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Backend architecture & API development.

The server side of your product, designed and built to survive scale, audits, and the next three years of feature requests.

PythonDjangoDRFFastAPINodeGraphQLPostgreSQLRedisCelery
Overview

Most backends don't fail because of traffic — they fail because early data-model and API decisions harden into walls. This service is about getting those decisions right: the schema, the API contract, the auth model, and the async architecture that everything else will be built on.

I've spent five years building exactly this layer — REST and GraphQL APIs, OAuth2/SAML auth flows, and Celery pipelines — in regulated domains where the API is audited, not just consumed. You get the architecture document alongside the code, with the trade-offs written down so your team can challenge or extend them later.

What's included

Scope of the service

System architecture designA written design doc covering components, data flow, failure modes, and the reasoning behind each trade-off — reviewed with your team before code is written.
  • ▸Component boundaries and service topology — monolith, modular monolith, or services, argued from your team size and scale, not fashion
  • ▸Data-flow and sequence diagrams for the critical workflows
  • ▸Failure-mode analysis: what breaks under load, what breaks on partial outage, and what the system does about it
DELIVERABLEArchitecture design document with diagrams, reviewed and signed off with your team before implementation.
Data modelingPostgreSQL schema design: normalization decisions, indexing strategy, and a migration path that assumes the model will evolve.
  • ▸Entity-relationship design with normalization decisions justified per table
  • ▸Indexing and query-plan strategy for the access patterns you actually have
  • ▸Zero-downtime migration playbook for evolving the schema in production
DELIVERABLEER diagrams, schema migration files, and a written data dictionary.
API developmentREST APIs with DRF or FastAPI, or GraphQL with Django Graphene — versioned, paginated, and documented so integrators don't need to ask me.
  • ▸Resource design, pagination, filtering, and error semantics consistent across every endpoint
  • ▸Versioning policy so breaking changes never break customers
  • ▸Rate limiting and idempotency keys on write endpoints
DELIVERABLEWorking API on staging plus OpenAPI / GraphQL schema docs your frontend builds against.
Authentication & authorizationOAuth2, SAML 2.0, and SSO via Okta/Auth0. Role- and tenant-scoped permissions designed once, enforced everywhere.
  • ▸Token lifecycle: issuance, refresh, revocation, and session security
  • ▸Permission model enforced at the query layer, not just the view layer
  • ▸Audit logging of sensitive actions for compliance review
DELIVERABLEAuth design note plus implemented flows with security test cases.
Async & background workCelery/Redis pipelines for scheduled jobs, long-running tasks, and event-driven workflows — with retry and dead-letter behavior defined, not discovered.
  • ▸Retry, backoff, and dead-letter behavior defined per task class
  • ▸Idempotent handlers so replays and duplicates are harmless
  • ▸Queue monitoring: depth, latency, and failure alerts
DELIVERABLERunning worker infrastructure with a task catalog: every job, its schedule, its failure behavior.
Tests & documentationAPI test suites on critical paths and docs written for the engineer who inherits the system, not for a checkbox.
  • ▸Test coverage on critical paths, auth edge cases, and permission boundaries
  • ▸Load-test scripts with baseline numbers for the endpoints that matter
  • ▸Onboarding doc: how to run, deploy, and extend the system
DELIVERABLECI-wired test suite plus docs the next engineer onboards from in a day.
How it runs

Phases specific to this service

These slot into the standard engagement process — discovery, requirement analysis, and a written proposal always come first.

1

Domain modeling

Week 1

Workshops with your team to map entities, workflows, and invariants. The output is a data model and a glossary everyone agrees on — most API disputes are actually vocabulary disputes.

2

API contract design

Week 1–2

The full API surface designed and reviewed before implementation: endpoints, payloads, error semantics, versioning policy. Frontend work can start against the contract immediately.

3

Build in vertical slices

Weekly cycles

Each week ships complete, tested endpoints to staging — auth first, then core resources, then async workflows. No six-week silence followed by a big reveal.

4

Load test & harden

Final week

Load testing on the endpoints that matter, query-plan review on the slowest paths, security pass on auth and data access.

5

Handover

Included

Architecture walkthrough with your engineers, OpenAPI docs, runbook, and 30 days of defect fixes.

Proof

Where I've done this before

Shipped work this service is based on — details on the projects page.

Backend Lead
Healthcare & Insurance SaaS PlatformMigrated legacy C# APIs to Django inside a HIPAA / OAuth2 / SAML 2.0 compliance environment, serving insurers across all 50 US states.
Backend Architect
Social Benefits Enrollment PlatformOwns backend architecture and API design on Django/DRF; runs on AWS ECS/EC2 with healthcare data workflows.
Backend Engineer
Telehealth & Allergy Care PlatformImplemented GraphQL APIs with Django Graphene across EHR and patient-facing systems.
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Fit

Is this the right service?

GOOD FIT IF
  • ▸Your API has to survive external scrutiny — partners, auditors, or compliance
  • ▸The current backend slows every new feature and nobody fully trusts it
  • ▸You're starting a product and want the data model right the first time
  • ▸You need auth that's more than a login form — SSO, roles, multi-tenancy
NOT A FIT IF
  • ·The work is purely frontend or design
  • ·You need native mobile apps (I'll architect the API they consume, not the apps)

ENGAGEMENT · Runs as a fixed-scope project for a defined API build, or embedded in your team for ongoing backend ownership.

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Contact

Sound like your problem?

Send a short description of what you're building and where it hurts. Discovery call is free; written proposal within a week of requirement analysis.

[email protected] · +91 79862 35112