Full-Stack App Design on Eve Horizon

Architect applications where the manifest is the blueprint, the platform handles infrastructure, and every design decision is intentional.

When to Use

Load this skill when:

• Designing a new application from scratch on Eve
• Migrating an existing app onto the platform
• Evaluating whether your current architecture uses Eve's capabilities well
• Planning service topology, database strategy, or deployment pipelines
• Deciding between managed and external services

This skill teaches design thinking for Eve's PaaS layer. For CLI usage and operational detail, load the corresponding eve-se skills (eve-manifest-authoring, eve-deploy-debugging, eve-auth-and-secrets, eve-pipelines-workflows).

The Manifest as Blueprint

The manifest (.eve/manifest.yaml) is the single source of truth for your application's shape. Treat it as an architectural document, not just configuration.

What the Manifest Declares

Concern	Manifest Section	Design Decision
Service topology	services	What processes run, how they connect
Infrastructure	services[].x-eve	Managed DB, ingress, roles
Build strategy	services[].build + registry	What gets built, where images live
Release pipeline	pipelines	How code flows from commit to production
Environment shape	environments	Which environments exist, what pipelines they use
Agent configuration	x-eve.agents, x-eve.chat	Agent profiles, team dispatch, chat routing
Runtime defaults	x-eve.defaults	Harness, workspace, git policies

Design principle: If an agent or operator can't understand your app's shape by reading the manifest, the manifest is incomplete.

Service Topology

Choose Your Services

Most Eve apps follow one of these patterns:

API + Database (simplest):

services:
  api:        # HTTP service with ingress
  db:         # managed Postgres

API + Worker + Database:

services:
  api:        # HTTP service (user-facing)
  worker:     # Background processor (jobs, queues)
  db:         # managed Postgres

Multi-Service:

services:
  web:        # Frontend/SSR
  api:        # Backend API
  worker:     # Background jobs
  db:         # managed Postgres
  redis:      # external cache (x-eve.external: true)

Service Design Rules

1. One concern per service. Separate HTTP serving from background processing. An API service should not also run scheduled jobs.
2. Use managed DB for Postgres. Declare x-eve.role: managed_db and let the platform provision, connect, and inject credentials. No manual connection strings.
3. Mark external services explicitly. Use x-eve.external: true with x-eve.connection_url for services hosted outside Eve (Redis, third-party APIs).
4. Use x-eve.role: job for one-off tasks. Migrations, seeds, and data backfills are job services, not persistent processes.
5. Expose ingress intentionally. Only services that need external HTTP access get x-eve.ingress.public: true. Internal services communicate via cluster networking.

App Object Storage

Apps that need to store files (uploads, avatars, exports) can declare object store buckets in the manifest:

services:
  api:
    x-eve:
      object_store:
        buckets:
          - name: uploads
            visibility: private
          - name: avatars
            visibility: public

Note: The database schema for app object stores exists, but automatic provisioning from the manifest is not yet wired. See references/object-store-filesystem.md for current status.

When wired, the platform injects STORAGE_ENDPOINT, STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY, STORAGE_SECRET_KEY, STORAGE_BUCKET, and STORAGE_FORCE_PATH_STYLE into the service container.

Platform-Injected Variables

Every deployed service receives EVE_API_URL, EVE_PUBLIC_API_URL, EVE_PROJECT_ID, EVE_ORG_ID, and EVE_ENV_NAME. Use EVE_API_URL for server-to-server calls. Use EVE_PUBLIC_API_URL for browser-facing code. Design your app to read these rather than hardcoding URLs.

Reference Architecture: SPA + API + Managed DB

The most common Eve fullstack pattern. A nginx-fronted SPA proxies API calls to an internal backend, with managed Postgres and eve-migrate for schema management.

Service Layout

services:
  web:        # nginx SPA (public ingress, proxies /api/ → api service)
  api:        # NestJS/Express backend (internal, no public ingress)
  db:         # managed Postgres 16
  migrate:    # eve-migrate job (runs SQL migrations)

Why nginx proxy? The web service's nginx reverse-proxies /api/ to the internal API service. This eliminates CORS, removes the need for hard-coded API hostnames, and gives the SPA same-origin access to the backend. The API service has no public ingress — it's only reachable inside the cluster.

Manifest Shape

services:
  api:
    build:
      context: ./apps/api
      dockerfile: ./apps/api/Dockerfile
    ports: [3000]
    environment:
      NODE_ENV: production
      DATABASE_URL: ${managed.db.url}
      CORS_ORIGIN: "https://myapp.eh1.incept5.dev"
    # No x-eve.ingress — API is internal only

  web:
    build:
      context: ./apps/web
      dockerfile: ./apps/web/Dockerfile
    ports: [80]
    environment:
      API_SERVICE_HOST: ${ENV_NAME}-api    # k8s service DNS for nginx proxy
    depends_on:
      api:
        condition: service_healthy
    x-eve:
      ingress:
        public: true
        port: 80
        alias: myapp                        # https://myapp.{org}-{project}-{env}.eh1.incept5.dev

  migrate:
    image: public.ecr.aws/w7c4v0w3/eve-horizon/migrate:latest
    environment:
      DATABASE_URL: ${managed.db.url}
      MIGRATIONS_DIR: /migrations
    x-eve:
      role: job
      files:
        - source: db/migrations
          target: /migrations

  db:
    x-eve:
      role: managed_db
      managed:
        class: db.p1
        engine: postgres
        engine_version: "16"

The nginx Proxy

The web service Dockerfile builds the SPA with Vite, then serves it via nginx. The nginx config uses envsubst to resolve ${API_SERVICE_HOST} at container startup:

server {
    listen 80;
    root /usr/share/nginx/html;
    index index.html;

    location /api/ {
        proxy_pass http://${API_SERVICE_HOST}:3000/;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_buffering off;
    }

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
    }

    location /health {
        return 200 "ok";
        add_header Content-Type text/plain;
    }
}

In the manifest, API_SERVICE_HOST: ${ENV_NAME}-api resolves to the k8s service name (e.g., sandbox-api), giving nginx a stable internal DNS target.

Eve-Migrate for Schema Management

Eve provides a purpose-built migration runner at public.ecr.aws/w7c4v0w3/eve-horizon/migrate:latest. It uses plain SQL files with timestamp prefixes, tracked in a schema_migrations table (idempotent, checksummed, transactional).

db/
  migrations/
    20260312000000_initial_schema.sql
    20260312100000_seed_data.sql
    20260315000000_add_status_column.sql

Mount migrations into the container via x-eve.files. The migrate step in the pipeline runs after deploy (the managed DB must be provisioned first).

Do not use TypeORM, Knex, or Flyway migrations — they add complexity and diverge from the Eve platform's migration tracking. The eve-migrate runner gives parity between local dev and staging.

Multi-Stage Dockerfiles

API Dockerfile (NestJS/Node):

FROM node:22-slim AS base
WORKDIR /app
ENV PNPM_HOME="/pnpm" PATH="$PNPM_HOME:$PATH"
RUN corepack enable && corepack prepare pnpm@latest --activate

FROM base AS deps
COPY package.json pnpm-lock.yaml ./
RUN pnpm install --frozen-lockfile 2>/dev/null || pnpm install

FROM deps AS build
COPY tsconfig.json ./
COPY src ./src
RUN pnpm build

FROM node:22-slim AS production
WORKDIR /app
RUN groupadd --gid 1000 node || true && useradd --uid 1000 --gid node --shell /bin/bash --create-home node || true
COPY --from=deps /app/node_modules ./node_modules
COPY --from=build /app/dist ./dist
COPY package.json ./
USER node
ENV NODE_ENV=production PORT=3000
EXPOSE 3000
HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=5s --start-period=10s --retries=3 \
    CMD node -e "fetch('http://localhost:3000/health').then(r => r.ok ? process.exit(0) : process.exit(1)).catch(() => process.exit(1))"
CMD ["node", "dist/main.js"]

Web Dockerfile (Vite SPA + nginx):

FROM node:22-slim AS build
WORKDIR /app
ENV PNPM_HOME="/pnpm" PATH="$PNPM_HOME:$PATH"
RUN corepack enable && corepack prepare pnpm@latest --activate
COPY package.json pnpm-lock.yaml ./
RUN pnpm install --frozen-lockfile 2>/dev/null || pnpm install
COPY tsconfig.json vite.config.ts index.html ./
COPY src ./src
RUN pnpm build

FROM nginx:alpine AS production
COPY --from=build /app/dist /usr/share/nginx/html
COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/templates/default.conf.template
EXPOSE 80
HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=5s --start-period=5s --retries=3 \
    CMD wget --no-verbose --tries=1 --spider http://localhost/health || exit 1
CMD ["nginx", "-g", "daemon off;"]

Conventions: node:22-slim base, pnpm via corepack, frozen lockfiles, non-root user (API), health checks on both services.

Database Design

Provisioning

Declare a managed database in the manifest:

services:
  db:
    x-eve:
      role: managed_db
      managed:
        class: db.p1
        engine: postgres
        engine_version: "16"

Reference the connection URL in other services: ${managed.db.url}.

Schema Strategy

1. Migrations are plain SQL. Create timestamp-prefixed SQL files in db/migrations/ (e.g., 20260312000000_initial.sql). Run via eve-migrate (see Reference Architecture above). Never modify production schemas by hand.
2. Design for RLS from the start. Every table with multi-tenant data gets org_id TEXT NOT NULL, RLS policies, and a DatabaseService that sets the session context (see below). Retrofitting row-level security is painful.
3. Inspect before changing. Use eve db schema to examine current schema. Use eve db sql --env <env> for ad-hoc queries during development.
4. Separate app data from agent data. Use distinct schemas or naming conventions. App tables serve the product; agent tables serve memory and coordination (see eve-agent-memory for storage patterns).

RLS + DatabaseService Pattern (NestJS)

The proven pattern for multi-tenant RLS in NestJS uses raw pg.Pool (not an ORM) with a request-scoped transaction wrapper:

db.ts — Pool configuration with startup health check:

import { Pool } from 'pg';

const databaseUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL || 'postgresql://app:app@localhost:5432/myapp';
const parsed = new URL(databaseUrl);
const isLocal = ['localhost', '127.0.0.1'].includes(parsed.hostname);

export const pool = new Pool({
  connectionString: databaseUrl,
  ssl: !isLocal ? { rejectUnauthorized: false } : undefined,
});

database.service.ts — Transaction wrapper with RLS context:

import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
import type { PoolClient, QueryResult, QueryResultRow } from 'pg';
import { pool } from '../db';

export interface DbContext {
  org_id: string;
  user_id?: string;
}

@Injectable()
export class DatabaseService {
  async withClient<T>(context: DbContext | null, fn: (client: PoolClient) => Promise<T>): Promise<T> {
    const client = await pool.connect();
    try {
      await client.query('BEGIN');
      if (context?.org_id) {
        await client.query("SELECT set_config('app.org_id', $1, true)", [context.org_id]);
      }
      if (context?.user_id) {
        await client.query("SELECT set_config('app.user_id', $1, true)", [context.user_id]);
      }
      const result = await fn(client);
      await client.query('COMMIT');
      return result;
    } catch (error) {
      await client.query('ROLLBACK');
      throw error;
    } finally {
      client.release();
    }
  }

  async query<T extends QueryResultRow>(ctx: DbContext | null, sql: string, params?: unknown[]): Promise<QueryResult<T>> {
    return this.withClient(ctx, (client) => client.query<T>(sql, params));
  }

  async queryOne<T extends QueryResultRow>(ctx: DbContext | null, sql: string, params?: unknown[]): Promise<T | null> {
    const result = await this.query<T>(ctx, sql, params);
    return result.rows[0] ?? null;
  }
}

Why this pattern?

• set_config('app.org_id', $1, true) is transaction-scoped — it automatically clears when the connection returns to the pool.
• Every database access goes through withClient, guaranteeing RLS context is set before any query.
• No ORM overhead — raw SQL gives full control over query plans and joins.
• The DbContext object is derived from req.user (set by Eve auth middleware).

RLS policy template (applied per table in migration SQL):

ALTER TABLE my_table ENABLE ROW LEVEL SECURITY;

CREATE POLICY my_table_select ON my_table FOR SELECT
  USING (current_setting('app.org_id', true) IS NOT NULL
    AND org_id = current_setting('app.org_id', true));

CREATE POLICY my_table_insert ON my_table FOR INSERT
  WITH CHECK (current_setting('app.org_id', true) IS NOT NULL
    AND org_id = current_setting('app.org_id', true));

CREATE POLICY my_table_update ON my_table FOR UPDATE
  USING (current_setting('app.org_id', true) IS NOT NULL
    AND org_id = current_setting('app.org_id', true))
  WITH CHECK (current_setting('app.org_id', true) IS NOT NULL
    AND org_id = current_setting('app.org_id', true));

Table conventions: Every table gets id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(), org_id TEXT NOT NULL, created_at TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW(), and updated_at TIMESTAMPTZ (with a trigger) on mutable tables. Enable pgcrypto extension in the first migration.

Access Patterns

Who Queries	How	Auth
App service	${managed.db.url} in service env	Connection string injected at deploy
Agent via CLI	eve db sql --env <env>	Job token scopes access
Agent via RLS	SQL with app.current_user_id()	Session context set by runtime

Build and Release Pipeline

The Canonical Flow

Every production app should follow build → release → deploy → migrate → smoke-test:

pipelines:
  deploy:
    steps:
      - name: build
        action:
          type: build          # Creates BuildSpec + BuildRun, produces image digests
      - name: release
        depends_on: [build]
        action:
          type: release        # Creates immutable release from build artifacts
      - name: deploy
        depends_on: [release]
        action:
          type: deploy         # Deploys release to target environment
      - name: migrate
        depends_on: [deploy]
        action:
          type: job
          service: migrate     # Runs eve-migrate against the managed DB
      - name: smoke-test
        depends_on: [migrate]
        script:
          run: ./scripts/smoke-test.sh
          timeout: 300

Why this order matters:

• build produces SHA256 image digests. release pins those exact digests. deploy uses the pinned release. You deploy exactly what you built — no tag drift, no "latest" surprises.
• migrate runs after deploy because the managed DB must be provisioned first. The eve-migrate job applies any pending SQL migrations.
• smoke-test validates the deployed services end-to-end before the pipeline reports success.

Registry Decisions

Option	When to Use
registry: "eve"	Default. Internal registry with JWT auth. Simplest setup.
BYO registry (GHCR, ECR)	When you need images accessible outside Eve, or have existing CI.
registry: "none"	Public base images only. No custom builds.

For GHCR, add OCI labels to Dockerfiles for automatic repository linking:

LABEL org.opencontainers.image.source="https://github.com/YOUR_ORG/YOUR_REPO"

Build Configuration

Every service with a custom image needs a build section:

services:
  api:
    build:
      context: ./apps/api
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    image: ghcr.io/org/my-api

Use multi-stage Dockerfiles. BuildKit handles them natively. Place the OCI label on the final stage.

Deployment and Environments

Environment Strategy

Environment	Type	Purpose	Pipeline
staging	persistent	Integration testing, demos	deploy
production	persistent	Live traffic	deploy (with promotion)
preview-*	temporary	PR previews, feature branches	deploy (auto-cleanup)

Link each environment to a pipeline in the manifest:

environments:
  staging:
    pipeline: deploy
  production:
    pipeline: deploy

Deployment Patterns

Standard deploy: eve env deploy staging --ref main --repo-dir . triggers the linked pipeline.

Direct deploy (bypass pipeline): eve env deploy staging --ref <sha> --direct for emergencies or simple setups.

Promotion: Build once in staging, then promote the same release artifacts to production. The build step's digests carry forward, guaranteeing identical images.

Recovery

When a deploy fails:

1. Diagnose: eve env diagnose <project> <env> — shows health, recent deploys, service status.
2. Logs: eve env logs <project> <env> — container output.
3. Rollback: Redeploy the previous known-good release.
4. Reset: eve env reset <project> <env> — nuclear option, reprovisions from scratch.

Design your app to be rollback-safe: migrations should be forward-compatible, and services should handle schema version mismatches gracefully during rolling deploys.

Secrets and Configuration

Scoping Model

Secrets resolve with cascading precedence: project > user > org > system. A project-level API_KEY overrides an org-level API_KEY.

Design Rules

1. Set secrets per-project. Use eve secrets set KEY "value" --project proj_xxx. Keep project secrets self-contained.
2. Use interpolation in the manifest. Reference ${secret.KEY} in service environment blocks. The platform resolves at deploy time.
3. Validate before deploying. Run eve manifest validate --validate-secrets to catch missing secret references before they cause deploy failures.
4. Use .eve/dev-secrets.yaml for local development. Mirror the production secret keys with local values. This file is gitignored.
5. Never store secrets in environment variables directly. Always use ${secret.KEY} interpolation. This ensures secrets flow through the platform's resolution and audit chain.

Git Credentials

Agents need repository access. Set either github_token (HTTPS) or ssh_key (SSH) as project secrets. The worker injects these automatically during git operations.

SSO Authentication

Adding SSO to Your App

Eve provides shared auth packages that eliminate boilerplate. Add Eve SSO login in ~25 lines of code.

Backend (@eve-horizon/auth):

import { eveUserAuth, eveAuthGuard, eveAuthConfig } from '@eve-horizon/auth';

app.use(eveUserAuth());                                     // Parse tokens (non-blocking)
app.get('/auth/config', eveAuthConfig());                   // Serve SSO discovery
app.get('/auth/me', eveAuthGuard(), (req, res) => {
  res.json(req.eveUser);                                    // { id, email, orgId, role }
});
app.use('/api', eveAuthGuard());                            // Protect all API routes

Frontend (@eve-horizon/auth-react):

import { EveAuthProvider, EveLoginGate } from '@eve-horizon/auth-react';

function App() {
  return (
    <EveAuthProvider apiUrl="/api">
      <EveLoginGate>
        <ProtectedApp />
      </EveLoginGate>
    </EveAuthProvider>
  );
}

For authenticated API calls from components, use createEveClient:

import { createEveClient } from '@eve-horizon/auth-react';
const client = createEveClient('/api');
const res = await client.fetch('/data');

Custom auth gate — When you need control over loading and login states (custom login page, richer loading UI), use useEveAuth() directly instead of EveLoginGate:

import { EveAuthProvider, useEveAuth } from '@eve-horizon/auth-react';

function AuthGate() {
  const { user, loading, loginWithToken, loginWithSso, logout } = useEveAuth();
  if (loading) return <Spinner />;
  if (!user) return <LoginPage onSso={loginWithSso} onToken={loginWithToken} />;
  return <AppShell user={user} onLogout={logout}><Routes /></AppShell>;
}

export default function App() {
  return (
    <EveAuthProvider apiUrl={API_BASE}>
      <AuthGate />
    </EveAuthProvider>
  );
}

How It Works

1. EveAuthProvider checks sessionStorage for cached token
2. If no token, probes SSO broker /session (root-domain cookie)
3. If SSO session exists, gets fresh Eve RS256 token
4. If no session, shows login form (SSO redirect or token paste)
5. All API requests include Authorization: Bearer <token>

NestJS Backend

Apply eveUserAuth() as global middleware in main.ts. If existing controllers expect req.user rather than req.eveUser, add a thin bridge that maps Eve roles to app-specific roles in one place:

import { eveUserAuth } from '@eve-horizon/auth';

app.use(eveUserAuth());
app.use((req, _res, next) => {
  if (req.eveUser) {
    req.user = { ...req.eveUser, role: req.eveUser.role === 'member' ? 'viewer' : 'admin' };
  }
  next();
});

Auto-Injected Variables

The platform injects EVE_SSO_URL, EVE_API_URL, and EVE_ORG_ID into deployed containers. No manual configuration needed. Use ${SSO_URL} in manifest env blocks for frontend-accessible SSO URLs.

Design Rules

1. Use the SDK, not custom auth. The SDK replaces ~750 lines of hand-rolled auth with ~50 lines.
2. Non-blocking middleware first. Use eveUserAuth() globally, then eveAuthGuard() on protected routes. This enables mixed public/private routes.
3. The /auth/config endpoint is the handshake. The frontend discovers the SSO URL by calling the backend's eveAuthConfig() endpoint. This decouples the frontend from platform env vars and works identically in local dev and deployed environments.
4. Design for token staleness. The orgs JWT claim reflects membership at mint time (1-day TTL). Use strategy: 'remote' for immediate revocation if needed.

For full SDK reference, see references/auth-sdk.md in the eve-read-eve-docs skill.

Observability and Debugging

The Debugging Ladder

Escalate through these stages:

1. Status    → eve env show <project> <env>
2. Diagnose  → eve env diagnose <project> <env>
3. Logs      → eve env logs <project> <env>
4. Pipeline  → eve pipeline logs <pipeline> <run-id> --follow
5. Recover   → eve env deploy (rollback) or eve env reset

Start at the top. Each stage provides more detail and more cost. Most issues resolve at stages 1-2.

Pipeline Observability

Monitor pipeline execution in real time:

eve pipeline logs <pipeline> <run-id> --follow         # stream all steps
eve pipeline logs <pipeline> <run-id> --follow --step build  # stream one step

Failed steps include failure hints and link to build diagnostics when applicable.

Build Debugging

When builds fail:

eve build list --project <project_id>
eve build diagnose <build_id>
eve build logs <build_id>

Common causes: missing registry credentials, Dockerfile path mismatch, build context too large.

Health Checks

Design services with health endpoints. Eve polls health to determine deployment readiness. A deploy is complete when ready === true and active_pipeline_run === null.

Design Checklist

Service Topology:

• Each service has one responsibility
• Managed DB declared for Postgres needs
• External services marked with x-eve.external: true
• Only public-facing services have ingress enabled
• Platform-injected env vars used (not hardcoded URLs)

Database:

• Migrations are plain SQL files in db/migrations/ with timestamp prefixes
• eve-migrate job service declared in manifest with x-eve.files mount
• DatabaseService wraps all DB access with RLS context (set_config)
• RLS policies on every table with org_id
• pgcrypto extension enabled, UUID primary keys, updated_at triggers
• App data separated from agent data by schema or convention

Pipeline:

• Canonical build → release → deploy → migrate → smoke-test pipeline defined
• Migrate step runs after deploy (managed DB must exist first)
• Smoke test script validates deployed services end-to-end
• Registry chosen and credentials set as secrets
• OCI labels on Dockerfiles (for GHCR)
• Image digests flow through release (no tag-based deploys)

Environments:

• Staging and production environments defined
• Each environment linked to a pipeline
• Promotion workflow defined (build once, deploy many)
• Recovery procedure known (diagnose -> rollback -> reset)

Secrets:

• All secrets set per-project via eve secrets set
• Manifest uses ${secret.KEY} interpolation
• eve manifest validate --validate-secrets passes
• .eve/dev-secrets.yaml exists for local development
• Git credentials (github_token or ssh_key) configured

Authentication:

• @eve-horizon/auth middleware added to backend (eveUserAuth + eveAuthGuard)
• Auth config endpoint serves SSO discovery (eveAuthConfig)
• @eve-horizon/auth-react wraps frontend (EveAuthProvider + EveLoginGate or custom useEveAuth gate)
• createEveClient used for authenticated API calls from frontend
• Platform-injected auth env vars used (EVE_SSO_URL, EVE_ORG_ID)
• Eve roles mapped to app roles in one place (bridge middleware), not scattered across controllers

Observability:

• Services expose health endpoints
• The debugging ladder is understood (status -> diagnose -> logs -> recover)
• Pipeline logs are accessible via eve pipeline logs --follow

Cross-References

• Manifest syntax and options: eve-manifest-authoring
• Deploy commands and error resolution: eve-deploy-debugging
• Secret management and access groups: eve-auth-and-secrets
• Pipeline and workflow definitions: eve-pipelines-workflows
• Local development workflow: eve-local-dev-loop
• Layering agentic capabilities onto this foundation: eve-agentic-app-design
• Auth SDK and SSO integration: eve-read-eve-docs → references/auth-sdk.md
• Object storage and filesystem: eve-read-eve-docs → references/object-store-filesystem.md
• External integrations (Slack, GitHub): eve-read-eve-docs → references/integrations.md