trigger email notifications, status transitions, or webhook calls based on business events (e.g., project approval).
• Custom Reporting – SQL‑based reporting engine that allows developers to write ad‑hoc queries against the data warehouse and expose them as API endpoints.

Deployment & Infrastructure

Ever Gauzy ships with Docker Compose definitions for quick local or production deployment. The container stack includes:

• api – NestJS service
• web – Next.js static build
• db – PostgreSQL instance
• nginx – Reverse proxy with HTTPS termination (via Let's Encrypt)

For production, the architecture supports horizontal scaling of the API and web services behind a load balancer. PostgreSQL can be replicated or sharded using standard tools (e.g., Patroni, Citus). The platform also offers a Kubernetes Helm chart for cloud‑native deployments, making it straightforward to integrate with CI/CD pipelines.

Integration & Extensibility

• Plugin System – Developers can write custom NestJS modules that plug into the core service, adding new routes or extending existing ones. The plugin registry is auto‑discovered at startup.
• Webhooks & Callbacks – Every major event (e.g., timesheet creation, invoice payment) can fire a webhook to an external URL. The webhook payload is JSON‑serializable and includes authentication tokens.
• SDKs – While not bundled, the open API specification can be used to generate TypeScript or Python clients via OpenAPI Generator.
• Custom Themes & Localization – The UI exposes a theme registry; developers can ship CSS overrides or JSON translation files to support multi‑lingual sites.

Developer Experience

The project places a strong emphasis on documentation quality. The GitHub Wiki contains setup guides, API references, and best‑practice articles. A live Gitpod workspace is available for instant code exploration. The community is active on GitHub Discussions and Discord, where contributors can submit feature requests or report bugs. The AGPL‑v3 license ensures that any improvements remain open, fostering a collaborative ecosystem.

Use Cases

• Agencies & Studios – Combine time tracking, invoicing, and project management in one platform, exposing a single API to all clients.
• Freelancers & Remote Teams – Deploy locally or on a VPS to keep sensitive employee data under own control while still benefiting from enterprise‑grade features.
• Custom Enterprise Solutions – Extend the core modules with proprietary business logic (e.g., custom billing rules) without rewriting the entire stack.

Advantages

• Performance – NestJS + TypeORM on PostgreSQL delivers sub‑millisecond API responses for typical CRUD operations, while GraphQL batching reduces round trips.
• Flexibility – The modular architecture lets developers cherry‑pick features or replace entire domains (e.g., swap the time‑tracking module for a custom one).
• Licensing – AGPL‑v3 guarantees that any derivative work must remain open, ensuring continuous community contribution.
• Scalability – Containerized deployment and support for Kubernetes make it straightforward to scale horizontally or vertically as user load grows.

Ever Gauzy offers a fully featured, self‑hosted platform that gives developers tight control over data and logic while still providing a modern API surface and extensible plugin ecosystem.