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ServerKit/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
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Juan Denis f4a926a69e Add sidebar prefs, workflow & docs updates
Add user-configurable sidebar and initial workflow/environment features across backend, frontend, and docs.

Backend: store sidebar_config on User (JSON column), add get_sidebar_config / set_sidebar_config helpers, include sidebar_config in user.to_dict(), and validate/update sidebar_config in the update_current_user API (preset and hiddenItems validation).

Frontend: refactor Sidebar to compute visible items via a shared sidebarItems module and memoized grouping/rendering; add settings UI and sidebarItems (new components) and update settings styles to support sidebar configuration.

Docs & README: update README and ARCHITECTURE to document Workflow Builder, Environment Pipeline, and other new/renamed features; bump roadmap versions and reorder/expand roadmap phases to reflect Visual Designer, Automation Engine, pipeline, and monitoring work.

Overall: wires up end-to-end support for customizable sidebar preferences, surfaces them via API, and updates UI + documentation to reflect new automation and pipeline features.
2026-03-23 01:04:29 -04:00

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ServerKit Architecture

Deep dive into how ServerKit connects domains, apps, containers, and databases.


Table of Contents


System Overview

                                    ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
                                    │                        INTERNET                             │
                                    └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                                                              │
                                                              ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                         YOUR SERVER                                                  │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │                                    NGINX (Reverse Proxy)                                      │  │
│  │                                      Port 80 / 443                                            │  │
│  │                                                                                               │  │
│  │   ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐              │  │
│  │   │ app1.com     │    │ app2.com     │    │ api.app3.com │    │ Private URLs │              │  │
│  │   │    :443      │    │    :443      │    │    :443      │    │  /p/abc123   │              │  │
│  │   └──────┬───────┘    └──────┬───────┘    └──────┬───────┘    └──────┬───────┘              │  │
│  └──────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼────────────────────────┘  │
│             │                   │                   │                   │                           │
│             │ proxy_pass        │ proxy_pass        │ proxy_pass        │ proxy_pass                │
│             ▼                   ▼                   ▼                   ▼                           │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                                    DOCKER CONTAINERS                                         │   │
│  │                                                                                              │   │
│  │   ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐             │   │
│  │   │  WordPress   │    │    Flask     │    │   Node.js    │    │   Custom     │             │   │
│  │   │  Port 8001   │    │  Port 8002   │    │  Port 8003   │    │  Port 8004   │             │   │
│  │   │              │    │              │    │              │    │              │             │   │
│  │   │ ┌──────────┐ │    │ ┌──────────┐ │    │ ┌──────────┐ │    │ ┌──────────┐ │             │   │
│  │   │ │ Apache   │ │    │ │ Gunicorn │ │    │ │   PM2    │ │    │ │  Your    │ │             │   │
│  │   │ │ PHP-FPM  │ │    │ │ Python   │ │    │ │ Express  │ │    │ │  App     │ │             │   │
│  │   │ └──────────┘ │    │ └──────────┘ │    │ └──────────┘ │    │ └──────────┘ │             │   │
│  │   └──────┬───────┘    └──────────────┘    └──────────────┘    └──────────────┘             │   │
│  │          │                                                                                  │   │
│  └──────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│             │                                                                                       │
│             ▼                                                                                       │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                                      DATABASES                                               │   │
│  │                                                                                              │   │
│  │   ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐             │   │
│  │   │    MySQL     │    │  PostgreSQL  │    │    Redis     │    │   MongoDB    │             │   │
│  │   │  Port 3306   │    │  Port 5432   │    │  Port 6379   │    │  Port 27017  │             │   │
│  │   └──────────────┘    └──────────────┘    └──────────────┘    └──────────────┘             │   │
│  │                                                                                              │   │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                                                                      │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Request Flow

What happens when a user visits your app:

User Request                    What Happens
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

  Browser                 1. DNS resolves app1.com to your server IP
     │
     ▼
┌─────────┐              2. Request hits Nginx on port 80/443
│  Nginx  │                 Nginx checks server_name directives
│ :80/443 │                 Matches "app1.com" → proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8001
└────┬────┘
     │
     ▼
┌─────────┐              3. Nginx forwards request to Docker container
│ Docker  │                 Container receives request on internal port
│ :8001   │                 App processes and returns response
└────┬────┘
     │
     ▼
┌─────────┐              4. Response flows back through Nginx
│ Response│                 SSL termination handled by Nginx
│  200 OK │                 User sees the page
└─────────┘

Template System

Template → App → Domain Lifecycle

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                              TEMPLATE LIBRARY                                    │
│                           /etc/serverkit/templates/                              │
│                                                                                  │
│   ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐             │
│   │WordPress│  │  Flask  │  │ Node.js │  │ Grafana │  │  n8n    │  ... 60+    │
│   │  .yaml  │  │  .yaml  │  │  .yaml  │  │  .yaml  │  │  .yaml  │             │
│   └────┬────┘  └────┬────┘  └────┬────┘  └────┬────┘  └────┬────┘             │
│        │            │            │            │            │                   │
└────────┼────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼───────────────────┘

Port Allocation

How ServerKit Finds Available Ports

ServerKit automatically scans the database, Docker, and system sockets to find the first available port (starting from 8000) for new applications, ensuring no conflicts occur during deployment.


Database Linking

How Apps Connect to Databases

ServerKit automates the creation of databases and users, then injects the credentials as environment variables (DB_HOST, DB_USER, etc.) directly into the application container, allowing for seamless connectivity.


Workflow Automation

ServerKit includes a node-based visual workflow builder for automating server tasks.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                              WORKFLOW BUILDER                                    │
│                                                                                  │
│   ┌───────────┐       ┌───────────┐       ┌───────────┐       ┌───────────┐      │
│   │  TRIGGER  │──────▶│  ACTION   │──────▶│ CONDITION │──────▶│  NOTIFY   │      │
│   │ (Git Push)│       │ (Build)   │       │ (Success?)│       │ (Discord) │      │
│   └───────────┘       └───────────┘       └─────┬─────┘       └───────────┘      │
│                                                 │                                │
│                                                 ▼                                │
│                                           ┌───────────┐                          │
│                                           │  ROLLBACK │                          │
│                                           └───────────┘                          │
│                                                                                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
  • Nodes: Represent individual steps (Triggers, Actions, Logic, Notifications).
  • Edges: Define the flow of execution.
  • Engine: The WorkflowService parses the JSON graph and executes steps sequentially or in parallel.

Environment Pipeline

Specifically designed for WordPress, the environment pipeline allows for professional staging/dev workflows.

┌──────────────┐ promotion  ┌──────────────┐ promotion  ┌──────────────┐
│     DEV      │───────────▶│   STAGING    │───────────▶│  PRODUCTION  │
│ (Standalone) │            │ (Standalone) │            │ (Production) │
└──────┬───────┘            └──────┬───────┘            └──────┬───────┘
       │                           │                           │
       └─────────── sync ──────────┴─────────── sync ──────────┘
  • Promotion: Push code (Git) and Database from a lower environment to a higher one.
  • Syncing: Pull the latest production database and media to dev/staging for testing.
  • Sanitization: Automatically strip sensitive user data during sync.

File Paths

Where Everything Lives

/var/serverkit/                          # ServerKit data root
├── apps/                                # All deployed applications
├── backups/                             # Database backups
└── ssl/                                 # SSL certificates

/etc/serverkit/                          # ServerKit configuration
├── templates/                           # Template library (YAML files)
└── config.yaml                          # Main config

Component Diagram

ServerKit follows a modern 3-tier architecture:

  1. Frontend: React-based dashboard served via Nginx.
  2. Backend: Flask REST API managing Docker, Nginx, and system services.
  3. Agent: Go-based remote agent for multi-server management.

Troubleshooting

Refer to the Deployment Guide for detailed troubleshooting steps regarding 502 errors, container failures, and networking issues.


See Also