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Definable follows a modular, service-oriented architecture built with FastAPI that emphasizes scalability, maintainability, and developer experience. This document provides a high-level overview of the system architecture and its core design principles.

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Core Architecture

The Definable backend is built with a clean, layered architecture that separates concerns and promotes reusability:

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Key Components

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API Layer

  • FastAPI Application: The entry point for all HTTP requests, providing automatic OpenAPI documentation
  • Manager: Automatically discovers and registers service endpoints
  • Middlewares: Handle cross-cutting concerns like authentication, error handling, and request logging
  • Router: Maps HTTP requests to appropriate service methods

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Service Layer

  • Service Classes: Each service encapsulates a domain-specific set of functionality
  • Service Discovery: Services are automatically discovered and registered by the Manager
  • HTTP Exposure: Services define which methods are exposed as HTTP endpoints via the http_exposed property
  • Business Logic: Implements core application functionality separated by domain

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Data Layer

  • Models: SQLAlchemy ORM models representing database entities
  • Schemas: Pydantic models for request/response validation and serialization
  • Database: Asynchronous PostgreSQL connections managed through SQLAlchemy
  • Migrations: Managed with Alembic for version-controlled schema changes

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Integration Layer

  • Libraries: Pluggable components for integrating with external services
  • Vector Storage: PGVector for embeddings storage and similarity search
  • Cloud Storage: S3 integration for file storage
  • LLM Providers: Adapters for OpenAI, Anthropic, and other LLM providers

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Design Patterns

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Service Pattern

Services in Definable follow a consistent pattern: 
class AuthService:
  """Authentication service."""

  http_exposed = ["post=signup", "post=login", "get=me"]

  def __init__(self, acquire: Acquire):
    """Initialize service with dependencies."""
    self.acquire = acquire
    self.logger = acquire.logger
    
  async def post_signup(self, user_data: UserSignup) -> UserResponse:
    """Handle user signup endpoint."""
    # Implementation...
Each service:
  • Defines which methods are exposed as HTTP endpoints
  • Receives dependencies through the Acquire class
  • Uses consistent naming conventions (method_resource format)
  • Uses Pydantic schemas for input validation and response serialization

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Dependency Injection

The Acquire class serves as a central dependency container:
  • Provides access to database sessions
  • Makes services available to other services
  • Supplies utilities, logging, and configuration
  • Manages WebSocket connections and caching

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Repository Pattern

Database operations are encapsulated in models that implement a common CRUD interface: 
# Example of querying a model
user = await UserModel.read(user_id, session)
This approach:
  • Centralizes data access logic
  • Provides a consistent interface for common operations
  • Simplifies transaction management

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Request Lifecycle

1

HTTP Request

Client sends an HTTP request to an API endpoint
2

Middleware Processing

Request passes through global middlewares (CORS, authentication, etc.)
3

Route Matching

FastAPI matches the request path to the appropriate service method
4

Schema Validation

Request data is validated against Pydantic schemas
5

Service Method

Service method executes business logic, interacting with the database as needed
6

Response Generation

Result is serialized to JSON using Pydantic models
7

HTTP Response

Response is returned to the client

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Key Design Principles

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1. Service Modularity

Each service is self-contained and focused on a specific domain:
  • Authentication (auth)
  • Organizations (org)
  • Knowledge bases (kb)
  • Conversations
  • Agents
  • Tools
This allows for independent development and testing of features.

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2. Asynchronous First

Definable is designed from the ground up for asynchronous operation:
  • Asynchronous database queries with SQLAlchemy and asyncpg
  • Asynchronous HTTP endpoints with FastAPI
  • Asynchronous task processing for long-running operations

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3. Strong Typing and Validation

  • All inputs and outputs are validated using Pydantic models
  • Type annotations throughout the codebase
  • Mypy type checking enforced via pre-commit hooks

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4. Automatic API Documentation

  • OpenAPI documentation generated automatically by FastAPI
  • Interactive Swagger UI available at /docs
  • Self-documenting endpoints with clear parameter descriptions

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5. Extensibility

  • Pluggable architecture with clear extension points
  • Support for multiple LLM providers
  • Modular vector store implementation
  • Customizable authentication flows

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Security Architecture

  • JWT Authentication: Secure token-based authentication
  • Role-Based Access Control: Fine-grained permission system
  • API Key Authentication: For service-to-service communication
  • Input Validation: Prevents injection attacks
  • Middleware Protection: Guards against common attack vectors

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Scalability Considerations

  • Database Connection Pooling: Efficient use of database connections
  • Async Processing: Non-blocking I/O for high throughput
  • Stateless Design: Enables horizontal scaling
  • Background Tasks: Offloads long-running operations

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Integration Architecture

Definable integrates with various external services:
  • OpenAI/Anthropic: For LLM capabilities
  • S3-Compatible Storage: For file storage
  • PostgreSQL with pgvector: For vector embeddings
  • Email Services: For notifications

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Next Steps

To dive deeper into Definable’s architecture:
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