Krayin CRM

Krayin CRM is a fully self‑hosted customer relationship management platform engineered for developers who need a modular, high‑performance backend coupled with a modern JavaScript UI. Built on Laravel 10+ (PHP 8.1+) and Vue.js 3, it exposes a rich set of RESTful endpoints, event‑driven hooks, and an extensible plugin architecture that lets teams augment core functionality without touching the core codebase. The application is designed to run on standard LAMP/LEMP stacks (Apache 2 or NGINX) and supports MySQL 5.7+ / MariaDB 10.2+ out of the box, with optional Redis for caching and queueing.

Technical Stack & Architecture

• Backend: Laravel 10+ framework, Eloquent ORM, Horizon for queue monitoring, Sail for local Docker development. The core logic is split into Modules (e.g., Contacts, Deals, Emails) that register their own routes, migrations, and service providers.
• Frontend: Vue 3 with Composition API, Vite as the build tool, and TailwindCSS for styling. The SPA consumes Laravel Sanctum‑protected API endpoints, enabling stateless authentication across microservices if needed.
• Database: Relational schema with pivot tables for many‑to‑many relationships (contacts ↔ companies, deals ↔ contacts). The modular migrations allow developers to add custom tables per module.
• Queue & Events: Laravel queues (database, Redis) handle background jobs such as email parsing via SendGrid and webhook notifications. Event listeners are loosely coupled, enabling developers to subscribe to domain events (ContactCreated, DealClosed) via Laravel’s event system or external services.

Core Capabilities for Developers

• RESTful API: Every CRUD operation is exposed through versioned endpoints (/api/v1/contacts). Authentication uses Laravel Sanctum, supporting both session and token‑based workflows.
• Webhooks & Callbacks: Outbound webhooks can be configured per event, allowing integration with external SaaS (e.g., Slack, HubSpot). Incoming webhooks are also supported for lead capture.
• Plugin System: Modules can be packaged as Composer packages and installed via composer require. Each module implements a KrayinModuleInterface that registers routes, migrations, and service providers.
• Custom Attributes: Developers can define dynamic fields per entity (contact, company) through the UI or via migration scripts, enabling flexible data models without schema changes.
• Email Parsing: Integrated with SendGrid’s Inbound Parse, incoming emails are automatically routed to the appropriate contact or deal based on regex rules defined in code.

Deployment & Infrastructure

• Containerization: Official Docker images are available; the project ships with a docker-compose.yml that orchestrates web, database, and Redis services.
• Scalability: Horizontal scaling is straightforward—multiple web containers can share a common database and Redis cluster. Laravel’s queue workers can be scaled independently to process high‑volume email parsing or notification jobs.
• Self‑Hosting Requirements: Minimum 3 GB RAM, PHP 8.1+, Node LTS for asset compilation, and Composer 2+. The application can run on any server supporting PHP‑FPM or Apache/NGINX.
• Production Hardening: The docs recommend removing dev dependencies (composer install --no-dev) and disabling debug mode. Environment variables can be injected via Docker secrets or CI/CD pipelines.

Integration & Extensibility

• APIs: Full CRUD plus search, pagination, and filtering support. OAuth2 can be added via Laravel Passport if multi‑tenant authentication is required.
• Webhooks: Triggered on create/update/delete events; payloads are JSON and can be verified with HMAC signatures.
• Customization: Blade views can be overridden by publishing assets (php artisan vendor:publish --tag=views). Vue components are also publishable, allowing UI tweaks without modifying core code.
• Third‑Party Plugins: The community can develop modules for analytics, reporting, or integrations (e.g., Zapier). These are distributed via Packagist and can be installed like any Laravel package.

Developer Experience

• Documentation: The official docs (https://devdocs.krayincrm.com) cover installation, module development, API usage, and Docker deployment.
• Community: A dedicated forum (forums.krayincrm.com) and GitHub issues channel provide support and feature discussion.
• Configuration: All critical settings (mail, database, cache) are environment‑driven; the .env.example file is comprehensive.
• Testing: The codebase includes PHPUnit tests for core modules, and developers can extend them with feature tests or contract tests against the API.

Use Cases

Advantages Over Alternatives

| Feature | Krayin CRM | Competitors (e.g., SuiteCRM,