Requirements

Purpose

This page documents what is required to run, develop, and deploy the new motmaina backend as it exists today. The requirements below are based on the current NestJS repository, its Docker workflow, Prisma setup, environment files, and project scripts.

Minimum Development Prerequisites

The repository currently assumes the following tools are available:

Node.js and npm for local dependency installation, Prisma commands, and direct local execution
Docker and Docker Compose for the recommended development workflow
Make for the project shortcuts defined in the root Makefile
MySQL 8.0 compatible database access
OpenSSL or the provided certificate-generation container workflow for local HTTPS development

The documented and preferred local path is Docker-based development rather than a pure local Node process.

Application Runtime Requirements

The backend currently requires:

a valid .env file in the backend root
installed npm dependencies from package.json
generated Prisma client code
access to a primary MySQL database
access to a Prisma shadow database for migration workflows

Without both DATABASE_URL and SHADOW_DATABASE_URL, the local development and migration flow is incomplete.

Core Environment Variables

The checked-in environment templates show that the application currently depends on a non-trivial configuration surface. The required areas are:

Application Configuration

NODE_ENV
PORT
BASE_URL
CONTENT_URL
APP_DEFAULT_LANGUAGE
APP_TIMEZONE

These values control runtime mode, exposed HTTP port, cross-service URLs, and locale behavior.

Database Configuration

MYSQL_HOST
MYSQL_PORT
MYSQL_DATABASE
MYSQL_SHADOW_DATABASE
MYSQL_USER
MYSQL_PASSWORD
DATABASE_URL
SHADOW_DATABASE_URL

The backend uses Prisma, so the URL-style connection strings are the real runtime inputs, while the split MySQL variables support local environment composition and Docker setup.

Authentication and Security Configuration

JWT_SECRET
JWT_EXPIRATION
JWT_REFRESH_EXPIRATION
OTP_EXPIRATION

These are required for authentication flows and token lifecycle behavior.

Integration and Messaging Configuration

SMTP settings for outbound mail
Mailhog-compatible local mail settings in development
Deewan messaging credentials for SMS or WhatsApp style delivery
Sentry DSN and environment values when observability is enabled

Some of these are optional in local development, but they are part of the expected production-ready configuration surface.

Database and Prisma Requirements

The backend data layer is Prisma-first, so the following are required before the API can function reliably:

the Prisma schema must be in sync with the MySQL schema
npm run generate must be executed after dependency install and after Prisma schema changes
database migrations must be applied before serving traffic
optional seeders may be run to populate local reference or test data

The repository scripts currently expose this flow directly:

npm run generate
npm run migrate
npm run deploy
npm run reset
npm run seed
npm run studio

For development, the Makefile wraps part of this process through Docker so the normal path is:

create .env from .env.development
start containers with make watch or make up
run make generate
optionally run make seed

Recommended Local Development Requirements

The repository strongly favors Docker-based local development. The current compose setup expects these services:

api for the NestJS application
db for MySQL 8.0
proxy for local HTTP and HTTPS termination
mailhog for local email inspection

The local stack currently exposes:

https://api.localhost through the Nginx proxy
API container port 3000
MySQL on port 3306
Mailhog UI on port 8025
Mailhog SMTP on port 1025

This means a complete local development environment is expected to include not only the API process and database, but also HTTPS termination and email capture.

Certificate and HTTPS Requirements

The Docker development flow is built around local HTTPS. The repository includes a make certs helper to generate self-signed certificates for:

api.localhost
mailhog.localhost

The certificates must then be trusted by the local operating system if browser-based HTTPS access is expected to work without warnings.

Health and Operational Requirements

The development stack depends on the backend reporting as healthy. Docker Compose waits for:

MySQL container health
API health through GET /health

This means the health module is not just observability infrastructure; it is part of the runtime readiness contract for local orchestration.

Documentation and Developer Tooling Requirements

The repository expects modern TypeScript and NestJS developer tooling:

TypeScript compilation through Nest CLI
ESLint for linting and lint checks
Prettier for formatting
Jest for unit and e2e testing
Husky for Git hook preparation

These are not strictly required to boot the API, but they are part of the expected contribution workflow.

Testing Requirements

The backend currently supports:

unit tests with npm run test
watch mode with npm run test:watch
coverage with npm run test:cov
e2e testing with npm run test:e2e

The repository also defines coverage thresholds for parts of the auth module, which means backend changes are expected to maintain a measurable testing baseline rather than rely only on manual verification.

Production-Oriented Requirements

The production container setup indicates additional expectations beyond local development:

the backend is built into dist/
Prisma client generation happens during image build
the application is started through PM2 runtime
migrations should be applied with npm run deploy rather than development migration commands

This suggests the intended production model is:

immutable application image
environment-injected configuration
separately managed MySQL infrastructure
deployment-time migration execution

Requirement Summary

To run the new backend successfully today, a team needs:

Node.js, npm, Docker, Docker Compose, and Make
MySQL 8.0 and a shadow database for Prisma
valid environment variables for app, database, auth, and integrations
Prisma generate and migration steps completed
optional local HTTPS certificates for the recommended Docker workflow
operational support for health checks, logging, and external messaging or monitoring integrations

In practical terms, this backend is not a single-process local app. It is a service-oriented NestJS API that already expects containerized development, structured environment management, and database lifecycle discipline.