Hi.Events

Hi.Events is an open‑source, self‑hosted event management and ticketing platform that exposes a rich set of APIs and extensibility hooks for developers. At its core, the application orchestrates event creation, ticket inventory management, checkout flows, and post‑event analytics. The system is designed to run as a single Docker image or within a Kubernetes cluster, allowing teams to deploy it on any infrastructure that supports containers. From a developer’s perspective, the application is a modern full‑stack solution built with TypeScript on the backend and React on the frontend, all while keeping a lightweight GraphQL API layer for external integrations.

Technical Stack

• Backend: Node.js (v20+) with NestJS framework, leveraging TypeScript for type safety and modularity.
• Frontend: React 18 with Vite, styled using Tailwind CSS for rapid UI development.
• Database: PostgreSQL (≥12) accessed via Prisma ORM, enabling migrations and type‑safe queries.
• Auth & Payments: Auth0 for authentication, Stripe for payment processing and instant payouts.
• Messaging & Webhooks: Built‑in webhook system that emits events such as ticketPurchased, attendeeCheckIn, and refundProcessed.
• Containerization: Single Dockerfile that bundles the API, UI, and worker processes; images are available on Docker Hub (daveearley/hi.events-all-in-one).
• Testing: Jest for unit and integration tests, with CI pipelines on GitHub Actions.

Core Capabilities

• Event & Ticket APIs: CRUD operations for events, ticket types (free, paid, donation, tiered), and inventory limits.
• Checkout Flow: A headless checkout API that can be embedded in custom frontends or used via the provided React components.
• Webhook & Event Bus: Publish‑subscribe pattern using RabbitMQ or Redis Streams (configurable) to notify external services.
• Customization Hooks: Theme overrides, custom CSS/JS injection per event, and a plugin system that allows developers to register new ticket types or modify the checkout logic.
• Reporting & Analytics: REST/GraphQL endpoints for sales, revenue, and attendee demographics; data can be exported to CSV or integrated with BI tools.
• Extensibility: Open API (Swagger) documentation and a public SDK in TypeScript for consuming the APIs. The codebase follows SOLID principles, making it straightforward to add new modules or replace third‑party services.

Deployment & Infrastructure

Hi.Events is optimized for self‑hosting:

• Docker Compose: A single docker-compose.yml can spin up the API, UI, PostgreSQL, and optional Redis.
• Kubernetes: Helm charts are available for production deployments; the chart supports scaling replicas, rolling updates, and persistent volumes.
• Scalability: Stateless API workers can be horizontally scaled behind a load balancer; the database layer uses connection pooling and read replicas for high throughput.
• Observability: Integrates with Prometheus, Grafana, and Loki for metrics, dashboards, and log aggregation.
• Backup & Restore: Automated PostgreSQL backups via cron jobs; restore scripts are included in the repo.

Integration & Extensibility

• Webhooks: Expose POST endpoints that accept JSON payloads; developers can subscribe to any internal event.
• Plugins: A simple plugin API allows adding new routes, middleware, or GraphQL resolvers.
• OAuth & SSO: Supports Auth0 and other OAuth providers; custom claims can be injected into JWTs.
• Custom Domains & SSL: Built‑in support for Let’s Encrypt or user‑supplied certificates; can be configured per event.
• Merchandise & Affiliate: Dedicated modules expose REST endpoints for managing merch inventory and tracking affiliate referrals.

Developer Experience

• Documentation: Comprehensive docs at https://hi.events/docs, including architecture diagrams, API references, and migration guides.
• Community: Active GitHub discussions, a Discord channel for real‑time support, and regular releases (including beta pre‑releases).
• Configuration: All runtime options are exposed via environment variables; a .env.example file is provided.
• Testing: Jest test suites are well‑structured; developers can run npm test to validate changes locally.
• Licensing: AGPL‑v3 ensures that any derivative works remain open source, encouraging community contributions.

Use Cases

1. Conference Organizers – Create multi‑day schedules, sell tiered tickets with early‑bird discounts, and integrate with Zoom/Webex via webhooks.
2. Music Festivals – Manage multi‑stage lineups, handle ticket validation via QR codes, and push real‑time attendance data to a custom dashboard.
3. Non‑Profit Events – Offer donation tickets, generate receipts automatically, and export attendee data for outreach programs.
4. Enterprise Training – Host webinars with seat limits, auto‑send follow‑up emails, and integrate with internal SSO for corporate users.
5. Community Groups – Run free events without fees, leverage the “no‑cost” tier, and use the built‑in