Technology Stack

PBS Knowledge is built with modern, well-supported technologies chosen for developer experience and maintainability.

Frontend

Technology	Version	Purpose
Svelte	5.x	Reactive UI framework
Vite	6.x	Build tool and dev server
TypeScript	5.x	Type-safe JavaScript
Tailwind CSS	3.x	Utility-first CSS
Felte	1.x	Form management
AJV	8.x	JSON Schema validation
Cytoscape.js	3.x	Network visualization

Frontend Structure

frontend/
├── src/
│   ├── lib/
│   │   ├── api.ts          # API client
│   │   ├── components/     # Reusable components
│   │   ├── forms/          # Schema-driven forms
│   │   ├── stores/         # Svelte stores
│   │   └── types/          # TypeScript types
│   ├── pages/              # Full-page components
│   └── routes/             # Route components
├── public/                 # Static assets
└── tailwind.config.js      # Tailwind configuration

Backend

Technology	Version	Purpose
Node.js	20.x	Runtime environment
Fastify	5.x	Web framework
TypeScript	5.x	Type-safe JavaScript
BullMQ	5.x	Job queue
node-fetch	3.x	HTTP client

Backend Structure

backend/
├── src/
│   ├── routes/           # API route handlers
│   ├── services/         # Business logic
│   ├── plugins/          # Fastify plugins
│   ├── middleware/       # Request middleware
│   ├── workers/          # Background job processors
│   ├── schema/           # TerminusDB schema
│   └── types/            # TypeScript types
├── scripts/              # Utility scripts
└── data/                 # Static data files

Database

Technology	Version	Purpose
TerminusDB	11.2.x	Knowledge graph database
Redis	7.x	Cache and job queue
Firebase Firestore	-	Document storage

Why TerminusDB?

TerminusDB was chosen for its:

• Graph-native model - Natural fit for academic relationships
• GraphQL API - Flexible querying
• Schema enforcement - Type safety at database level
• Version control - Branch and merge data changes

Authentication

Technology	Purpose
SAML 2.0	Dartmouth SSO integration
Firebase Auth	Token management
JWT	API authentication

Infrastructure

Technology	Purpose
Docker	Containerization
Docker Compose	Container orchestration
NGINX	Reverse proxy, SSL
GitHub Actions	CI/CD

External APIs

API	Purpose
Dartmouth Developer API	People, courses, enrollments
OpenAlex	Publications, citations
AWS SES	Email delivery

Development Tools

Tool	Purpose
ESLint	Code linting
Prettier	Code formatting
Vitest	Unit testing
TypeScript	Type checking

Browser Support

The frontend supports modern browsers:

• Chrome/Edge (last 2 versions)
• Firefox (last 2 versions)
• Safari (last 2 versions)

Internet Explorer is not supported.