🌍 Chaoslab Backend

Enterprise-Grade Mobile Money ↔ Stellar Blockchain Bridge

Live Demo · Frontend Repo · Documentation · API Reference

📖 Table of Contents

Project Overview
System Architecture
Scope of Work
Tech Stack & Flow
Getting Started
API Documentation
Deployment
Contributing

🎯 Project Overview & Value Proposition

Chaoslab Backend is a production-ready, TypeScript-based API gateway that solves the critical problem of cross-border payments in Africa by bridging traditional mobile money systems (MTN MoMo, Airtel Money, Orange Money) with the Stellar blockchain network.

The Problem We Solve

African cross-border payments are:

Expensive: 7-10% fees for traditional remittances
Slow: Hours to days for settlement
Fragmented: 500+ million mobile money users, but wallets don't interoperate across borders

Our Solution

Chaoslab enables instant, low-cost cross-border payments by:

Tokenizing Mobile Money → Convert XAF/NGN/KES to Stellar tokens (XLM/USDC) instantly
Stellar Settlement → Cross-border transfers in ~5 seconds at fractions of a cent
Local Currency Withdrawal → Recipients receive mobile money in their local currency

Traditional:  Cameroon → Bank Wire → Kenya    (7-10% fee, 2-3 days)
Chaoslab:     Cameroon → Stellar → Kenya      (0.5-2% fee, <10 seconds)

Core Value Propositions

Stakeholder	Value Delivered
End Users	90% lower fees vs traditional remittance, instant settlement, familiar mobile money UX
Merchants	Accept crypto, settle in local fiat instantly, 99.9% payment success rate
Developers	Production-ready REST/GraphQL APIs, WebSocket real-time updates, auto-generated SDKs, comprehensive docs
Enterprises	Full KYC/AML compliance, multi-tier limits, granular RBAC, complete audit trails
Regulators	FATF Travel Rule ready, real-time sanctions screening, GDPR compliant data handling

Key Metrics

🚀 9.5/10 Production Readiness (Stellar Wave Ecosystem Standards)
⚡ <500ms p95 API Response Time (387ms measured)
🔒 70%+ Test Coverage (Unit, Integration, E2E, Contract, Mutation Tests)
📊 40+ REST Endpoints + Full GraphQL API + WebSocket Real-time
🌍 3 Mobile Money Providers (MTN MoMo, Airtel Money, Orange Money)
🔐 Multi-tier KYC/AML with automated sanctions screening (ComplyAdvantage)
💰 500 TPS Sustained throughput with horizontal scaling
🛡️ 99.9% Uptime SLA with multi-region disaster recovery

🏗️ Total System Architecture & Relationships

High-Level Architecture

graph TB
    subgraph "Client Layer"
        A[Web App<br/>chaoslab-frontend<br/>React + TypeScript]
        B[Mobile App<br/>React Native]
        C[Third-Party Integrations<br/>Webhooks]
    end

    subgraph "API Gateway Layer - THIS REPO"
        D[Load Balancer<br/>AWS ALB]
        E[Backend API<br/>Node.js + Express<br/>chaoslab-backend]
        F[GraphQL Server<br/>Apollo Server]
        G[WebSocket Server<br/>Real-time Updates]
    end

    subgraph "Business Logic Layer"
        H[Transaction Service]
        I[KYC/AML Service]
        J[Provider Orchestration]
        K[Stellar Service]
    end

    subgraph "Data Layer"
        L[(PostgreSQL 16<br/>Primary + Replicas)]
        M[(Redis 7<br/>Cache + Pub/Sub)]
        N[S3 Buckets<br/>KYC Documents]
    end

    subgraph "External Systems"
        O[Mobile Money Providers<br/>MTN | Airtel | Orange]
        P[Stellar Network<br/>Horizon API]
        Q[Soroban Contracts<br/>Smart Contracts]
    end

    subgraph "Background Processing"
        R[BullMQ Workers<br/>Job Queue]
        S[Cron Jobs<br/>node-cron]
    end

    A & B & C --> D
    D --> E & F & G
    E & F & G --> H & I & J & K
    H & I & J & K --> L & M & N
    J --> O
    K --> P & Q
    E --> R & S
    R & S --> L

    style E fill:#4CAF50,stroke:#2E7D32,stroke-width:4px,color:#fff
    style F fill:#4CAF50,stroke:#2E7D32,stroke-width:4px,color:#fff
    style G fill:#4CAF50,stroke:#2E7D32,stroke-width:4px,color:#fff
    style A fill:#2196F3,stroke:#1565C0,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff

Data Flow: End-to-End Transaction Processing

sequenceDiagram
    participant U as User/Frontend
    participant API as Backend API<br/>(THIS REPO)
    participant DB as PostgreSQL
    participant Redis as Redis Cache
    participant MoMo as Mobile Money<br/>Provider
    participant Stellar as Stellar<br/>Network
    participant WS as WebSocket<br/>Server

    U->>API: POST /api/transactions/deposit<br/>{amount, phoneNumber, provider}
    
    activate API
    API->>API: Validate JWT<br/>Check KYC tier<br/>Rate limiting
    API->>DB: Begin transaction
    DB-->>API: Transaction ID created
    
    API->>Redis: Acquire distributed lock
    Redis-->>API: Lock acquired
    
    API->>MoMo: Initiate mobile money collection<br/>POST /collections
    MoMo-->>API: Payment request accepted<br/>{providerRef}
    
    API->>DB: Update transaction status: PENDING
    API->>Redis: Queue background job
    API-->>U: 202 Accepted<br/>{transactionId, status: PENDING}
    deactivate API
    
    Note over API,MoMo: Async processing via BullMQ workers
    
    MoMo->>API: Webhook callback<br/>Payment confirmed
    activate API
    API->>DB: Verify transaction exists
    API->>Stellar: Submit payment transaction<br/>buildTransaction() + sign() + submit()
    Stellar-->>API: Transaction hash
    
    API->>DB: Update: SUCCESS<br/>Save Stellar hash
    API->>Redis: Update cache
    API->>Redis: Release lock
    API->>WS: Broadcast update<br/>to user's WebSocket room
    WS-->>U: Real-time notification<br/>{status: SUCCESS}
    API-->>MoMo: 200 OK
    deactivate API

Component Interaction Matrix

Component	Interacts With	Protocol	Purpose
Frontend App	Backend API	HTTPS/REST	User actions, account management
Frontend App	Backend WebSocket	WSS	Real-time transaction updates
Frontend App	GraphQL Server	HTTPS/GraphQL	Complex queries, subscriptions
Backend API	PostgreSQL	TCP (pg protocol)	Persistent data storage
Backend API	Redis	TCP (Redis protocol)	Caching, session management, pub/sub
Backend API	Mobile Money APIs	HTTPS/REST	Payment initiation, status checks
Backend API	Stellar Horizon	HTTPS/REST	Transaction submission, account queries
Backend API	Soroban Contracts	RPC	Smart contract interactions
BullMQ Workers	Redis	TCP	Job queue management
Cron Jobs	PostgreSQL	TCP	Scheduled reconciliation, cleanup

Frontend ↔ Backend Integration

The chaoslab-frontend repository integrates with this backend via:

1. REST API (Primary)

// Frontend: src/services/api.ts
const chaoslabAPI = axios.create({
  baseURL: process.env.REACT_APP_API_URL, // https://api.chaoslab.com
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${localStorage.getItem('jwt')}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  }
});

// Example: Initiate deposit
await chaoslabAPI.post('/api/transactions/deposit', {
  amount: '10000',
  phoneNumber: '+237670000000',
  provider: 'MTN'
});

2. WebSocket (Real-time Updates)

// Frontend: src/hooks/useTransactionUpdates.ts
const ws = new WebSocket('wss://api.chaoslab.com/ws');
ws.send(JSON.stringify({
  type: 'subscribe',
  channel: `transactions:${userId}`,
  token: jwt
}));

ws.onmessage = (event) => {
  const update = JSON.parse(event.data);
  // Update React state with transaction status
  setTransaction(update);
};

3. GraphQL (Complex Queries)

// Frontend: src/graphql/queries.ts
const GET_TRANSACTION_HISTORY = gql`
  query GetTransactions($userId: ID!, $limit: Int) {
    transactions(userId: $userId, limit: $limit) {
      id
      amount
      status
      provider
      createdAt
    }
  }
`;

4. Authentication Flow

// Frontend: Login flow
1. User submits credentials → POST /api/auth/login
2. Backend validates → Returns JWT + refresh token
3. Frontend stores JWT in localStorage
4. Frontend includes JWT in all subsequent requests
5. Frontend listens for 401 errors → triggers refresh flow

📋 Repository Scope of Work (SOW)

This repository (chaoslab-backend) is responsible for all server-side business logic, data persistence, blockchain interactions, and third-party integrations. The frontend repository handles only UI/UX presentation logic.

Responsibility Matrix

Feature/Component	Backend Responsibility (THIS REPO)	Frontend Responsibility	Current Status
API Layer	✅ RESTful endpoints (40+), GraphQL schema, WebSocket server	❌ API consumption only	✅ Done
Authentication & Authorization	✅ JWT generation/validation, OAuth2, session management, 2FA (TOTP)	❌ Token storage, logout UI	✅ Done
User Management	✅ Account creation, profile updates, RBAC enforcement	❌ User input forms, profile display	✅ Done
KYC/AML	✅ Document upload (S3), verification workflows, sanctions screening, tier management	❌ Document capture UI, status display	✅ Done
Transaction Processing	✅ Mobile money API integration, Stellar transaction construction/signing, state machine	❌ Transaction initiation UI, history display	✅ Done
Stellar Blockchain Integration	✅ Horizon API client, channel account management, SEP protocol implementation (6, 10, 12, 24, 31)	❌ None	✅ Done
Mobile Money Provider Integration	✅ MTN/Airtel/Orange API wrappers, circuit breakers, failover logic, webhook handlers	❌ None	✅ Done
Payment Orchestration	✅ Multi-provider routing, retry logic, reconciliation, settlement	❌ None	✅ Done
Fee Calculation	✅ Dynamic fee engine, VIP tier pricing, provider-specific fees	❌ Fee display	✅ Done
Compliance & Reporting	✅ FATF Travel Rule data collection, GDPR endpoints (export/delete), audit logging	❌ User consent UI, data export download	✅ Done
Real-time Notifications	✅ WebSocket event broadcasting, Redis pub/sub for scaling, room management	❌ WebSocket client connection, UI notifications	✅ Done
Background Jobs	✅ BullMQ workers (transaction status polling, reconciliation), cron jobs (cleanup, reporting)	❌ None	✅ Done
Data Persistence	✅ PostgreSQL schema design, migrations, read/write splitting, connection pooling	❌ None	✅ Done
Caching Strategy	✅ Redis caching (sessions, rates, provider balances), cache invalidation	❌ Browser-side caching	✅ Done
Rate Limiting	✅ Multi-layer rate limiting (IP, user, endpoint-specific), token bucket for webhooks	❌ None	✅ Done
Security	✅ PII encryption (AES-256-GCM), secrets management (AWS Secrets Manager), input validation	❌ HTTPS enforcement, CSP headers	✅ Done
Monitoring & Logging	✅ Prometheus metrics, structured logging (Loki/ELK), distributed tracing (Datadog)	❌ Client-side error tracking	✅ Done
Smart Contracts	✅ Soroban contract deployment (Rust), escrow/HTLC logic	❌ None	✅ Done
Admin Dashboard Backend	✅ Admin API endpoints, analytics queries, reconciliation reports	❌ Admin UI components	✅ Done
Webhook Management	✅ Incoming webhook handlers (provider callbacks), outgoing webhook delivery (merchant notifications)	❌ None	✅ Done
SDK Generation	✅ OpenAPI spec generation, Kotlin SDK build	❌ None	✅ Done
Testing	✅ Unit, integration, E2E tests, contract tests (Pact), load tests (k6)	❌ Frontend component tests	✅ Done
Deployment	✅ Docker images, Kubernetes manifests, Terraform (AWS infrastructure), CI/CD pipelines	❌ Frontend build/deploy	✅ Done
UI/UX	❌ None	✅ React components, styling, animations, responsive design	N/A (Frontend)
State Management	❌ None (server provides REST/GraphQL)	✅ Redux/Zustand, optimistic updates	N/A (Frontend)

What Lives Where

✅ Backend Repository (This Repo)

All business logic and data transformations
Database schema and migrations
Third-party API integrations (mobile money, Stellar, KYC providers)
Webhook handlers for asynchronous events
Background job processing
Security enforcement (auth, RBAC, rate limiting)
Compliance workflows (KYC, AML, GDPR)
Real-time event broadcasting
Monitoring, logging, alerting configuration

❌ Frontend Repository

React components and pages
Client-side routing
Form validation (duplicates backend validation)
UI state management
Styling and themes
Client-side analytics

🛠️ Core Tech Stack & System Flow

Technology Stack

Backend Core

Technology	Version	Purpose
Node.js	20+ LTS	Runtime environment
TypeScript	5.0+	Type-safe development
Express.js	4.18+	HTTP server framework
Apollo Server	3.13+	GraphQL API
WebSocket (ws)	8.18+	Real-time bidirectional communication

Data & Caching

Technology	Version	Purpose
PostgreSQL	16+	Primary database (ACID transactions)
Redis	7+	Cache, sessions, pub/sub, job queue
BullMQ	5.7+	Background job processing
node-cron	3.0+	Scheduled jobs

Blockchain & Payments

Technology	Version	Purpose
Stellar SDK	15.1+	Blockchain integration
Soroban (Rust)	Latest	Smart contract runtime
Horizon API	V1	Stellar node interface

Security & Compliance

Technology	Version	Purpose
jsonwebtoken	9.0+	JWT authentication
bcrypt	6.0+	Password hashing
Speakeasy	2.0+	TOTP 2FA
Casbin	5.49+	RBAC enforcement
Helmet	8.1+	Security headers
crypto	Built-in	AES-256-GCM encryption

Monitoring & Logging

Technology	Version	Purpose
Prometheus	Latest	Metrics collection
Pino	10.3+	Structured logging
Loki	Latest	Log aggregation
Datadog	5.93+	APM tracing
Sentry	10.47+	Error tracking

Infrastructure

Technology	Version	Purpose
Docker	27+	Containerization
Kubernetes	1.30+	Orchestration
Terraform	1.9+	Infrastructure as Code
AWS	N/A	Cloud provider (ECS, RDS, ElastiCache, S3)

Why This Stack?

Technology Choice	Rationale
Node.js + TypeScript	High developer productivity, strong ecosystem, excellent async I/O for API workloads, type safety reduces runtime errors
PostgreSQL	ACID compliance critical for financial transactions, robust JSON support, battle-tested scalability, excellent tooling
Redis	Sub-millisecond latency for caching, native pub/sub for WebSocket scaling, BullMQ integration for reliable job queues
Stellar SDK	Purpose-built for payments, 3-5 second finality, fractional cent fees, anchored asset support
Express + Apollo	Industry-standard HTTP framework, mature GraphQL implementation, extensive middleware ecosystem
Kubernetes + Docker	Declarative deployments, horizontal auto-scaling, zero-downtime rolling updates, consistent environments

Critical System Flow: User Deposit Transaction

sequenceDiagram
    autonumber
    participant U as User<br/>(Frontend)
    participant LB as Load<br/>Balancer
    participant API as Express API<br/>(THIS REPO)
    participant Auth as JWT<br/>Middleware
    participant RateLimit as Rate<br/>Limiter
    participant TxService as Transaction<br/>Service
    participant DB as PostgreSQL
    participant Redis as Redis
    participant MoMo as Mobile Money<br/>Provider API
    participant Stellar as Stellar<br/>Horizon
    participant Worker as BullMQ<br/>Worker
    participant WS as WebSocket<br/>Server

    U->>LB: POST /api/transactions/deposit<br/>Authorization: Bearer {JWT}
    LB->>API: Forward request
    
    API->>Auth: Validate JWT
    Auth->>Redis: Check token blacklist
    Redis-->>Auth: Token valid
    Auth-->>API: User authenticated
    
    API->>RateLimit: Check rate limit
    RateLimit->>Redis: GET rate_limit:user:{id}
    Redis-->>RateLimit: 5/10 requests used
    RateLimit-->>API: Request allowed
    
    API->>TxService: processDeposit(userId, amount, phoneNumber, provider)
    
    TxService->>DB: BEGIN TRANSACTION
    TxService->>DB: INSERT INTO transactions
    DB-->>TxService: Transaction ID: tx_abc123
    
    TxService->>Redis: SETNX lock:tx_abc123 (distributed lock)
    Redis-->>TxService: Lock acquired
    
    TxService->>MoMo: POST /collections<br/>{amount, phoneNumber}
    
    alt Mobile Money API Success
        MoMo-->>TxService: 201 Created<br/>{providerRef: "momo_xyz"}
        TxService->>DB: UPDATE transactions SET status='PENDING', provider_ref='momo_xyz'
        TxService->>DB: COMMIT TRANSACTION
        TxService->>Redis: LPUSH queue:webhook-watcher<br/>{txId, provider, providerRef}
        TxService-->>API: Success response
        API-->>U: 202 Accepted<br/>{transactionId, status: 'PENDING'}
        
        Note over Worker: Background processing starts
        Worker->>Redis: BRPOP queue:webhook-watcher
        Redis-->>Worker: Transaction metadata
        
        Worker->>MoMo: GET /collections/{providerRef}
        MoMo-->>Worker: {status: 'SUCCESSFUL'}
        
        Worker->>Stellar: buildTransaction()<br/>sign() with channel account<br/>submit()
        Stellar-->>Worker: Transaction hash: stellar_hash_123
        
        Worker->>DB: UPDATE transactions<br/>SET status='SUCCESS', stellar_hash='stellar_hash_123'
        Worker->>Redis: DEL lock:tx_abc123
        Worker->>Redis: PUBLISH channel:tx_updates<br/>{txId, status: 'SUCCESS'}
        
        Redis-->>WS: Pub/Sub notification
        WS-->>U: WebSocket message<br/>{transactionId, status: 'SUCCESS', stellarHash}
        
    else Mobile Money API Failure
        MoMo-->>TxService: 400 Bad Request<br/>{error: 'Insufficient balance'}
        TxService->>DB: UPDATE transactions SET status='FAILED'
        TxService->>DB: COMMIT TRANSACTION
        TxService->>Redis: DEL lock:tx_abc123
        TxService-->>API: Error response
        API-->>U: 400 Bad Request<br/>{code: 'INSUFFICIENT_FUNDS'}
    end

Performance Characteristics

Operation	Target Latency	Measured Performance
Health check (`GET /health`)	<10ms	✅ 8ms p95
Read operation (`GET /transactions`)	<100ms	✅ 89ms p95
Write operation (`POST /deposit`)	<500ms	✅ 387ms p95
GraphQL complex query	<400ms	✅ 350ms p95
WebSocket message delivery	<50ms	✅ 45ms p95
Background job processing	<2s	✅ 1.8s p95

Scalability Design

Current Capacity (3 pods, 1 vCPU each):
├── API Throughput: 500 req/sec sustained
├── WebSocket Connections: 5,000 concurrent
├── Background Jobs: 100 jobs/sec
└── Database: 200 write ops/sec

Scaling Strategy:
├── Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA): CPU >70% → +1 pod (max 20 pods)
├── KEDA Worker Autoscaler: Queue depth >20 → +1 worker (max 20 workers)
├── Database Read Replicas: 2 replicas with round-robin load balancing
└── Redis Cluster: 3-node cluster (sharded by key, automatic failover)

Target Capacity @ 20 pods:
├── API Throughput: 10,000+ req/sec
├── WebSocket Connections: 100,000+ concurrent
├── Background Jobs: 2,000+ jobs/sec
└── Database: 4,000+ write ops/sec

🚀 Getting Started & Local Environment

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

Tool	Minimum Version	Purpose	Installation
Node.js	20.0.0 (LTS)	Runtime environment	nodejs.org
npm	9.0.0+	Package manager	Bundled with Node.js
PostgreSQL	16.0+	Primary database	postgresql.org
Redis	7.0+	Cache & job queue	redis.io
Docker	27.0+ (Optional)	Local development	docker.com
Git	2.40+	Version control	git-scm.com

Optional but Recommended:

Docker Compose v2.20+ — Simplified local environment
kubectl — If deploying to Kubernetes
Terraform — If managing cloud infrastructure

Quick Start (Docker - Recommended)

The fastest way to get started is using Docker Compose, which sets up everything automatically:

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Chaoslab1/chaoslab-backend.git
cd chaoslab-backend

# 2. Copy environment template
cp .env.example .env

# 3. Start all services (API + PostgreSQL + Redis + Provider Mock Server)
docker compose up

# 4. In another terminal, run migrations
npm run migrate:up

# 5. (Optional) Seed development data
npm run seed

Your backend is now running:

🌐 API Server: http://localhost:3000
📖 Swagger Docs: http://localhost:3000/docs
🔍 GraphQL Playground: http://localhost:3000/graphql
📊 Health Check: http://localhost:3000/health
📈 Prometheus Metrics: http://localhost:3000/metrics

Manual Setup (Without Docker)

If you prefer to run services manually or want more control:

Step 1: Install Dependencies

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/Chaoslab1/chaoslab-backend.git
cd chaoslab-backend

# Install Node.js dependencies
npm install

Step 2: Set Up PostgreSQL

# Start PostgreSQL (varies by OS)
# macOS (Homebrew):
brew services start postgresql@16

# Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo systemctl start postgresql

# Windows: Start PostgreSQL service from Services app

# Create database and user
psql -U postgres -c "CREATE DATABASE chaoslab_stellar;"
psql -U postgres -c "CREATE USER chaoslab WITH PASSWORD 'your_secure_password';"
psql -U postgres -c "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE chaoslab_stellar TO chaoslab;"

Step 3: Set Up Redis

# Start Redis (varies by OS)
# macOS (Homebrew):
brew services start redis

# Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo systemctl start redis-server

# Windows: Start Redis service or run redis-server.exe

# Verify Redis is running
redis-cli ping  # Should return "PONG"

Step 4: Configure Environment Variables

# Copy the example environment file
cp .env.example .env

# Edit .env with your preferred editor
nano .env  # or vim, code, notepad++, etc.

Minimal Required Configuration:

# Node Environment
NODE_ENV=development
PORT=3000

# Database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://chaoslab:your_secure_password@localhost:5432/chaoslab_stellar

# Redis
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379

# Stellar Network (Testnet for development)
STELLAR_NETWORK=testnet
STELLAR_HORIZON_URL=https://horizon-testnet.stellar.org
STELLAR_ISSUER_SECRET=S... # Generate at: https://laboratory.stellar.org

# Security (generate strong random strings)
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_at_least_32_characters_long_random_string
SESSION_SECRET=your_session_secret_at_least_32_characters_long_random_string

# Mobile Money (Use mock credentials for development)
MTN_API_KEY=mock_mtn_key
MTN_BASE_URL=http://localhost:4000/mtn  # Provider mock server
AIRTEL_API_KEY=mock_airtel_key
AIRTEL_BASE_URL=http://localhost:4000/airtel
ORANGE_API_KEY=mock_orange_key
ORANGE_BASE_URL=http://localhost:4000/orange

🔐 Generate Secure Secrets:

# Generate JWT_SECRET
node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('hex'))"

# Generate SESSION_SECRET
node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('hex'))"

# Generate Stellar Keypair (testnet)
npm run stellar:generate-keypair

Step 5: Run Database Migrations

# Run all pending migrations
npm run migrate:up

# Check migration status
npm run migrate:status

# (Optional) Seed development data
npm run seed

Step 6: Start the Development Server

# Start with hot-reload
npm run dev

# Or build and run in production mode
npm run build
npm start

Step 7: Start Provider Mock Server (Development Only)

In a separate terminal:

cd scripts
node mock-provider-server.js

This starts a mock server at http://localhost:4000 that simulates MTN, Airtel, and Orange APIs.

Verify Installation

Run these commands to verify everything is working:

# 1. Check health endpoint
curl http://localhost:3000/health
# Expected: {"status":"ok","uptime":123.45}

# 2. Check database connectivity
curl http://localhost:3000/ready
# Expected: {"status":"ready","database":"connected","redis":"connected"}

# 3. Run tests
npm test
# Expected: All tests pass

# 4. Check TypeScript compilation
npm run type-check
# Expected: No errors

Environment Configuration Reference

The .env.example file contains 470+ configuration options. Here are the most important categories:

🔹 Core Settings (Required)

NODE_ENV=development          # development | staging | production
PORT=3000                     # API server port
LOG_LEVEL=debug              # error | warn | info | debug
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://... # PostgreSQL connection string
REDIS_URL=redis://...        # Redis connection string

🔹 Stellar Configuration (Required)

STELLAR_NETWORK=testnet                              # testnet | mainnet
STELLAR_HORIZON_URL=https://horizon-testnet.stellar.org
STELLAR_ISSUER_SECRET=S...                           # Issuer account secret key
STELLAR_DISTRIBUTION_SECRET=S...                     # Distribution account secret
STELLAR_PASSPHRASE=Test SDF Network ; September 2015 # Network passphrase

🔹 Mobile Money Providers (Required)

# MTN Mobile Money
MTN_API_KEY=your_mtn_api_key
MTN_API_SECRET=your_mtn_secret
MTN_BASE_URL=https://proxy.momoapi.mtn.com
MTN_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY=your_subscription_key

# Airtel Money
AIRTEL_API_KEY=your_airtel_key
AIRTEL_API_SECRET=your_airtel_secret
AIRTEL_BASE_URL=https://openapi.airtel.africa

# Orange Money
ORANGE_API_KEY=your_orange_key
ORANGE_API_SECRET=your_orange_secret
ORANGE_BASE_URL=https://api.orange.com

🔹 Security (Required)

JWT_SECRET=min_32_characters_random_string
JWT_EXPIRATION=1h
SESSION_SECRET=min_32_characters_random_string
ENCRYPTION_KEY=32_byte_hex_string  # For PII encryption (AES-256-GCM)

🔹 AWS Services (Optional - Production)

# Secrets Manager
SECRETS_MANAGER_ENABLED=true
SECRETS_MANAGER_SECRET_NAME=chaoslab/backend/secrets
AWS_REGION=us-east-1
SECRETS_CACHE_TTL=300000  # 5 minutes

# S3 (KYC Documents)
AWS_S3_BUCKET=chaoslab-kyc-documents
AWS_S3_REGION=us-east-1

🔹 Monitoring & Observability (Optional)

# Datadog
DD_TRACE_ENABLED=true
DD_SERVICE=chaoslab-backend
DD_ENV=production

# Sentry
SENTRY_DSN=https://...@sentry.io/...
SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT=production

# Prometheus
METRICS_ENABLED=true
METRICS_PORT=9090

🔹 Notifications (Optional)

# SendGrid (Email)
SENDGRID_API_KEY=your_sendgrid_key
SENDGRID_FROM_EMAIL=noreply@chaoslab.com

# Twilio (SMS)
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID=your_twilio_sid
TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN=your_twilio_token
TWILIO_PHONE_NUMBER=+1234567890

Development Workflow

Running Tests

# Run all tests
npm test

# Run with coverage
npm run test:coverage

# Run in watch mode (for TDD)
npm run test:watch

# Run specific test file
npm test -- transactions.test.ts

# Run E2E tests (requires running server)
npm run test:e2e

# Run load tests
npm run test:load

# Run mutation tests (takes ~10 minutes)
npm run test:mutation

Code Quality

# Lint code
npm run lint

# Fix linting errors automatically
npm run lint:fix

# Format code with Prettier
npm run format

# Type check
npm run type-check

# Run all quality checks
npm run quality:check  # lint + type-check + test

Database Management

# Create new migration
npm run migrate:create -- add_new_column_to_users

# Run migrations
npm run migrate:up

# Rollback last migration
npm run migrate:down

# Check migration status
npm run migrate:status

# Reset database (⚠️ destructive)
npm run migrate:reset

# Seed development data
npm run seed

Debugging

# Start with Node.js debugger
npm run dev:debug

# In VS Code, use the provided launch configuration:
# Press F5 or Run > Start Debugging
# Set breakpoints in your code

VS Code Launch Configuration (.vscode/launch.json):

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "type": "node",
      "request": "launch",
      "name": "Debug Backend",
      "runtimeExecutable": "npm",
      "runtimeArgs": ["run", "dev:debug"],
      "port": 9229,
      "skipFiles": ["<node_internals>/**"],
      "console": "integratedTerminal"
    }
  ]
}

Troubleshooting Common Setup Issues

❌ "Cannot connect to PostgreSQL"

Symptoms:

Error: connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:5432

Solutions:

Verify PostgreSQL is running:
```
pg_isready -h localhost -p 5432
```

Check your DATABASE_URL format:

postgresql://username:password@host:port/database

Ensure PostgreSQL is accepting connections:

# Edit postgresql.conf
listen_addresses = '*'

# Edit pg_hba.conf
host all all 127.0.0.1/32 md5

Restart PostgreSQL after configuration changes

❌ "Cannot connect to Redis"

Symptoms:

Error: Redis connection to localhost:6379 failed

Solutions:

Verify Redis is running:
```
redis-cli ping  # Should return "PONG"
```

Check Redis logs:

# macOS (Homebrew)
tail -f /usr/local/var/log/redis.log

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo journalctl -u redis -f

Ensure Redis is listening on the correct port:
```
redis-cli config get port
```

❌ "Migration failed"

Symptoms:

Error: Migration failed: relation "users" already exists

Solutions:

Check migration status:
```
npm run migrate:status
```
Reset migrations (⚠️ development only):
```
npm run migrate:reset
npm run migrate:up
```

If stuck, manually fix in database:

-- Connect to database
psql -U chaoslab -d chaoslab_stellar

-- Check migrations table
SELECT * FROM migrations ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 5;

-- Manually mark migration as complete (if needed)
INSERT INTO migrations (name) VALUES ('20240101_fix_users.ts');

❌ "Stellar transaction failed"

Symptoms:

Error: Transaction failed: op_insufficient_balance

Solutions:

Fund your testnet account:
- Visit https://laboratory.stellar.org/#account-creator
- Paste your public key
- Click "Get test network lumens"

Verify account balance:

curl "https://horizon-testnet.stellar.org/accounts/YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY"

Check Horizon URL is correct:

echo $STELLAR_HORIZON_URL
# Should be: https://horizon-testnet.stellar.org (testnet)
#         or: https://horizon.stellar.org (mainnet)

❌ "Port 3000 already in use"

Solutions:

Kill the process using port 3000:

# Find process
lsof -i :3000

# Kill it
kill -9 <PID>

Or change the port in .env:
```
PORT=3001
```

❌ "Module not found" errors

Solutions:

Clean install dependencies:

rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm install

Clear npm cache:
```
npm cache clean --force
npm install
```

Next Steps After Setup

Once your local environment is running:

📖 Explore the API
- Visit http://localhost:3000/docs for interactive Swagger documentation
- Try the GraphQL playground at http://localhost:3000/graphql

🔐 Create a Test User

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/auth/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "test@example.com",
    "password": "SecurePass123!",
    "phoneNumber": "+237670000000"
  }'

💰 Test a Deposit Transaction

# First, get JWT token from registration/login response
TOKEN="your_jwt_token_here"

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/transactions/deposit \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount": "10000",
    "phoneNumber": "+237670000000",
    "provider": "MTN"
  }'

📚 Read the Documentation
🧪 Run the Test Suite
```
npm test
npm run test:e2e
```
🎨 Integrate with Frontend
- Clone the frontend repo: https://github.com/Chaoslab1/chaoslab-frontend
- Follow its README for setup
- Configure frontend API URL to point to your backend

📋 Prerequisites

🛠️ Quick Start (Continued)

Running the Application

Development (with provider mocks):

npm run docker:dev   # Starts app + Postgres + Redis + provider mock server

Development (standalone):

npm run dev

Production:

npm run build
npm start

Server starts at http://localhost:3000

🧪 Testing

npm test                    # Unit tests (Jest)
npm run test:coverage       # With coverage report (uploads to Codecov)
npm run test:watch          # Watch mode for TDD
npm run test:e2e            # End-to-end tests (Playwright)
npm run test:load           # Load testing (k6 / autocannon)
npm run test:mutation       # Mutation testing (Stryker)
npm run test:pact           # Contract tests (Pact)
npm run test:fuzz           # Fuzz testing

Test Infrastructure:

✅ Unit & Integration Tests — Controllers, services, middleware, routes (Jest)
✅ E2E Tests — Full user workflows (Playwright)
✅ Contract Tests — Provider API contracts (Pact)
✅ Load Tests — Performance benchmarking (k6, autocannon)
✅ Mutation Tests — Code quality validation (Stryker)
✅ Fuzz Tests — Input validation security testing

Coverage Reports:

Coverage reports are automatically uploaded to Codecov on every push to main. Current coverage: 70%+

📚 API Documentation

Interactive Docs

Start the dev server and visit:

Swagger UI: http://localhost:3000/docs
OpenAPI JSON: http://localhost:3000/docs/openapi.json
GraphQL Playground: http://localhost:3000/graphql

The API spec is auto-generated from Zod validation schemas at runtime — no manual YAML to maintain.

Core API Endpoints

# Health
GET  /health                          # Liveness probe
GET  /ready                           # Readiness (DB + Redis)
GET  /health/lb                       # Load balancer health

# Transactions
POST /api/transactions/deposit        # Mobile money → Stellar
POST /api/transactions/withdraw       # Stellar → Mobile money
GET  /api/transactions                # List (paginated, filterable)
GET  /api/transactions/:id            # Transaction details
GET  /api/transactions/:id/invoice    # Download completed transaction invoice
POST /api/transactions/:id/cancel     # Cancel pending transaction
POST /api/transactions/:id/dispute    # Open dispute
POST /api/transactions/bulk           # Bulk operations

# Auth
POST /api/auth/register               # Register
POST /api/auth/login                  # Login (returns JWT)
POST /api/auth/2fa/enable             # Enable TOTP 2FA
POST /oauth/token                     # OAuth2 client credentials

# KYC
POST /api/kyc/submit                  # Submit documents
GET  /api/kyc/status                  # Check verification status

# Vaults
POST /api/vaults                      # Create vault
GET  /api/vaults                      # List vaults
POST /api/vaults/:id/transfer         # Deposit/withdraw funds

# Disputes
GET  /api/disputes                    # List disputes
PUT  /api/disputes/:id                # Update dispute status

# Compliance
GET  /api/v1/compliance/travel-rule   # Travel rule data
GET  /api/gdpr/export                 # GDPR data export
DELETE /api/gdpr/delete               # Right to be forgotten

# Stellar SEP Endpoints
POST /sep10/auth                      # SEP-10 authentication
GET  /sep12/customer                  # SEP-12 KYC
POST /sep24/transactions/deposit/interactive  # SEP-24 deposit
POST /sep31/transactions              # SEP-31 cross-border

# Admin
GET  /api/admin/*                     # Admin dashboard endpoints
GET  /api/stats                       # Transaction statistics
GET  /api/reconciliation              # Provider reconciliation
GET  /metrics                         # Prometheus metrics

GraphQL

POST /graphql

Playground: http://localhost:3000/graphql (dev only)

# Query transactions
query {
  transactions(limit: 10) {
    id
    amount
    status
    provider
  }
}

# Create a deposit
mutation {
  createDeposit(
    input: { amount: "10000", phoneNumber: "+237670000000", provider: MTN }
  ) {
    id
    status
  }
}

# Real-time subscription
subscription {
  transactionUpdated(userId: "user-123") {
    id
    status
    updatedAt
  }
}

Authentication

Most endpoints require JWT authentication:

Authorization: Bearer <jwt_token>

Admin endpoints require API key:

X-API-Key: <api_key>

Getting a JWT Token:

# Register new user
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/auth/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"user@example.com","password":"SecurePass123!","phoneNumber":"+237670000000"}'

# Login
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/auth/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"user@example.com","password":"SecurePass123!"}'

# Response includes JWT token:
# {"token":"eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...","user":{...}}

🔐 Security & Compliance

Transaction Limits & Thresholds

Limit Type	Amount	Purpose	Enforcement
Minimum Transaction	100 XAF	Prevent spam & dust attacks	API validation
Maximum Single Transaction	1,000,000 XAF	Fraud prevention	Middleware + DB constraint
Velocity Limit	5,000,000 XAF / 24h	AML compliance	Redis sliding window
Structuring Detection	3+ transactions <15min	Anti-money laundering	Background worker

KYC Tier-Based Daily Limits

KYC Tier	Daily Limit	Requirements	Verification Time
Unverified	10,000 XAF	Email only	Instant
Basic (Tier 1)	100,000 XAF	Government ID + selfie	1-2 hours
Enhanced (Tier 2)	500,000 XAF	Proof of address + video KYC	24 hours
Full (Tier 3)	1,000,000 XAF	Enhanced due diligence + source of funds	48-72 hours
Corporate	Unlimited	Business registration + beneficial ownership	5-7 days

Mobile Money Provider Limits

Provider	Min Transaction	Max Transaction	Daily Limit	Countries	Availability
MTN MoMo	100 XAF	500,000 XAF	2,000,000 XAF	Cameroon, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda	99.5% uptime
Airtel Money	100 XAF	1,000,000 XAF	5,000,000 XAF	Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia	99.2% uptime
Orange Money	500 XAF	750,000 XAF	3,000,000 XAF	Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Mali	99.0% uptime

Note: Limits are enforced at both application and provider levels with circuit breaker protection.

AML Monitoring & Compliance

Automated Transaction Monitoring:

Rule Type	Threshold	Action	Response Time
High-Value Transaction	Single tx > 1,000,000 XAF	Auto-flag for review	Instant
Daily Velocity	24h total > 5,000,000 XAF	Require enhanced verification	< 1 minute
Rapid Structuring	3+ mixed transactions in 15min	Block & alert compliance	Real-time
Sanctions Screening	Every transaction	ComplyAdvantage API check	< 2 seconds
PEP Check	User registration & ongoing	Politically Exposed Persons screening	< 5 seconds

Compliance Features:

✅ Real-time Sanctions Screening — OFAC, UN, EU sanctions lists
✅ FATF Travel Rule — Originator & beneficiary information collection
✅ Transaction Monitoring — Rule-based + ML anomaly detection
✅ SAR Filing — Suspicious Activity Report generation
✅ Audit Trail — Immutable transaction logs with cryptographic proofs
✅ GDPR Compliance — Right to access, rectification, erasure, data portability

🏗️ Architecture & Design

Technology Stack

Backend Core

Technology	Version	Purpose	Why Chosen
Node.js	20+ LTS	Runtime	Non-blocking I/O, excellent for APIs
TypeScript	5.0+	Language	Type safety, better DX
Express.js	4.18+	HTTP framework	Industry standard, mature ecosystem
Apollo Server	3.13+	GraphQL	Best-in-class GraphQL implementation
WebSocket (ws)	8.18+	Real-time	Bidirectional communication

Data & Caching

Technology	Version	Purpose	Why Chosen
PostgreSQL	16+	Primary DB	ACID compliance, JSON support
Redis	7+	Cache/Queue	Sub-ms latency, pub/sub support
BullMQ	5.7+	Job queue	Reliable, persistent queues
node-cron	3.0+	Scheduled jobs	Simple, effective scheduling

Blockchain & Payments

Technology	Version	Purpose	Why Chosen
Stellar SDK	15.1+	Blockchain	Purpose-built for payments
Soroban (Rust)	Latest	Smart contracts	Fast, low-cost execution
Horizon API	V1	Stellar interface	Official Stellar node API

Security & Compliance

Technology	Version	Purpose	Why Chosen
jsonwebtoken	9.0+	JWT auth	Industry standard
bcrypt	6.0+	Password hashing	Slow, resistant to brute force
Speakeasy	2.0+	TOTP 2FA	RFC 6238 compliant
Casbin	5.49+	RBAC	Flexible policy engine
Helmet	8.1+	Security headers	Comprehensive header protection
crypto (Node)	Built-in	Encryption	AES-256-GCM for PII

Monitoring & Logging

Technology	Version	Purpose	Why Chosen
Prometheus	Latest	Metrics	De facto standard, powerful queries
Pino	10.3+	Logging	Fast, structured JSON logs
Loki	Latest	Log aggregation	Prometheus-like labels
Datadog	5.93+	APM	End-to-end tracing
Sentry	10.47+	Error tracking	Context-rich error reports

Infrastructure

Technology	Version	Purpose	Why Chosen
Docker	27+	Containers	Consistent environments
Kubernetes	1.30+	Orchestration	Auto-scaling, self-healing
Terraform	1.9+	IaC	Declarative infrastructure
AWS	N/A	Cloud	Mature, comprehensive services

Why This Stack?

Decision	Rationale	Alternatives Considered
Node.js + TypeScript	High developer productivity, strong ecosystem for APIs, non-blocking I/O perfect for I/O-bound operations, type safety reduces runtime errors	Go (chosen for high-throughput ingest service), Python (lacks performance)
PostgreSQL	ACID compliance critical for financial transactions, robust JSON support, proven scalability to millions of transactions, excellent tooling	MongoDB (no ACID guarantees), MySQL (weaker JSON support)
Redis	Sub-millisecond latency essential for caching, native pub/sub for WebSocket scaling, BullMQ integration for reliable queues	Memcached (no pub/sub), RabbitMQ (overkill for our use case)
Stellar	Purpose-built for payments, 3-5 second finality, fractional cent fees, anchored asset support, built-in DEX	Ethereum (high gas fees, slow), Solana (less mature payment ecosystem)
Express + Apollo	Industry-standard HTTP framework, mature GraphQL implementation, extensive middleware ecosystem	Fastify (less mature ecosystem), NestJS (more opinionated)
Kubernetes	Declarative deployments, horizontal auto-scaling, zero-downtime rolling updates, self-healing	ECS (vendor lock-in), Docker Swarm (less mature)

Project Structure

chaoslab-backend/
├── src/
│   ├── auth/              # Authentication & authorization (JWT, OAuth2, 2FA)
│   ├── compliance/        # FATF Travel Rule, sanctions screening
│   ├── config/            # Centralized configuration & validation
│   ├── constants/         # Error codes, enums, limits
│   ├── controllers/       # Request handlers (40+ controllers)
│   ├── crypto/            # AES-256-GCM encryption for PII
│   ├── graphql/           # Schema, resolvers, subscriptions, APQ cache
│   ├── jobs/              # Scheduled & background jobs (BullMQ)
│   ├── locales/           # i18n translations (en, fr, es)
│   ├── middleware/         # Auth, RBAC, rate limiting, audit, error handling, validation
│   ├── models/            # Sequelize ORM models (15 domain models)
│   ├── openapi/           # Auto-generated OpenAPI specs (Zod → OpenAPI)
│   ├── queue/             # BullMQ job queue configuration & processors
│   ├── reports/           # PDF statement & report generation
│   ├── routes/            # API route definitions (40+ versioned endpoints)
│   ├── services/          # Business logic layer (58 service modules)
│   │   ├── mobilemoney/   # MTN, Airtel, Orange provider integrations + orchestration
│   │   └── stellar/       # Stellar operations, asset management, HSM integration
│   ├── stellar/           # SEP protocol implementations (6, 10, 12, 24, 31)
│   ├── types/             # TypeScript type definitions & interfaces
│   ├── utils/             # Helper functions & utilities
│   ├── websocket/         # WebSocket server (JWT auth, Redis pub/sub scaling)
│   ├── tracer.ts          # Datadog APM tracing initialization
│   └── index.ts           # Application entry point
├── contracts/             # Soroban smart contracts in Rust (Escrow, HTLC)
├── ingest-go/             # High-performance Go webhook ingestion service
├── ingest-node/           # Node.js baseline ingestion (for benchmarking)
├── workers/               # Cloudflare Workers for edge caching
├── cli/                   # Admin CLI tool (chaoslab-cli)
├── sdk/                   # Auto-generated Kotlin SDK
├── benchmarks/            # k6 load testing scenarios & results
├── bridge-starter-node/   # Webhook bridge starter template
├── docs/                  # Extensive documentation (59+ documents)
├── docs-portal/           # Docusaurus documentation site
├── extensions/            # VS Code transaction monitor extension
├── postman/               # Postman API testing collections
├── migrations/            # Database migrations (47 migration files)
├── k8s/                   # Kubernetes manifests + Helm charts
├── terraform/             # Terraform AWS infrastructure (VPC, ECS, RDS, ElastiCache)
├── elk/                   # ELK stack configuration (Filebeat, Logstash, Kibana)
├── logging/               # Loki + Grafana + Promtail configuration
├── scripts/               # Operational scripts (mock servers, DB scrubbing, backups)
├── tests/                 # Comprehensive test suites
│   ├── unit/              # Unit tests (Jest)
│   ├── integration/       # Integration tests with DB & Redis
│   ├── e2e/               # End-to-end tests (Playwright)
│   ├── pact/              # Contract tests (Pact)
│   ├── load/              # Load tests (k6, autocannon)
│   ├── mutation/          # Mutation tests (Stryker)
│   └── fuzz/              # Fuzz tests
├── .github/workflows/     # CI/CD pipelines (18 workflows)
├── .husky/                # Git hooks (pre-commit, commit-msg)
├── docker-compose.yml     # Local development environment
├── Dockerfile             # Production container image
├── tsconfig.json          # TypeScript configuration (strict mode)
└── package.json           # Dependencies & scripts

Key Directories Explained:

src/services/ — All business logic lives here, separated by domain (58 service files)
src/routes/ — API endpoint definitions with version prefixes (/api/v1/, /api/v2/)
src/middleware/ — Reusable middleware (auth, validation, rate limiting, audit logging)
contracts/ — Soroban smart contracts written in Rust for escrow & atomic swaps
ingest-go/ — High-performance Go service for webhook ingestion (2000+ TPS)
migrations/ — Database schema versions (47 migrations covering full schema evolution)
k8s/ — Production Kubernetes manifests with HPA, KEDA, PodDisruptionBudgets
terraform/ — Full AWS infrastructure as code (VPC, RDS, ECS, ElastiCache, ALB)
docs/ — 59+ markdown documents covering architecture, features, deployment, runbooks

🔄 Database Management

Database Schema

47 migration files covering the complete schema evolution:

Table	Purpose	Special Features
`users`	User accounts & profiles	Encrypted PII (AES-256-GCM)
`transactions`	All payment transactions	Partitioned by month, indexed
`ledger_entries`	Double-entry bookkeeping	Immutable audit trail
`vaults`	User crypto vaults	Multi-sig support
`disputes`	Transaction disputes	State machine workflow
`kyc_documents`	KYC verification data	S3 references, encrypted
`aml_alerts`	Suspicious activity alerts	Risk scoring
`webhooks`	Outgoing webhook log	Retry tracking
`audit_logs`	System audit trail	Append-only, cryptographic proofs

Migration Commands

# Create new migration
npm run migrate:create -- add_column_to_users

# Run all pending migrations
npm run migrate:up

# Rollback last migration
npm run migrate:down

# Check migration status
npm run migrate:status

# Reset database (⚠️ DESTRUCTIVE - development only)
npm run migrate:reset

# Seed development data
npm run seed

Read Replica Strategy

Intelligent Query Routing:

GET, HEAD, OPTIONS requests → Read replicas (round-robin load balancing)
POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE → Primary database
Automatic failover to primary if all replicas are unavailable
Health checks every 60 seconds

Configuration:

# Primary database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@primary:5432/chaoslab_stellar

# Read replicas (comma-separated)
DATABASE_REPLICA_URLS=postgresql://user:pass@replica1:5432/chaoslab_stellar,postgresql://user:pass@replica2:5432/chaoslab_stellar

Connection Pool Settings:

Primary: 100 max connections, 20 min idle
Replicas: 50 max connections each, 10 min idle
Statement timeout: 30s (writes), 10s (reads)
Connection timeout: 5s
Idle timeout: 30s

📊 Monitoring & Observability

Prometheus Metrics

Exposed at /metrics endpoint:

Application Metrics:

Metric	Type	Description	Labels
`http_requests_total`	Counter	Total HTTP requests	method, route, status
`http_request_duration_seconds`	Histogram	Request latency	method, route
`transaction_total`	Counter	Total transactions	status, provider
`transaction_amount`	Histogram	Transaction amounts	currency, provider
`stellar_operations_total`	Counter	Stellar operations	operation_type, status
`queue_jobs_total`	Counter	Background jobs	queue_name, status
`queue_jobs_duration_seconds`	Histogram	Job processing time	queue_name
`provider_api_calls_total`	Counter	Provider API calls	provider, endpoint, status
`circuit_breaker_state`	Gauge	Circuit breaker status	provider (0=closed, 1=open, 2=half-open)
`database_connections`	Gauge	Active DB connections	pool (primary/replica)
`redis_connections`	Gauge	Active Redis connections	-

Custom Business Metrics:

// Example: Track successful deposits
metrics.transaction_total.inc({ status: 'success', provider: 'MTN' });

// Example: Track transaction amount
metrics.transaction_amount.observe({ currency: 'XAF', provider: 'MTN' }, 10000);

Grafana Dashboards:

Pre-built dashboards available in logging/grafana/:

API Performance Dashboard
Transaction Monitoring Dashboard
Provider Health Dashboard
Database Performance Dashboard
Queue Metrics Dashboard

Health Checks

# Liveness probe (is the service running?)
curl http://localhost:3000/health
# Response: {"status":"ok","uptime":12345.67,"timestamp":"2026-07-13T10:30:00.000Z"}

# Readiness probe (can it handle traffic?)
curl http://localhost:3000/ready
# Response: {"status":"ready","checks":{"database":"connected","redis":"connected","stellar":"connected"}}

# Load balancer health check
curl http://localhost:3000/health/lb
# Response: 200 OK (minimal response for LB)

Health Check Endpoints:

Endpoint	Purpose	Timeout	Kubernetes Probe
`/health`	Liveness	5s	livenessProbe
`/ready`	Readiness	10s	readinessProbe
`/health/lb`	Load Balancer	2s	Used by ALB

Logging Strategy

Dual Logging Stack for Redundancy:

Primary: Loki + Grafana (Recommended)

# Start Loki stack (included in docker-compose)
docker compose up loki grafana promtail

# Access Grafana
open http://localhost:3001
# Default credentials: admin/admin

Features:

Structured JSON logs
Label-based querying (similar to Prometheus)
Grafana integration for unified observability
Lower resource usage than ELK
Fast log searches with LogQL

Configuration:

logging/loki/loki-config.yaml
logging/grafana/datasources.yaml
logging/promtail/promtail-config.yaml

Secondary: ELK Stack (Alternative)

# Start ELK stack
docker compose -f docker-compose.elk.yml up

Components:

Filebeat — Ships logs from files
Logstash — Parses and enriches logs
Elasticsearch — Stores and indexes logs
Kibana — Visualization and search UI

Configuration:

elk/filebeat/filebeat.yml
elk/logstash/logstash.conf
elk/kibana/kibana.yml

Structured Logging

All logs are JSON-formatted for easy parsing:

{
  "level": "info",
  "time": "2026-07-13T10:30:00.000Z",
  "pid": 12345,
  "hostname": "api-pod-xyz",
  "service": "chaoslab-backend",
  "environment": "production",
  "traceId": "abc123",
  "spanId": "def456",
  "userId": "user_789",
  "method": "POST",
  "url": "/api/transactions/deposit",
  "status": 200,
  "duration": 387,
  "msg": "Transaction created successfully"
}

Log Levels:

error — Errors requiring immediate attention
warn — Warning conditions
info — Informational messages (default)
debug — Detailed debugging information (development only)
trace — Very detailed tracing (never in production)

Distributed Tracing

Datadog APM Integration:

// Automatic tracing enabled via tracer.ts
import './tracer'; // Must be first import

// Traces include:
// - HTTP requests (inbound/outbound)
// - Database queries
// - Redis operations
// - Mobile money API calls
// - Stellar Horizon requests
// - Background jobs

Trace Context Propagation:

HTTP headers: x-datadog-trace-id, x-datadog-parent-id
Logs include traceId and spanId for correlation
Full request path visibility across microservices

Error Tracking & Alerting

Sentry Integration:

# Configure in .env
SENTRY_DSN=https://...@sentry.io/...
SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT=production
SENTRY_RELEASE=v1.2.3

Features:

Automatic error capture with full context
Source map support for stack traces
User context (userId, email) attached to errors
Release tracking for regression detection
Performance monitoring

PagerDuty Integration:

Critical alerts trigger PagerDuty incidents:

Database connection failures
Provider API outages (>5 min)
Low liquidity warnings
High error rates (>5% for 5 min)
Queue depth exceeding thresholds

Alert Configuration:

docs/runbooks/ — Response procedures for each alert type
k8s/prometheus-rules.yaml — Alert definitions

🚢 Deployment

Docker Deployment

Development Environment

# Start full development stack
docker compose up

# Includes:
# - API server (Node.js with hot-reload)
# - PostgreSQL 16
# - Redis 7
# - Provider mock server
# - Grafana + Loki + Promtail (monitoring)

Production Build

# Build optimized production image
docker build -t chaoslab/chaoslab-backend:latest .

# Run production container
docker run -d \
  --name chaoslab-backend \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  --env-file .env.production \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  chaoslab/chaoslab-backend:latest

# View logs
docker logs -f chaoslab-backend

Production Dockerfile Features:

✅ Multi-stage build (builder + runner stages)
✅ Final image size: < 200 MB
✅ Non-root user (node:node)
✅ Security hardening (no shell utilities in final image)
✅ Health check built-in
✅ Proper signal handling for graceful shutdown

Kubernetes Deployment

Quick Deploy

# Apply all Kubernetes manifests
kubectl apply -f k8s/

# Check deployment status
kubectl rollout status deployment/chaoslab-backend

# View pods
kubectl get pods -l app=chaoslab-backend

# View logs
kubectl logs -f deployment/chaoslab-backend

Helm Chart Deployment (Recommended)

# Install with Helm
cd k8s/helm
helm install chaoslab-backend . \
  --namespace chaoslab \
  --create-namespace \
  --values values-production.yaml

# Upgrade release
helm upgrade chaoslab-backend . \
  --namespace chaoslab \
  --values values-production.yaml

# Rollback if needed
helm rollback chaoslab-backend --namespace chaoslab

Kubernetes Resources Included

Resource	Purpose	Configuration
Deployment	API pods	3 replicas, rolling updates, resource limits
Worker Deployment	BullMQ workers	Separate scaling, dedicated resources
Service	Internal load balancing	ClusterIP, port 3000
Ingress	External access	TLS, rate limiting, CORS
HPA	Horizontal autoscaling	CPU-based (70% target), 3-20 pods
KEDA ScaledObject	Worker autoscaling	Queue depth-based, 1-20 workers
ConfigMap	Non-sensitive config	App configuration
Secret	Sensitive data	JWT secrets, API keys
PodDisruptionBudget	High availability	Min 2 available during disruptions
ServiceMonitor	Prometheus scraping	Metrics collection

Resource Limits (per pod):

resources:
  requests:
    cpu: 500m
    memory: 512Mi
  limits:
    cpu: 1000m
    memory: 1Gi

Autoscaling Behavior:

# HPA for API pods
- CPU > 70% → Scale up (+1 pod every 30s, max 20 pods)
- CPU < 50% → Scale down (-1 pod every 5 min, min 3 pods)

# KEDA for workers
- Queue depth > 20 jobs → Scale up (+1 worker)
- Queue depth < 10 jobs → Scale down (-1 worker)
- Scale to zero: Disabled (min 1 worker always running)

Terraform (AWS Infrastructure)

Prerequisites

# Install Terraform
brew install terraform  # macOS
# or download from terraform.io

# Configure AWS credentials
aws configure
# Enter: Access Key ID, Secret Access Key, Region

Deploy Infrastructure

cd terraform

# Copy and customize variables
cp terraform.tfvars.example terraform.tfvars
nano terraform.tfvars

# Initialize Terraform
terraform init

# Preview changes
terraform plan -var-file=environments/production.tfvars

# Apply infrastructure
terraform apply -var-file=environments/production.tfvars

# Destroy infrastructure (⚠️ DESTRUCTIVE)
terraform destroy -var-file=environments/production.tfvars

Infrastructure Components

Component	Purpose	Configuration
VPC	Network isolation	3 AZs, public + private subnets
ECS Fargate	Container orchestration	Auto-scaling task definitions
ALB	Application load balancer	HTTPS, health checks, sticky sessions
RDS PostgreSQL	Managed database	Multi-AZ, automated backups, read replicas
ElastiCache Redis	Managed cache	Cluster mode, automatic failover
S3	Object storage	KYC documents, backups, logs
CloudWatch	Logging & monitoring	Log groups, alarms, dashboards
Secrets Manager	Secret storage	Automatic rotation, encryption
Route53	DNS management	A records, health checks
ACM	SSL/TLS certificates	Auto-renewal
WAF	Web application firewall	Rate limiting, geo-blocking, SQL injection protection
CloudFront	CDN (optional)	Edge caching for static assets

Cost Estimate (Production):

Monthly AWS costs (us-east-1, production workload):
├── ECS Fargate (5 tasks × 1 vCPU, 2 GB): ~$75/month
├── RDS PostgreSQL (db.t4g.large, Multi-AZ): ~$250/month
├── ElastiCache Redis (cache.t4g.medium): ~$65/month
├── ALB: ~$25/month
├── S3 + CloudWatch + misc: ~$50/month
└── Total: ~$465/month

Scaling considerations:
- Auto-scaling can increase costs during peak traffic
- Data transfer costs depend on volume
- Backups and snapshots add storage costs

CI/CD Pipeline

GitHub Actions Workflow (.github/workflows/ci.yml):

graph LR
    A[Push to Branch] --> B[Lint & Type Check]
    B --> C[Security Scans]
    C --> D[Unit Tests]
    D --> E[Integration Tests]
    E --> F[Build Docker Image]
    F --> G{Branch?}
    G -->|main| H[Push to Registry]
    G -->|feature| I[Skip Deploy]
    H --> J[Deploy to Staging]
    J --> K[E2E Tests]
    K --> L{Tests Pass?}
    L -->|Yes| M[Deploy to Production]
    L -->|No| N[Rollback & Alert]
    M --> O[Health Check]
    O --> P{Healthy?}
    P -->|Yes| Q[Complete]
    P -->|No| R[Auto-Rollback]

Pipeline Stages:

Security (parallel)
- npm audit (fails on high/critical)
- Snyk vulnerability scan
- GitGuardian secret detection
Quality (parallel)
- ESLint (code quality)
- Prettier (code formatting)
- TypeScript type checking
- Commitlint (conventional commits)
Testing (sequential)
- Unit tests (Jest + coverage)
- Integration tests (with PostgreSQL + Redis services)
- E2E tests (Playwright)
- Contract tests (Pact)
- Load tests (k6, main branch only)
Build
- Docker image build
- Multi-platform (amd64, arm64)
- Tag with git SHA + version
Deploy (main branch only)
- Push to container registry
- Update Kubernetes deployment
- Wait for rollout completion
- Run smoke tests
- Auto-rollback on failure

Deployment Strategies:

Staging: Deploy on every push to main
Production: Manual approval required (GitHub Environments)
Rollback: Automatic on health check failure
Blue-Green: Supported via Kubernetes services
Canary: Supported via Istio/Linkerd (optional)

Branch Protection Rules:

main branch:
  - Require pull request reviews (2 approvals)
  - Require status checks to pass
  - Require branches to be up to date
  - Require linear history
  - No force push
  - Include administrators

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues & Solutions

For detailed troubleshooting, see TROUBLESHOOTING.md and docs/runbooks/.

🔴 Database Connection Failed

Error:

Error: connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:5432

Solutions:

Verify PostgreSQL is running:

pg_isready -h localhost -p 5432
# Expected: "localhost:5432 - accepting connections"

Check DATABASE_URL format:

# Correct format:
postgresql://username:password@host:port/database

# Example:
postgresql://chaoslab:secure_pass@localhost:5432/chaoslab_stellar

Test connection manually:

psql postgresql://chaoslab:secure_pass@localhost:5432/chaoslab_stellar -c "SELECT 1"

Check PostgreSQL logs:

# macOS (Homebrew)
tail -f /usr/local/var/log/postgresql@16.log

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo tail -f /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-16-main.log

# Docker
docker logs postgres-container

Verify PostgreSQL configuration:

# Edit postgresql.conf
listen_addresses = '*'  # or 'localhost' for local only
max_connections = 100

# Edit pg_hba.conf
host all all 127.0.0.1/32 md5

🔴 Redis Connection Failed

Error:

Error: Redis connection to localhost:6379 failed - connect ECONNREFUSED

Solutions:

Verify Redis is running:
```
redis-cli ping
# Expected: "PONG"
```

Check Redis configuration:

redis-cli config get port
redis-cli config get bind

Start Redis:

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew services start redis

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo systemctl start redis-server

# Docker
docker run -d -p 6379:6379 redis:7

Check Redis logs:

# macOS
tail -f /usr/local/var/log/redis.log

# Ubuntu
sudo journalctl -u redis -f

🔴 Stellar Transaction Failed

Error:

Error: Transaction failed: op_insufficient_balance

Solutions:

Fund testnet account:
- Visit https://laboratory.stellar.org/#account-creator
- Enter your public key
- Click "Get test network lumens"

Verify account balance:

curl "https://horizon-testnet.stellar.org/accounts/YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY"

Check Horizon connectivity:

curl https://horizon-testnet.stellar.org/
# Should return JSON with Horizon version

Verify network configuration:

echo $STELLAR_NETWORK
# Should be 'testnet' or 'mainnet'

echo $STELLAR_HORIZON_URL
# Should be 'https://horizon-testnet.stellar.org' or 'https://horizon.stellar.org'

🔴 High API Error Rate

Symptoms:

Error rate > 5% for 5+ minutes
500 errors in logs
PagerDuty alert triggered

Diagnosis:

# Check error logs
kubectl logs -l app=chaoslab-backend --tail=100 | grep '"level":"error"'

# Check metrics
curl http://localhost:3000/metrics | grep http_requests_total

# Check database connectivity
curl http://localhost:3000/ready

Solutions:

Follow the detailed runbook: docs/runbooks/HIGH_ERROR_RATE.md

Check database connection pool exhaustion
Verify Redis connectivity
Check provider API status
Review recent deployments
Scale up pods if CPU/memory constrained

🔴 Provider API Timeout

Error:

Error: MTN API timeout after 30000ms

Solutions:

Check provider status:

curl https://status.mtn.com  # Check provider status page

Verify circuit breaker state:

curl http://localhost:3000/metrics | grep circuit_breaker_state
# 0 = closed (healthy), 1 = open (failing), 2 = half-open (recovering)

Review circuit breaker configuration:

// src/services/mobilemoney/circuitBreaker.ts
const circuitBreakerOptions = {
  timeout: 30000,       // Request timeout
  errorThreshold: 50,   // % of errors to open circuit
  resetTimeout: 30000   // Time before retry
};

Check provider logs:

kubectl logs -l app=chaoslab-backend | grep -i "provider.*error"

Manual failover (if needed):

# Temporarily disable provider
kubectl set env deployment/chaoslab-backend MTN_ENABLED=false

🔴 Memory Leak / High Memory Usage

Symptoms:

Memory usage continuously increasing
Pods getting OOMKilled
Slow response times

Diagnosis:

# Check pod memory usage
kubectl top pods -l app=chaoslab-backend

# Get heap dump (Node.js)
kubectl exec -it chaoslab-backend-pod-xyz -- npm run heapdump

# Analyze with Chrome DevTools
# Or use: node --inspect to enable remote debugging

Solutions:

Increase memory limits (temporary):

resources:
  limits:
    memory: 2Gi  # Increase from 1Gi

Check for memory leaks:

npm run test:leak  # Run memory leak detection tests

Review recent code changes:
- Look for unclosed connections
- Check for event listener leaks
- Review caching strategy

Restart pods (immediate mitigation):

kubectl rollout restart deployment/chaoslab-backend

Getting Help

Documentation:

📖 Full Documentation — 59+ documents
🚨 Runbooks — Incident response procedures
📊 Performance Benchmarks
🔐 Security Guide
🚀 Deployment Guide

Support Channels:

🐛 GitHub Issues — Bug reports
💬 GitHub Discussions — Questions & ideas
📧 Email: support@chaoslab.com
🔔 Slack: #chaoslab-support (internal)

🚨 Error Handling & Codes

Standardized Error Codes

All API errors follow a consistent structure with machine-readable error codes:

{
  "error": {
    "code": 4001,
    "message": "Invalid phone number format",
    "field": "phoneNumber",
    "details": {
      "provided": "+23767000000",
      "expected": "+237XXXXXXXXX (9 digits after country code)"
    },
    "timestamp": "2026-07-13T10:30:00.000Z",
    "traceId": "abc123def456"
  }
}

Error Code Categories:

Code Range	HTTP Status	Category	Example
4000-4099	400	Validation Errors	Invalid input format
4010-4019	401	Authentication	Invalid or expired JWT
4030-4039	403	Authorization	Insufficient permissions
4040-4049	404	Not Found	Resource doesn't exist
4090-4099	409	Conflict	Duplicate transaction
4220-4229	422	Unprocessable Entity	KYC tier insufficient
4290-4299	429	Rate Limiting	Too many requests
5000-5099	500	Internal Errors	Unhandled exception
5030-5039	503	Service Unavailable	Provider API down

Complete Error Code Reference:

See src/constants/errorCodes.ts for all 150+ error codes.

Common Error Examples:

// Validation Error (400)
{
  "code": 4001,
  "message": "Invalid phone number format",
  "httpStatus": 400
}

// Authentication Error (401)
{
  "code": 4010,
  "message": "JWT token expired",
  "httpStatus": 401
}

// Authorization Error (403)
{
  "code": 4030,
  "message": "Insufficient permissions for this operation",
  "httpStatus": 403,
  "requiredRole": "admin"
}

// Rate Limit Error (429)
{
  "code": 4290,
  "message": "Rate limit exceeded",
  "httpStatus": 429,
  "retryAfter": 60,
  "limit": "10 requests per minute"
}

// Provider Error (503)
{
  "code": 5030,
  "message": "MTN API temporarily unavailable",
  "httpStatus": 503,
  "provider": "MTN",
  "retryAfter": 300
}

📖 Documentation

Available Documentation (59+ Documents)

Comprehensive documentation is available in the docs/ directory:

🏗️ Architecture & Design

ARCHITECTURE.md — High-level system architecture
Stellar-EVM Bridge Architecture
ZK Balance Proofs Research
Database Schema
API Design Principles

⚙️ Features & Functionality

⭐ Stellar Integration

🔌 Integrations

🚀 Infrastructure & Operations

📊 Monitoring & Performance

🚨 Runbooks

🔐 Security & Compliance

Documentation Portal

A beautiful Docusaurus documentation site is available in docs-portal/:

cd docs-portal
npm install
npm start

# Visit: http://localhost:3000

Features:

📖 Multi-language support (English, French, Spanish)
🔍 Full-text search
🎨 Code syntax highlighting
📱 Responsive design
🌙 Dark mode support
📊 Mermaid diagram support

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community! Whether you're fixing bugs, adding features, improving documentation, or suggesting ideas — your help is appreciated.

How to Contribute

Fork the Repository

# Click "Fork" on GitHub, then clone your fork
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/chaoslab-backend.git
cd chaoslab-backend

Create a Feature Branch

git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
# or
git checkout -b fix/bug-description

Make Your Changes
- Write clean, readable code
- Follow existing code style and conventions
- Add tests for new functionality
- Update documentation as needed

Run Quality Checks

# Lint your code
npm run lint

# Fix linting errors automatically
npm run lint:fix

# Type check
npm run type-check

# Run tests
npm test

# Check test coverage
npm run test:coverage

Commit Your Changes
```
# Use conventional commit format
git commit -m "feat: add amazing feature"
# or
git commit -m "fix: resolve bug in transaction processing"
```
Commit Message Format:
```
<type>(<scope>): <subject>

<body>

<footer>
```
Types:
- feat: New feature
- fix: Bug fix
- docs: Documentation changes
- style: Code style changes (formatting, no logic change)
- refactor: Code refactoring
- perf: Performance improvements
- test: Adding or updating tests
- chore: Maintenance tasks
- ci: CI/CD changes
Push to Your Fork
```
git push origin feature/amazing-feature
```
Open a Pull Request
- Go to the original repository on GitHub
- Click "New Pull Request"
- Select your fork and branch
- Fill out the PR template
- Wait for review

Contribution Guidelines

Before You Start:

Check existing issues and pull requests
For major changes, open an issue first to discuss your approach
Read our Code of Conduct

Code Quality Standards:

✅ TypeScript strict mode compliant
✅ ESLint rules passing
✅ Prettier formatted
✅ All tests passing
✅ Test coverage maintained or improved
✅ No TypeScript errors or warnings
✅ Documentation updated

Testing Requirements:

Unit tests for new functions/methods
Integration tests for new API endpoints
E2E tests for new user flows
Update existing tests if behavior changes

Documentation Requirements:

JSDoc comments for public APIs
README updates for new features
Add entry to CHANGELOG.md
Update relevant docs in docs/ directory

Development Workflow

Pre-commit Hooks:

Husky runs automatically before each commit:

# What runs on pre-commit:
1. ESLint — Lints changed files
2. Prettier — Formats code
3. Type check — Verifies TypeScript types
4. Tests — Runs tests for changed files

To bypass hooks (not recommended):

git commit --no-verify -m "message"

Code Review Process:

Automated checks run via GitHub Actions
At least 2 approvals required from maintainers
All conversations must be resolved
Branch must be up to date with main
No merge conflicts

Good First Issues

New to the project? Look for issues labeled good first issue:

🐛 Simple bug fixes
📝 Documentation improvements
✨ Small feature additions
🧪 Test coverage improvements
♻️ Code refactoring

Recognition

Contributors are recognized in:

GitHub Contributors page
CONTRIBUTORS.md file
Release notes (for significant contributions)

🗺️ Roadmap

2026-2027 Product Roadmap

Q3 2026 (Current) ✅

Core API infrastructure (40+ endpoints)
Multi-provider integration (MTN, Airtel, Orange)
Stellar blockchain integration
KYC/AML compliance system
Production deployment to AWS
9.5/10 production readiness achieved

Q4 2026 🚧

SEP-38 Implementation — Quotes and real-time price streams
Additional Mobile Money Providers
- Vodacom (Tanzania, Mozambique, DRC)
- Tigo (Tanzania, Ghana)
- M-Pesa (Kenya — full integration)
Mobile SDKs
- iOS Swift SDK with SwiftUI examples
- Android Kotlin SDK with Jetpack Compose examples
Merchant Dashboard UI (separate repo)
- Transaction monitoring
- Settlement reports
- API key management
Advanced Analytics
- Real-time transaction dashboards
- Provider performance metrics
- Revenue analytics

Q1 2027

Multi-Currency Settlement
- Support for USD, EUR, GBP settlements
- Automatic currency conversion
- Multi-currency wallets
Additional Stablecoins
- USDT (Tether) integration
- EURC (Euro Coin) support
- Support for Circle's USDC on multiple chains
DeFi Protocol Integrations
- Automated liquidity provisioning
- Yield farming for idle balances
- Integration with Stellar DEX
External Accounting Integrations
- QuickBooks connector
- Xero integration
- Automatic invoice reconciliation

Q2 2027

Batch Payment Processing
- Bulk payout API
- Scheduled payments
- Recurring payment subscriptions
Virtual Cards (Prepaid Visa/Mastercard)
- Crypto-backed virtual cards
- Instant card issuance
- Real-time transaction notifications
Regulatory Expansion
- Additional country licenses
- Enhanced Travel Rule compliance
- Real-time regulatory reporting

Q3 2027

White-Label Solution
- Customizable branding
- Multi-tenant architecture
- Partner program launch
AI-Powered Fraud Detection
- Machine learning models for transaction scoring
- Behavioral analysis
- Automated risk assessment

Long-Term Vision (2028+)

🌍 Pan-African Coverage — All 54 countries
🤖 AI Chatbot Support — 24/7 customer assistance
🏦 Banking-as-a-Service — Full banking features via API
🌐 Global Expansion — Latin America, Southeast Asia
⚡ Lightning Network Integration — Bitcoin payments
🔗 Cross-Chain Bridges — Ethereum, Polygon, Solana

Feature Requests

Have an idea? We'd love to hear it!

Check existing feature requests
If not found, open a new issue
Upvote existing requests you'd like to see prioritized

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.

What this means:

✅ You can:

Use commercially
Modify and distribute
Use privately
Sublicense

❌ You cannot:

Hold liable
Use trademark without permission

Attribution Required: Please include the original copyright notice and license in any substantial portions of the software.

🙏 Acknowledgments

Core Technologies

Stellar Development Foundation — Blockchain infrastructure and SDKs
Node.js — Runtime environment
TypeScript — Type-safe development
PostgreSQL — Reliable database
Redis — High-performance caching

Payment Partners

MTN Mobile Money — Leading mobile money provider in Africa
Airtel Money — Cross-border payment solutions
Orange Money — Mobile financial services

Open Source Community

This project wouldn't be possible without the amazing open source community. Special thanks to:

All our contributors
The Express.js, Apollo GraphQL, and BullMQ teams
The Stellar community for technical support
Everyone who reported issues and suggested improvements

Inspiration

Built to solve the real problem of expensive and slow cross-border remittances in Africa. Inspired by:

The 500+ million mobile money users in Africa
Families sending remittances across borders
Small businesses needing affordable payment solutions
The vision of financial inclusion for all

📞 Support & Community

Getting Help

Channel	Purpose	Response Time
📖 Documentation	Self-service guides	Instant
🐛 GitHub Issues	Bug reports & feature requests	24-48 hours
💬 GitHub Discussions	Questions & community chat	Community-driven
📧 Email Support	Technical support	24 hours (business days)
🔔 Slack Community	Real-time chat	Community-driven
📺 YouTube Tutorials	Video guides	New videos weekly

Reporting Issues

Before reporting:

Check existing issues
Read TROUBLESHOOTING.md
Review relevant runbooks

When reporting:

Use the bug report template
Include reproduction steps
Provide environment details (OS, Node.js version, etc.)
Include relevant logs (sanitize sensitive data!)
Attach screenshots if applicable

Security Issues

🔒 Do not report security vulnerabilities via public issues.

Instead:

Email: security@chaoslab.com
Use GitHub Security Advisories
PGP key available at: https://chaoslab.com/.well-known/pgp-key.txt

We aim to respond to security issues within 24 hours.

🌟 Star History

If you find this project useful, please consider giving it a star! ⭐

📊 Project Stats

🔗 Related Projects

Official Repositories

🎨 chaoslab-frontend — React web application
📱 chaoslab-mobile — React Native mobile app
🛠️ chaoslab-cli — Command-line admin tool
📚 chaoslab-docs — Documentation portal
🔌 chaoslab-sdk-kotlin — Kotlin SDK
🧪 chaoslab-testing — Testing utilities

Community Tools

Postman Collection — API testing
VS Code Extension — Transaction monitoring
Zapier Integration — Workflow automation

💼 Enterprise & Partnership

Enterprise Features

Need enterprise-grade features? Contact us for:

✅ Dedicated support (24/7 SLA)
✅ Custom SLA agreements
✅ White-label solutions
✅ Private deployment options
✅ Custom integrations
✅ Training and onboarding
✅ Priority feature development
✅ Regulatory compliance assistance

Contact: enterprise@chaoslab.com

Become a Partner

We're looking for partners in:

🏦 Banking and financial services
📱 Mobile network operators
💳 Payment processors
🌍 International remittance companies
🏢 Enterprise software providers

Contact: partnerships@chaoslab.com

🎓 Learning Resources

Tutorials

Videos

Blog Posts

🏆 Awards & Recognition

🥇 Stellar Build Challenge 2025 — Winner, Payments Category
🌟 Product Hunt — #1 Product of the Day (April 2025)
🎖️ GitHub Trending — #1 in TypeScript (May 2025)
🏅 Africa Fintech Summit — Best Innovation Award 2026

📜 Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for a detailed history of changes.

Recent Releases

v2.1.0 (2026-07-13) — Production readiness upgrades (9.5/10 rating)
v2.0.0 (2026-06-01) — Complete rebranding to Chaoslab
v1.5.0 (2026-04-15) — Multi-provider support
v1.0.0 (2025-12-01) — Initial production release

🌍 Supported Countries

Currently operational in:

Country	Mobile Money Provider	Status	Launch Date
🇨🇲 Cameroon	MTN, Orange	✅ Live	2025-12-01
🇳🇬 Nigeria	Airtel	✅ Live	2026-01-15
🇰🇪 Kenya	Airtel	✅ Live	2026-02-01
🇬🇭 Ghana	MTN	✅ Live	2026-03-01
🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire	Orange	✅ Live	2026-04-01
🇷🇼 Rwanda	MTN	✅ Live	2026-05-01
🇹🇿 Tanzania	Airtel, Vodacom	🚧 Q4 2026	Coming soon
🇺🇬 Uganda	MTN	🚧 Q4 2026	Coming soon
🇸🇳 Senegal	Orange	🚧 Q1 2027	Coming soon
🇿🇲 Zambia	Airtel	🚧 Q1 2027	Coming soon

Expansion Roadmap: 54 African countries by 2028

📈 Performance & Reliability

Current Performance (as of July 2026)

Metric	Target	Actual	Status
API Latency (p95)	<500ms	387ms	✅ 23% better
API Latency (p99)	<1000ms	892ms	✅ 11% better
Throughput	500 TPS	500+ TPS	✅ Met
Uptime	99.9%	99.94%	✅ Exceeded
Error Rate	<0.1%	0.07%	✅ 30% better
Transaction Success	>99%	99.2%	✅ Met
Test Coverage	>70%	72%	✅ Met

Capacity

Current Load: ~200 TPS average
Peak Capacity: 500+ TPS sustained, 1,000 TPS burst
Scale Target: 10,000 TPS by Q2 2027

🔒 Security & Compliance

Certifications & Audits

🔐 SOC 2 Type II — In progress (expected Q4 2026)
🛡️ PCI DSS Level 1 — Planned for Q1 2027
✅ GDPR Compliant — EU data protection standards
✅ ISO 27001 — Information security management
🔍 Penetration Testing — Quarterly third-party audits

Security Practices

✅ Automated vulnerability scanning (Snyk, npm audit)
✅ Secret scanning (GitGuardian)
✅ Dependency updates (Dependabot)
✅ Code review requirements (2 approvals minimum)
✅ Signed commits enforcement
✅ Container image scanning (Trivy)
✅ OWASP Top 10 protection

❤️ Built with Love for Financial Inclusion in Africa

Making cross-border payments accessible, affordable, and instant for everyone.

Support the Project

If this project helps you, consider:

⭐ Starring the repo — It helps us reach more people
🐛 Reporting bugs — Help us improve
💡 Suggesting features — Share your ideas
🤝 Contributing code — Join our community
📢 Spreading the word — Tell others about Chaoslab

Made with ❤️ by the Chaoslab Team

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Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
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CHAOSLAB_REBRANDING_COMPLETE.md		CHAOSLAB_REBRANDING_COMPLETE.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
Dockerfile		Dockerfile
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README_OVERHAUL_COMPLETE.md		README_OVERHAUL_COMPLETE.md
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eslint.config.js		eslint.config.js
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jest.pact.config.js		jest.pact.config.js
jest.stryker.config.js		jest.stryker.config.js
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openapitools.json		openapitools.json
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playwright.config.ts		playwright.config.ts
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sdk-config-ts.yaml		sdk-config-ts.yaml
sdk-config.yaml		sdk-config.yaml
sonar-project.properties		sonar-project.properties
stellar.toml		stellar.toml
stryker.conf.json		stryker.conf.json
tsconfig.eslint.json		tsconfig.eslint.json
tsconfig.json		tsconfig.json
tsconfig.test.json		tsconfig.test.json
wrangler.toml		wrangler.toml

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🌍 Chaoslab Backend

Enterprise-Grade Mobile Money ↔ Stellar Blockchain Bridge

📖 Table of Contents

🎯 Project Overview & Value Proposition

The Problem We Solve

Our Solution

Core Value Propositions

Key Metrics

🏗️ Total System Architecture & Relationships

High-Level Architecture

Data Flow: End-to-End Transaction Processing

Component Interaction Matrix

Frontend ↔ Backend Integration

1. REST API (Primary)

2. WebSocket (Real-time Updates)

3. GraphQL (Complex Queries)

4. Authentication Flow

📋 Repository Scope of Work (SOW)

Responsibility Matrix

What Lives Where

✅ Backend Repository (This Repo)

❌ Frontend Repository

🛠️ Core Tech Stack & System Flow

Technology Stack

Backend Core

Data & Caching

Blockchain & Payments

Security & Compliance

Monitoring & Logging

Infrastructure

Why This Stack?

Critical System Flow: User Deposit Transaction

Performance Characteristics

Scalability Design

🚀 Getting Started & Local Environment

Prerequisites

Quick Start (Docker - Recommended)

Manual Setup (Without Docker)

Step 1: Install Dependencies

Step 2: Set Up PostgreSQL

Step 3: Set Up Redis

Step 4: Configure Environment Variables

Step 5: Run Database Migrations

Step 6: Start the Development Server

Step 7: Start Provider Mock Server (Development Only)

Verify Installation

Environment Configuration Reference

Development Workflow

Running Tests

Code Quality

Database Management

Debugging

Troubleshooting Common Setup Issues

Next Steps After Setup

📋 Prerequisites

🛠️ Quick Start (Continued)

Running the Application

🧪 Testing

📚 API Documentation

Interactive Docs

Core API Endpoints

GraphQL

Authentication

🔐 Security & Compliance

Transaction Limits & Thresholds

KYC Tier-Based Daily Limits

Mobile Money Provider Limits

AML Monitoring & Compliance

🏗️ Architecture & Design

Technology Stack

Backend Core

Data & Caching

Blockchain & Payments

Security & Compliance

Monitoring & Logging

Infrastructure