Deployment and Architecture

Multi-tenancy Design

• Each event runs as a separate Rails instance with its own SQLite database
• Navigator (Go web server) or Phusion Passenger manages multiple instances on a single machine
• NGINX or Navigator handles routing to the correct instance based on URL patterns
• Shared Redis instance for Action Cable across all events on a machine
• Navigator is included as a git submodule in the navigator/ directory
• See navigator/README.md for details on the Go-based nginx/Passenger replacement

Deployment Environments

Test Environment (Kamal)

• URL: https://showcase.party/
• Deploy command: bundle exec kamal $* --config-file=deploy.yml
• Uses Kamal for deployment orchestration

Staging Environment (Fly.io)

• URL: https://smooth-nav.fly.dev/
• Deploy command: fly deploy --config nav.toml
• Uses Fly.io with custom navigator configuration

Admin/Backup Server (Git Hook)

• Runs index admin functions (user and location administration)
• Doubles as backup server of last resort
• Deploy command: git push (triggers post_update hook)
• Uses git push-based deployment with automatic hook execution

Production Environment

• Deploy command: fly deploy
• Uses Fly.io deployment

Deployment Architecture

• Runs on Fly.io across multiple regions globally
• Each region contains complete copy of all databases
• Automatic rsync backup between regions
• PDF generation runs on separate appliance machines via Fly-Replay routing
• Navigator supports app-based, machine-based, and region-based request routing
• Logging aggregated to dedicated logger instances

Database Schema

• SQLite databases per event (~1MB typical size)
• Volumes for persistent storage
• Automatic backups via rsync to multiple locations
• Daily snapshot backups maintained indefinitely

Frontend Stack

• Rails 8 with Import Maps (no Node.js build step)
• Stimulus.js for JavaScript behavior
• Turbo for SPA-like navigation
• TailwindCSS for styling
• Custom theme support per event

Asset Management

# Precompile assets
bin/rails assets:precompile

# Clean old assets
bin/rails assets:clean

# Remove all compiled assets
bin/rails assets:clobber

Real-time Updates

• Action Cable channels for live score updates
• Current heat tracking across all ballrooms
• WebSocket connections managed per event