MicroStack: A Fully Deployed Microservices Architecture (Auth + File Upload + Notifications)

MicroStack is a production-style microservices architecture built using:

• Node.js (Express)
• Docker & Docker Compose
• PostgreSQL + Prisma
• Redis (Upstash)
• Nodemailer (Ethereal)
• Render (Cloud hosting)

This project demonstrates real-world backend engineering, including service isolation, inter-service communication, queues, deployments, and environment handling.

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📦 Microservices Included

1️⃣ Auth Service

Handles user identity and authentication.

Features:

• User registration
• Login
• JWT token generation
• Password hashing (bcryptjs)
• PostgreSQL + Prisma ORM

Live Service URL:

https://microstack-auth-service.onrender.com

Endpoints:

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/auth/register	Register new user
POST	/auth/login	Login, returns JWT
GET	/auth/me	Get user profile (requires token)

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2️⃣ File Service

Handles file uploads and returns a public URL.

Features:

• Accepts multipart/form-data
• Uses multer for storage
• Protected via JWT

Live Service URL:

https://microstack-file-service.onrender.com

Endpoint:

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/file/upload	Upload a file

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3️⃣ Notification Service

Handles async email notifications using Redis-based event architecture.

Features:

• Publishes & subscribes via Redis
• Sends emails using Nodemailer
• Ethereal email previews

Live Service URL:

https://microstack-notification-service.onrender.com

Endpoint:

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/notify/email	Send email notification

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🌐 Deployment Architecture

MicroStack uses different architectures for local vs cloud environments.

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🖥️ Local Architecture (Docker + NGINX Gateway)

                        ┌────────────┐
Request → NGINX Gateway →  Auth Service
                        ├────────────┤
                        → File Service
                        ├────────────┤
                        → Notification Service

Docker Compose spins up:

• Auth Service
• File Service
• Notification Service
• Redis
• PostgreSQL
• NGINX API Gateway

Run locally via:

docker compose up --build

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☁️ Cloud Architecture (Render — Independent Microservices)

Each service is deployed as a standalone microservice:

Auth Service → Public URL
File Service → Public URL
Notification Service → Public URL

This represents true microservice principles:

• Independent deployment
• Independent logs
• Independent scaling

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🧪 API Testing Examples

1️⃣ Register

POST https://microstack-auth-service.onrender.com/auth/register
{
  "name": "kishlay",
  "email": "test@example.com",
  "password": "pass123"
}

2️⃣ Login

POST https://microstack-auth-service.onrender.com/auth/login

Copy the returned token.

3️⃣ Get Profile

GET https://microstack-auth-service.onrender.com/auth/me
Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>

4️⃣ Upload File

POST https://microstack-file-service.onrender.com/file/upload
Headers: Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>
Body: multipart/form-data field "file"

5️⃣ Send Notification

POST https://microstack-notification-service.onrender.com/notify/email
{
  "to": "test@example.com",
  "subject": "Hello",
  "message": "From MicroStack"
}

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⚙️ Local Development

Requirements:

• Docker
• Node.js (optional if not running inside Docker)

Steps:

Clone the project:

git clone https://github.com/innovatewithkishlay/MicroStack.git
cd MicroStack/microstack

Start full microservices stack:

docker compose up --build

Run automated verification:

bash verify.sh

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📁 Project Structure

microstack/
│
├── auth-service/
├── file-service/
├── notification-service/
├── gateway/            # Local NGINX Gateway
├── shared/             # Shared utils (JWT etc.)
├── verify.sh           # Automated test script
├── docker-compose.yml
└── README.md

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🧠 What This Project Demonstrates

• Microservice isolation
• API gateways (local only)
• Cloud deployments without gateway
• Redis pub/sub communication
• Prisma migrations & cloud database handling
• JWT authentication
• Docker development workflow

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🚀 Future Improvements

• Add frontend dashboard
• Add Prometheus + Grafana monitoring
• Rate limiting with Redis
• Kubernetes deployment (Helm chart)
• File storage via AWS S3

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👤 Author

Kishlay Kumar
Full Stack Developer | Backend Learner | Building in Public

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