ITFlow

ITFlow is a self‑hosted, open‑source platform that fuses three core MSP functions—client documentation, ticketing, and accounting—into a single, unified web application. From a developer’s standpoint it behaves like a full‑stack SaaS service that you run on your own infrastructure, offering rich REST APIs, webhooks, and a plugin‑friendly architecture. The goal is to give teams the same level of automation and data centralisation that commercial products like ITGlue or Hudu provide, but without vendor lock‑in or subscription costs.

Technical Stack & Architecture

• Backend: PHP 8.2 with the Laravel framework (Eloquent ORM, routing, middleware). The choice of Laravel gives a mature ecosystem for authentication, queuing, and event broadcasting.
• Frontend: Vue.js 3 powered by the Laravel‑Blade templating engine for server‑rendered pages, with a progressive‑web‑app (PWA) layer that enables offline ticket editing.
• Database: MySQL 8 (or MariaDB) is the default data store, with support for PostgreSQL via Laravel’s schema abstraction.
• Caching & Queue: Redis is optional; it can be used for session storage, cache, and background job processing (e.g., invoice reminders).
• Search: ElasticSearch or Algolia can be plugged in for full‑text search across assets and tickets.
• Deployment: A single Docker image is available, but the project ships with an install script that provisions a LEMP stack on Ubuntu/Debian. The containerised image exposes the standard 80/443 ports and can be orchestrated with Docker‑Compose or Kubernetes.

Core Capabilities & Developer APIs

• RESTful API: All CRUD operations for clients, assets, tickets, invoices, and quotes are exposed under /api/v1/*. The API uses JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for stateless authentication, making it easy to integrate with external RMMs or custom dashboards.
• Webhooks: Events such as ticket.created, invoice.paid, or client.updated can be subscribed to via configurable webhook URLs.
• Plugin System: A lightweight plugin architecture allows developers to inject new routes, middleware, or Blade components. Plugins are simply PHP packages that register themselves in config/plugins.php.
• CLI Artisan Commands: Custom commands (php artisan itflow:sync, itflow:backup) expose background tasks that can be scheduled via cron or systemd timers.
• AI Integration: The platform ships with a pluggable AI layer that supports Ollama, LocalAI, or OpenAI endpoints. Developers can expose these as API endpoints (/api/v1/ai/chat) or bind them to ticket/comment creation.

Deployment & Infrastructure

• Self‑Hosting: The recommended method is the automated install script, which sets up Nginx, PHP‑FPM, MySQL, and optional Redis/Elasticsearch. The script also configures SSL via Let’s Encrypt.
• Containerisation: A Dockerfile is provided; the image can be run with a single command, mounting volumes for /var/www/html/storage and /etc/nginx.
• Scalability: Horizontal scaling is supported by decoupling the web tier from the database. Multiple PHP workers can be run behind Nginx, and Redis or a message broker can handle queued jobs.
• Backup & Restore: Built‑in Artisan commands perform full database dumps and file system backups, which can be scheduled with cron or Kubernetes Jobs.

Integration & Extensibility

• External RMMs: The API can ingest ticket data from tools like ConnectWise or Autotask, synchronising status and comments.
• Payment Gateways: Stripe integration is baked in for online invoice payments; developers can extend this to PayPal, Mollie, or custom gateways.
• Custom Fields & Workflows: The data model allows adding arbitrary JSON columns to any entity, enabling bespoke workflows without code changes.
• UI Customisation: Blade templates can be overridden in a resources/views/vendor/itflow directory, allowing teams to brand the portal or add new pages.

Developer Experience

• Documentation: The official docs (docs.itflow.org) cover API usage, deployment, and plugin development with code snippets and example payloads.
• Community & Support: A dedicated forum, issue tracker, and a Discord‑style chat channel provide quick answers. The project follows a transparent roadmap on TaskFlow, and pull requests are reviewed in the community before merging.
• Licensing: GPL‑v3 ensures that any derivative work remains open source, which is attractive for agencies that want to customise without paying licensing fees.

Use Cases

Advantages Over Alternatives

• Zero Licensing Cost: GPL‑v3 allows unlimited use and modification without subscription fees.
• Full Control: Self‑hosting means data never