OpnForm

OpnForm is a full‑stack, open‑source platform for building and hosting interactive forms, surveys, and event registrations. From a developer’s perspective it functions as a form‑as‑a‑service backend that exposes a rich API surface for creating, querying, and managing forms while providing a lightweight front‑end that can be embedded anywhere. The core technical workflow involves a REST/GraphQL API that persists form definitions and submissions in a PostgreSQL database, an optional Redis layer for caching and rate‑limiting, and a React/TypeScript SPA that renders forms on the client side. This separation of concerns makes OpnForm a compelling choice for teams that need to ship form‑centric features quickly without building a custom backend from scratch.

• Backend – The API is written in Node.js (TypeScript) using the NestJS framework. It follows a modular, service‑oriented architecture with dependency injection, making it straightforward to replace or extend individual components (e.g., switching the email provider). The data layer uses TypeORM to map entities to a PostgreSQL database, while optional Redis is used for session storage and caching. The API also exposes a WebSocket gateway for real‑time submission events.
• Frontend – A lightweight React + Vite bundle delivers the form builder UI and embed widgets. The builder supports drag‑and‑drop field placement, conditional logic, and theme editing, all powered by a schema‑driven form renderer that serializes to JSON for persistence.
• Containerization – The entire stack is distributed as Docker images (jhumanj/opnform-api, jhumanj/opnform-client). A Docker Compose file in the repository demonstrates a single‑node deployment, while Helm charts are planned for Kubernetes deployments.
• Security – The application implements CSRF protection, JWT authentication for API access, and file upload sanitization. Captcha integration (reCAPTCHA) is optional but recommended for public forms.

• Form Definition API – CRUD endpoints for form metadata, field schemas, and conditional logic. Forms are stored as JSON documents that can be versioned.
• Submission API – Secure endpoints for posting responses, including file uploads. Submissions are stored in a relational schema that allows efficient querying and CSV export.
• Webhook & Notification System – Developers can register HTTP webhooks, Slack/Discord messages, or email notifications that trigger on new submissions. The webhook payload includes the full submission JSON and metadata.
• Analytics SDK – A lightweight JavaScript snippet can be embedded alongside the form to push usage metrics (view counts, conversion rates) back to the API.
• Extensibility Hooks – The API exposes hooks for custom validation, transformation, or routing logic via middleware registration in NestJS. Plugins can also be added by mounting additional modules on the server.

OpnForm is designed for self‑hosting in a variety of environments:

• Bare Metal / VM – A single Docker container per service (API, client) with a PostgreSQL instance. Minimal resource footprint (~256 MiB RAM per container).
• Container Orchestration – Kubernetes manifests (Helm charts) enable horizontal scaling of the API layer, automatic rolling updates, and persistent volumes for PostgreSQL.
• CI/CD – The repository includes GitHub Actions that build Docker images, run tests, and push to Docker Hub. Developers can integrate these pipelines into their own CI/CD workflows.
• High Availability – By running multiple API replicas behind a load balancer and using PostgreSQL replication, the platform can sustain traffic spikes typical of event registrations or marketing campaigns.

OpnForm’s plugin architecture allows developers to extend the core functionality without modifying upstream code:

• Custom Field Types – New React components can be registered via a plugin manifest; the backend accepts their schema definitions.
• Third‑Party Auth – OAuth providers can be wired into the NestJS authentication module to allow single‑sign‑on for form creators.
• Data Export – Beyond CSV, developers can hook into the submission stream to push data to external analytics platforms (Mixpanel, Segment) or data warehouses (Snowflake, BigQuery).
• Webhooks – The built‑in webhook system supports both outgoing and incoming events, making it easy to integrate with CI pipelines or trigger serverless functions.

• Documentation – The official docs (docs.opnform.com) cover API reference, deployment guides, and plugin development. The codebase follows clean architecture principles, making navigation intuitive for newcomers.
• Community – A Discord server and GitHub Discussions channel provide rapid support. The AGPLv3 license encourages contributions while protecting the open‑source nature of the project.
• Testing – Unit and integration tests are written in Jest, with coverage reports available on PRs. The Docker Compose test suite runs end‑to‑end scenarios against the API and client.

• Event Management – Create RSVP forms with file uploads (e.g., photo ID) and send Slack notifications to the event team.
• Customer Feedback – Deploy a survey with conditional logic and export results to a CSV for analysis in BI tools.
• Internal HR Forms – Host leave requests or expense claims with secure authentication and audit trails.
• Marketing Campaigns – Embed lead‑generation forms on landing pages, trigger email confirmations, and track conversion rates via the analytics SDK.

• **Performance