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Blueprint: Development Lifecycle

This guide outlines the development standards, technology stack, and architectural patterns used in the Ticket Masala ecosystem.

The "Monolith First" Doctrine

Ticket Masala is built as a Modular Monolith. We prioritize simplicity and local performance over complex microservices.

  • Single Process: Core services, AI workers, and the web interface run in a single container.
  • SQLite Performance: We use SQLite for the data layer, leveraging WAL (Write-Ahead Logging) for concurrent access.
  • In-Memory Messaging: System.Threading.Channels replaces external message brokers like RabbitMQ.

Technology Stack

  • Platform: .NET 10 (C#)
  • Framework: ASP.NET Core MVC (Web) / Minimal APIs (Gatekeeper)
  • Data Layer: Entity Framework Core with SQLite
  • Intelligence: ML.NET (In-Process)
  • Templating: Scriban (Ingestion Mapping)
  • Frontend: Vanilla CSS / JS (Professional Design System)

Core Architectural Patterns

1. Repository & Unit of Work

Ensures consistent data access and transaction boundaries.

2. The Observer Pattern

Decouples core business logic from side-effects (e.g., sending an email or triggering an AI re-ranking).

3. Strategy Pattern (GERDA AI)

Allows for swappable algorithms for ranking and dispatching, configured via the DSL.

Getting Started

1. Prerequisites

  • .NET SDK (latest stable)
  • SQLite Tools
  • Docker (optional, for localized testing)

2. Initial Setup

git clone ...
cd ticket-masala
dotnet restore
dotnet run --project src/TicketMasala.Web

3. Working with Seed Data

The system automatically seeds the database from config/seed_data.json if it's empty. Use this to quickly set up a test environment with Admin, Employee, and Customer roles.

Quality Standards

  • Compile Safety: All domain rules must be verified by the Rule Compiler at startup.
  • Performance: DB queries must use indexed paths (FTS5 / Generated Columns).
  • Security: CSRF protection and role-based authorization (RBAC) are non-negotiable.

References