Ticket Masala

"One Core. Infinite Skins."

A polymorphic workflow engine that adapts its business logic, security constraints, and UI to the domain it serves—from strict government bureaucracy to agile software development.

---

The Concept

Ticket Masala is not just a ticketing system; it is a Configuration-Driven Multi-Instance Platform.

Instead of building separate applications for different departments (HR, IT, Government), Ticket Masala uses a single Modular Monolith core that injects different "Personalities" at runtime.

Architecture

The system supports Physical Isolation (for security) and Logical Partitioning (for efficiency).

graph TD
    Config[YAML Configuration] -->|Injects Strategy| Core[Ticket Masala Core]

    subgraph "The Ecosystem"
        Core -->|Tenant: Desgoffe| NodeA[Node A: Gov Tech]
        Core -->|Tenant: Whitman| NodeB[Node B: Infra]
        Core -->|Tenant: Liberty| NodeC[Node C: SaaS]
    end

    NodeA -->|Strategy| Strict[Strict Validation & Hierarchy]
    NodeC -->|Strategy| Agile[Agile Workflows & Git Integration]

Loading

---

Key Features

1. Polymorphic Workflow Engine

The system behaves differently based on the active domain:

• Government Mode (Desgoffe): Enforces strict hierarchy, formal language, and bureaucratic steps (e.g., "Mayor's Stamp" approval).
• Tech Mode (Liberty): Enables agile workflows, git-style commits, and rapid iteration.

2. GERDA (Heuristic Inference Engine)

Not just a chatbot. GERDA is an embedded heuristic agent that:

• Triages Tickets: Analyzes sentiment and complexity to route tickets to the correct "Hemisphere" (e.g., Support vs. DevOps).
• Estimates Effort: Uses historical data to predict resolution time.
• Enforces Compliance: Automatically flags requests that violate domain-specific rules (e.g., GDPR violations in the Tax domain).

3. Event-Driven Architecture (RabbitMQ)

Ticket Masala publishes domain events for downstream integrations:

• Outbox Pattern: Ensures atomic transaction between ticket updates and event publishing.
• Reliable Delivery: Background service (OutboxPublisher) drains messages to RabbitMQ with retry logic.
• Event Schema: Follows integration-contracts snake_case convention.

Published Events:

Event	Routing Key	Description
ticket.resolved	event.ticket.resolved	Ticket completed, triggers billing workflow
ticket.created	event.ticket.created	New ticket created
ticket.assigned	event.ticket.assigned	Ticket assigned to agent

Configuration:

"RabbitMQ": {
  "HostName": "localhost",
  "Port": 5672,
  "UserName": "guest",
  "Password": "guest",
  "ExchangeName": "garamatic.events"
}

4. Data Sovereignty & Security

• Federated Deployment: Supports air-gapped deployment for high-security environments.
• SQLite WAL Mode: Optimized for single-file deployment with high concurrent read performance.
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Granular permissions down to the field level.

---

Technology Stack

• Core: .NET 10
• Web Framework: ASP.NET Core MVC with HTMX for high-performance interactivity.
• Database: Entity Framework Core + SQLite (Write-Ahead Logging enabled).
• AI/ML: Local Heuristic Engine (GERDA).
• Containerization: Docker & Fly.io.

---

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• .NET 10.0 SDK
• Docker (Optional)

Option 1: Local Development

No external database required. The app initializes a local SQLite instance on first run.

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/garamatic/ticket-masala.git
cd ticket-masala

# Build
dotnet build

# Run (Seeds database automatically with 'Desgoffe' and 'Liberty' data)
dotnet run --project src/TicketMasala.Web/

Access the portal at http://localhost:5054.

Option 2: Docker Composition

docker-compose up --build

Developer Resources

• API Documentation: Access the Swagger UI at http://localhost:5054/swagger
• Full Documentation: See docs/index.md for complete documentation
• Deployment Guide: See docs/deployment_guide.md for production setup

---

Demo Accounts (Seeded)

Passwords are configurable via environment variables: MASALA_SEEDED_ADMIN_PASSWORD, MASALA_SEEDED_EMPLOYEE_PASSWORD, MASALA_SEEDED_CUSTOMER_PASSWORD.

Click to expand User List

Role	Domain	Email	Password	Context
The Bureaucrat	Desgoffe	gustave@desgoffe.gov	Admin123!	Mayor. Can stamp permits. Strict view.
The Citizen	Desgoffe	jean.dupont@citoyen.be	Customer123!	Can only file complaints. No dashboard.
The DevOps Lead	Liberty	arthur@liberty.tech	Employee123!	Sees PRs, Bugs, and CI/CD pipelines.
The Support Rep	Liberty	sarah@liberty.tech	Employee123!	Sees Customer Tickets and SLAs.
The Foreman	Whitman	jack@whitman.infra	Employee123!	High contrast UI. Big buttons.

---

🧪 Testing

Running Tests

# Run all tests
./scripts/test.sh

# Run with coverage report
./scripts/test-coverage.sh

# Run specific test class
dotnet test --filter "FullyQualifiedName~TicketTests"

# Run only unit tests (fast)
dotnet test --filter "FullyQualifiedName~UnitTests|FullyQualifiedName~Domain.Tests"

Test Structure

• Unit Tests: Fast, isolated tests using in-memory database (UnitTests/ namespace)
• Integration Tests: Full stack tests with WebApplicationFactory (IntegrationTests/ namespace)
• Architecture Tests: Enforce code structure with NetArchTest (Architecture/ namespace)
• Domain Tests: Pure domain logic tests without infrastructure (TicketMasala.Domain.Tests/)

Coverage

Coverage reports are generated in TestResults/CoverageReport/. Open index.html to view the detailed report.

CI/CD

Tests run automatically on pull requests with coverage reporting. The CI workflow:

1. Builds the solution
2. Runs unit tests (fast feedback)
3. Runs all tests with coverage collection
4. Generates and uploads coverage reports

---

📂 Project Structure

A Modular Monolith designed for separation of concerns:

src/
├── TicketMasala.Web/
│   ├── Engine/                # THE BRAIN
│   │   ├── GERDA/             # AI & Heuristics Logic
│   │   ├── Tenants/           # Tenant Resolution Strategy
│   │   └── Workflows/         # State Machines (Gov vs Tech)
│   ├── Controllers/           # MVC Endpoints
│   └── Views/                 # Razor Pages (Polymorphic UI)
├── config/
│   ├── masala_domains.yaml    # The "Brain Transplant" Config
│   └── seed_data.json         # Mock Data

---

Documentation

• Architectural Deep Dive: masala-doc.fly.dev
• Live Ecosystem Demo: ticket-masala.fly.dev
• Garamatic Industries (Vendor): garamatic-web.fly.dev

---

The Team

Engineered by Garamatic Industries (Student Team):

• Charlotte Schröer: Pixel Perfectionist (Frontend Architecture)
• Maarten Görtz: C# Centurion (Core Logic)
• Wito De Schrijver: Guardian of the Zeros (Security & Infra)
• Juan Benjumea: Architecture & Integration

---

Educational Project for Applied CS (2025-2026). Incorporates architectural patterns for Project Atom.