2022-11-06 17:39:49 +01:00
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---
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title: FreeSewing backend
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---
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2022-11-06 20:16:01 +01:00
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The FreeSewing backend handles all user data. Prior to version 3 of FreeSewing,
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the backend was only used internally as the data store for our frontend, the
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FreeSewing.org website.
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In version 3, we have rewritten the backend with the explicit goal to offer it
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as a service to users and developers. This allows integration with other tools
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such as hosted instances of our lab, CLI tools, serverless runners, CI/CD
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environments and so on.
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In other words, we no longer merely provide our own frontend, you can now also
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use our backend as a service to build your own projects.
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## Changes for developers
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2022-11-06 20:20:22 +01:00
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We've made a number of changes to make it easier for external developers and
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contributors to work with our backend.
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2022-11-06 20:16:01 +01:00
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### Authentication with JWT and API keys
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Before version 3, the backend only supported authentication via JSON Web
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Tokens. That's fine for a browser session, but not very handy if you want to
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talk to the API directly.
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Since version 3, we support authentication with API keys. Furthermore, we
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allow any FreeSewing user to generate their own API keys.
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In other words, if you want to connect to our backend API, you don't need to
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ask us. You can generate your own API key and start right away.
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### Sqlite instead of MongoDB
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Our backend used to use MongoDB for storage. Since version 3, we've moved to
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Sqlite which is a file-based database making local development a breeze since
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you don't need to run a local database server.
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### Sanity instead of local storage
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We now use Sanity and the Sanity API to stored images for users (avatars for
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user accounts and people). Furthermore, we also generate PDFs in the browser
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now so we also don't need storage for that.
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As a result, our backend does not need any storage, only access to the Sqlite
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file. This also makes it easier to work with the backend as a developer.
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## Use, don't abuse
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Our backend API runs in a cloud environment and while we do not charge for
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access to the API, we do need to pay the bills of said cloud provider.
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As such, please be mindful of the amount of requests you generate. And if you
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have big plans, please reach out to us to discuss them first.
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We will monitor the use of our backend API and we may at any moment decide to
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revoke API keys if we feel the use is beyond what we can or want to support.
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