May 2022¶

Published on June 1, 2022

Welcome to our May 2022 update! This month brought significant expansion in the Challenge Registry platform architecture with 21 pull requests merged to the main branch. Our development efforts were led by @tschaffter and @rrchai, focusing on microservices architecture, authentication systems, and comprehensive platform tooling.

Summary¶

Total Pull Requests: 21 merged PRs
Key Focus: Microservices architecture expansion and authentication infrastructure
Major Projects: Keycloak integration, Challenge Service Registry, npm scope standardization

Technical Architecture Overview¶

Microservices infrastructure evolution¶

May marked a pivotal month in our platform architecture with the introduction of comprehensive microservices infrastructure. We established the Challenge Service Registry, API Gateway, and User Service foundations, creating a robust distributed system architecture that supports scalable challenge management.

Authentication and authorization framework¶

The integration of Keycloak as our identity and access management solution represents a major architectural milestone. We implemented OAuth 2.0 authentication flows, established protected resource access patterns, and created the foundation for comprehensive user management across the platform ecosystem.

Development environment modernization¶

Significant improvements to our development infrastructure included devcontainer integration with CI/CD workflows, comprehensive Docker composition updates, and enhanced documentation for remote development scenarios. These changes ensure consistent development experiences across different environments and deployment targets.

Package management standardization¶

The transition to the @sagebionetworks npm scope aligns our JavaScript ecosystem with organizational standards and provides better package namespace management. This standardization supports future package publishing and cross-project dependency management.

Pull Requests Merged¶

Microservices architecture¶

#243: Create Challenge Service Registry
#247: Integrate keycloak to microserve infra
#245: Rename keycloak projects
#234: Create project challenge-platform-app

Authentication and security¶

#206: Login with KC and access protected movie resources
#192: Add movie REST API to test Keycloak integration
#136: Explore Keycloak as workspace IAM

Containerization and infrastructure¶

#253: Add devcontainer definition
#205: Update workspace docker compose
#204: Create project apps/keycloak-db
#203: Rename project task docker to build-image
#182: Use devcontainer in CI/CD workflow

Challenge Registry platform features¶

#207: Add challenge sponsor

Development tools and configuration¶

#256: Use npm scope @sagebionetworks
#228: Rename workspace npm scope
#240: Add VS Code extensions for Java
#162: Add GUI plugin in vscode for jest
#163: Restore pipenv cache in CI/CD workflow

Documentation and guides¶

#201: Describe how to start api before contributing to the web-app
#200: Update remote host setup doc
#181: Document how to setup development for devcontainers running on EC2

Community Impact¶

May's contributions represent a fundamental shift toward a mature, enterprise-ready platform architecture. The introduction of microservices patterns and comprehensive authentication systems positions the Challenge Registry as a scalable foundation for biomedical research collaboration.

The establishment of Keycloak-based authentication creates secure, standardized access patterns that will support future multi-tenant capabilities and fine-grained authorization controls. This infrastructure investment ensures the platform can grow to support larger research communities while maintaining security and performance standards.

Thank You¶

Last but certainly not least, a big Thank You to the contributors of the Sage monorepo.

We're building something amazing together, and every contribution moves us closer to our vision of advancing biomedical research through innovative technology platforms. Join us in shaping the future of collaborative research.