forum api - ci/cd & security

This was my advanced capstone for the IDCamp 2024 Backend Expert track. I had already built a functioning Forum API using Clean Architecture. The core logic was isolated—entities and use cases handled the rules, while Hapi.js and PostgreSQL simply acted as delivery mechanisms. It worked perfectly on my local machine. But local success doesn't matter. The real challenge of backend engineering is building a system that can be deployed reliably and defended in production.

So, I shifted my focus entirely to delivery and security. I moved away from manual deployments and set up a fully automated CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions. Every push now runs through a strict automated testing gauntlet using Jest. If the unit and integration tests pass, it automatically builds and deploys to an AWS EC2 instance. But speed without security is a liability. I configured NGINX as a reverse proxy and secured the transport layer with HTTPS via Let's Encrypt to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. I also added rate limiting to neutralize basic DDoS attempts, while enforcing JWT authentication at the endpoint level. The biggest insight? CI/CD isn't just a technical checklist; it fundamentally frees your time. Once the pipeline was catching errors for me, I stopped worrying about breaking things and started moving faster. It embodies the philosophy of building things fast, simple, and efficient.

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Forum API - CI/CD & Security