---
id: ADR-0001
title: Multi-tenant marketplace platform vision and config-driven architecture
status: active
date: 2026-07-13
tags: ["architecture", "philosophy", "multi-tenant", "bootstrap"]
---

## Context

This is not a single marketplace — it is a multi-tenant platform powering unlimited
marketplaces (e.g. electronics.example.com, books.example.com) from one codebase.
Every marketplace is configured from the backend via a bootstrap configuration
(`GET /bootstrap`). No marketplace-specific code may exist in the frontend.

## Decision

- The frontend (Angular 20, standalone components, Signals, RxJS, SCSS) is a pure
  renderer. It owns render, navigation, interaction, validation, animations only.
- The backend (ASP.NET Core REST API) owns branding, pages, layouts, languages,
  homepage, navigation, categories, products, footer, static pages, payment
  configuration, and enabled features.
- Flow: Bootstrap → Runtime Provider → Configuration Store → Renderer → Widgets.
  Nothing depends on build-time environments; everything depends on runtime
  configuration.
- Bootstrap contains only data needed before the app starts (name, logo, colors,
  languages, footer pages, homepage layout, navigation, enabled widgets). It must
  never contain products, orders, cart, or users.
- Widgets never own page spacing — only their own internal layout. The renderer
  owns sections, spacing, and page width.
- Homepage is composed from a configurable, ordered list of sections (Section
  Engine): Hero, Categories, Featured Products, Banner, Latest Products, Custom
  HTML, Newsletter, etc.
- All layouts (homepage, PLP, etc.) must be backend-configurable without frontend
  changes.
- All user-facing text is translatable via a `translations.{lang}` shape, not a
  flat `title` field. Adding/removing a supported language must automatically
  expose/remove translation fields across all translatable objects, generically —
  never per-field hardcoding.
- Static pages (About Us, Privacy, Terms, Contacts, Return Policy, Delivery,
  custom pages) are backend-delivered HTML, multilingual, and drive the footer.
- Admin and storefront share a domain but are fully separate applications: the
  marketplace bundle never ships admin code and vice versa. Bootstrap is public;
  Admin is protected by JWT + roles/permissions + tenant isolation (Super Admin,
  Marketplace Admin, Moderator, Editor, Support, Customer).

## Coding rules

- Never hardcode marketplace data or introduce marketplace-specific conditionals.
- Never use environment flags to drive UI — everything is config-driven.
- Keep components small; prefer composition and reusable widgets; never
  duplicate layouts.
- Business logic lives in services/facades, not components.
- Prefer Signals and standalone components.
- Every new feature ships with docs: frontend docs, backend contract, bootstrap
  updates, API examples, migration notes if needed.

## Guiding question

Before implementing anything: "Will this still make sense after 50 marketplaces
and 100 developers?" If not, redesign before coding.

## Consequences

Any feature (including the Sprint 16 Project Editor) must edit the same Bootstrap
model the storefront consumes — no parallel/duplicate configuration models are
permitted anywhere in the platform.
