# Architecture
Server-rendered Laravel + Livewire app (no SPA/API-driven frontend for the app
itself — the REST API in `routes/api.php` exists purely for external
integrations). See [README.md](README.md) for the feature list and tech stack;
this doc covers how the pieces fit together.
## Request flow
1. `routes/web.php` gates every area behind `auth` + a role middleware
(`role:client`, `role:operator`, `role:admin` → `App\Http\Middleware\EnsureRole`),
which checks the role against `$user->roles`. A user can hold multiple roles at
once; the router just requires *one* of the listed roles per route group.
2. Each route resolves to a full-page Livewire component under
`app/Livewire/{Client,Operator,Admin,Auth}/` — there are no traditional
controllers rendering Blade views for these areas (the REST API in
`routes/api.php` is the exception, backed by `app/Http/Controllers/Api/`).
3. Livewire components call into `app/Services/TicketService.php` for anything
that mutates ticket state (create/transition/reply/notify) rather than
mutating models directly — keep that convention when adding new mutations so
notification/history/SLA side effects stay in one place.
4. `App\Providers\AppServiceProvider::boot()` runs a settings override pass on
every request (`applyLdapSettingsOverride`, `applyMailSettingsOverride`,
`applySessionSettingsOverride`, `applyTimezoneSettingsOverride`) — see
"Settings override" below.
## Data model
Core tables/models (`app/Models/`):
```
Category ─< Subcategory ─< CustomField (per-subcategory custom fields)
│
└──< Ticket >── Team (subcategory routes to a team)
│
├──< TicketMessage (public replies + internal notes)
├──< TicketAttachment
├──< TicketHistory
├── customer/assignee → User
├── status → Status (fixed stages: new/open/closed)
├── priority → Priority → SlaRule (response/resolution minutes)
└── csat_rating/csat_comment/csat_rated_at (nullable — set once, on close)
User ─< UserFieldValue >─ UserField
User ─< SavedQueueView (operator's own saved queue filter/sort/column presets)
User ─< notifications (Laravel's database channel — polymorphic, morph-mapped as 'user')
ApiClient (Sanctum token owner, ability-scoped)
Setting (single-row-per-key config store, see below)
ReplyQuickAction, ResponseTemplate, EmailTemplate, NotificationSetting
```
`tickets.subject`/`tickets.body` and `ticket_messages.body` carry a MySQL/MariaDB
`FULLTEXT` index (added in a later migration, MySQL-only — absent on the sqlite
connection the test suite runs on) — `Ticket::scopeSearch()` uses
`whereFullText()` when the active connection is `mysql` and falls back to a
portable `LIKE` otherwise, so the same call site works in both places.
`Ticket` (`app/Models/Ticket.php`) is the largest model — it owns SLA math
(`slaInfo()`, `isOverdue()`, `resolutionDeadline()`), status/priority display
helpers (`statusLabel()`, `tagStyleFromColor()`), operator-visibility scoping
(`scopeVisibleToOperator`, `isVisibleToOperator` — a team member sees their team's
queue + unassigned + anything assigned to them, an admin sees everything), and
work-timer tracking (`timerElapsedSeconds()`). Keep ticket-shaped logic here
rather than spreading it across Livewire components.
## Ticket numbering & URLs
A ticket carries three distinct identifiers, each with a different job:
- **`id`** — the DB primary key. Never shown to users; the REST API
(`routes/api.php`) is deliberately pinned to it (`{ticket:id}` explicit
binding on every `{ticket}` route) so external integrations have a stable
contract regardless of the numbering settings below.
- **`number`** — a plain sequential string (`Ticket::nextNumber()`, max+1
starting at 1001), unique but otherwise unremarkable. Backs `scopeSearch()`
and the numeric sort in `Operator/Queue.php` regardless of display mode.
- **`checksum`** — a 6-digit HMAC-derived value (salted with `app.key`,
keyed off `id`), assigned once in a `Ticket::booted()` `created` listener
and never changed afterward. Collisions are handled for real, not just
assumed away: `Ticket::generateUniqueChecksum()` walks a nonce forward
until the candidate is free (checked against the DB), and the column has a
`unique()` constraint as a hard backstop.
`Ticket::displayNumber()`/`formattedNumber()` pick between `number` (zero-padded
to `Settings::get('ticket_number_min_length')`) and `checksum` based on
`Settings::bool('ticket_number_obfuscate')` — the "Ukryj kolejność zgłoszeń"
toggle in Admin > Konfiguracja. `Ticket` also overrides `getRouteKey()` and
`resolveRouteBinding()` to mirror that same choice, so **the web routes**
(`routes/web.php`, all plain `{ticket}` implicit bindings — no explicit field)
resolve and generate URLs against whichever column is currently the display
number: flip the setting and both the visible number *and* every link
(`route('client.ticket', $ticket)` etc.) switch together, and a bookmarked URL
built under the old mode stops resolving. This is why the API routes need the
explicit `{ticket:id}` override — without it, the same global `getRouteKey()`
change would silently start requiring `number`/`checksum` in API path params
too, breaking the documented `integer` "Ticket id" contract.
The `{numer}` placeholder available in admin-editable e-mail templates
(Admin > Szablony e-mail / Wyzwalacze) resolves to `formattedNumber()`
*without* `displayNumber()`'s prefix — those templates already hardcode their
own `#{numer}`, so adding the prefix there too would double it up or clash
with a non-default prefix.
A ticket route binding that resolves to nothing (most commonly: the ticket
was deleted while someone had it open, and a later request — typically
Livewire's own "model missing during hydration" recovery, which does a full
`window.location.reload()` of the same page — hits `{ticket}` again) no
longer surfaces Laravel's default 404 page. `bootstrap/app.php` registers a
`NotFoundHttpException` render callback (note: `Handler::prepareException()`
already converts `ModelNotFoundException` into `NotFoundHttpException`,
wrapped as `getPrevious()`, *before* any render callback runs — a callback
typed against `ModelNotFoundException` itself would never match) that
redirects to `operator.queue`/`client.dashboard` instead, for any
authenticated request under `operator/*`/`client/*`.
That global handler only ever sees a full HTTP request (a page load/reload),
not Livewire's own AJAX update endpoint (`/livewire/update`, which doesn't
match the `operator/*`/`client/*` path check) — so it doesn't cover an
operator who already has a ticket open when it's deleted, or whose team gets
reassigned (by anyone, including via their own action — see "Teams" in
[README.md](README.md)) to one outside their visible scope
(`Ticket::isVisibleToOperator()`) mid-session. `Operator\TicketShow` handles
that case itself: a Livewire component's typed public model property
(`public Ticket $ticket`) is re-fetched by id on every subsequent request via
`firstOrFail()` (`Livewire\Features\SupportModels\ModelSynth::hydrate()`),
which throws `ModelNotFoundException` *before* any of the component's own
method code runs if the row is gone — too early for an ordinary try/catch
inside an action method to ever catch. The component instead defines
Livewire's `exception($e, $stopPropagation)` lifecycle hook (called for any
exception raised anywhere in the component's request lifecycle, hydration
included) to catch that case and redirect. The narrower case — ticket still
exists but is no longer visible, e.g. after a team reassignment — doesn't
throw at all, so it's caught separately: `refreshOrRedirectAway()` re-checks
`isVisibleToOperator()` after every live-update refresh
(`onQueueChanged()`/`refreshTicketData()`) and after the operator's own
`setTeam()` call, redirecting immediately rather than leaving them on a
ticket they can no longer legitimately keep viewing.
## Roles & permissions
`$user->roles` reads/writes as a plain array (`['client', 'operator']`), but
it's a **virtual attribute** (`User::getAttribute()`/`setAttribute()`
overrides) backed by a real `roles` lookup table + `role_user` pivot, not an
actual column — assigning `'roles' => [...]` on create/update stashes the keys
until the model's `saved` hook resolves them against `roles.key` and syncs the
pivot. This matters for tests/seeders: a role key must exist in the `roles`
table *before* it can be assigned this way, or the assignment silently becomes
a no-op (`Tests\TestCase::setUp()` seeds the 3 fixed roles for exactly this
reason, since almost every test creates a role-bearing user). Checked via
`EnsureRole` at the route level. Every account gets `client` by default
(`App\Ldap\Handlers\AssignDefaultRole` for LDAP-provisioned accounts); staff
switch areas via the header role switcher, but always land on `/client` first
after login.
## Authentication
`config/auth.php` defines the default `web` guard against an LDAP-backed user
provider (LdapRecord); a plain Eloquent provider is kept alongside it only for
local tooling/tests that don't hit a directory. In production, LDAP bind is the
primary path; the local fallback account (`admin@example.com` from the seeder)
authenticates against a local password when the LDAP bind doesn't match — this is
the account used for first login after a fresh install (see
[install.md](install.md)).
`app/Ldap/Handlers/` hooks into LdapRecord's import/sync events:
`AssignDefaultRole` grants the `client` role to new LDAP-provisioned accounts,
`SyncUserFieldsFromLdap` keeps `UserFieldValue` rows in sync with directory
attributes.
`app/Ldap/` has two directory-schema models — `LldapUser` (LLDAP/OpenLDAP,
the default) and `AdUser` (Active Directory, `LdapRecord\Models\ActiveDirectory\User`
under the hood). `Settings::ldapUserModelClass()` picks between them based on
the `ldap_directory_type` setting, and `AppServiceProvider::applyLdapSettingsOverride()`
wires the chosen class into `config('auth.providers.users.model')` on every
request — same live-override mechanism as the connection host/base DN below.
`LdapUserProvisioner` (used for sync + guest auto-provisioning) resolves the
same setting at call time rather than caching the class, so switching
directory type takes effect without a redeploy.
## Settings override ("live config")
`App\Support\Settings` (`app/Support/Settings.php`) is a cached key/value reader
over the `settings` table, with hardcoded defaults for every key (company name,
LDAP/SMTP connection details, attachment limits, session lifetime, timezone,
branding/email HTML, etc.). Admin > Konfiguracja (general/attachments/session),
Poczta (SMTP) and Integracje (LDAP, BookStack) all write to this same table, and
`AppServiceProvider::boot()` re-applies the relevant subset of it over
`config()` on every request — meaning **`Setting` rows win over `.env`** for
LDAP, mail, session lifetime and timezone once they're non-empty. This is by
design (lets an admin reconfigure LDAP/SMTP without a redeploy) but is also the
source of the "seeded placeholder overrides real `.env` values" gotcha
documented in [install.md](install.md) — anything touching LDAP/mail/session/
timezone config should go through `Settings`, not raw `config()`/`.env` reads.
`settingsTableUsable()` gates all four overrides on whether the `settings`
table is safe to query yet — but is deliberately scoped to just the `migrate`
command family (`runningConsoleCommand('migrate', 'migrate:fresh', ...)`), not
"any console command". It used to blanket-skip for every console invocation
(exempting only unit tests), which silently broke every scheduled command's
outbound mail: `AppServiceProvider::boot()` runs on each process including
`schedule:run`-invoked commands, so `tickets:check-sla-breaches`,
`automation:run-rules` and `emails:fetch-imap` (below) all sent notifications
through whatever `.env`'s `MAIL_MAILER` happened to be (`log`, i.e. nowhere)
instead of the admin-configured SMTP server — with no error, since the `log`
mailer never throws. If a scheduled command's notification/lookup ever again
seems to silently use `.env` defaults instead of `Settings`, check here first.
## Notifications
`TicketService::notify(Ticket $ticket, string $triggerKey)` is the single
fan-out point for every ticket lifecycle event (see the `NotificationSetting`
rows seeded per trigger key) — it resolves the configured recipient
(`$ticket->assignee` or `$ticket->customer`) to a real `User` when one exists
and calls `$user->notify(new TicketNotification(...))`, which fires **both**
the `mail` and `database` channels (`App\Notifications\TicketNotification`) —
there's no separate on/off switch for in-app vs. e-mail, the same
`NotificationSetting.enabled` flag gates both. A guest customer with no
account still gets routed anonymously (`Notification::route('mail', $email)`,
mail-only — the database channel needs a real notifiable to attach the row
to). `TicketNotification` is constructed with an explicit `$recipientRole`
('client'|'operator') rather than inferring it from the notifiable's roles,
since one account can hold both — this decides whether the ticket link (both
the e-mail body and the in-app notification's `url`) points into `/client/...`
or `/operator/...`.
## Real-time broadcasting (Reverb)
Two private channels, authorized in `routes/channels.php`:
- **`operator.queue`** — one shared channel for every operator/admin (not
scoped per team/ticket), so the receiving `Operator\Queue` component just
re-queries through its own already-correct `Ticket::scopeVisibleToOperator()`
on any event instead of the channel-auth callback needing to duplicate that
ACL logic. Payloads stay minimal (ticket id + reason + actor id) for the
same reason.
- **`ticket.{id}`** — per-ticket channel for the message thread and detail
changes, authorized for an operator with `isVisibleToOperator()` **or** the
ticket's own customer (OR, not else-if — the one real account in this app
holds both roles at once). An internal note broadcasts on the same channel
a client can subscribe to, but the payload never carries the message body —
each side's Livewire component only ever re-queries whatever its own
already-authorized computed property returns, so there's nothing to leak.
Two events, both `App\Events\TicketQueueChanged` (broadcasts on **both**
channels above — a status/priority/team/assignee change needs to reach a
client watching their own ticket too) and `App\Events\TicketMessagePosted`
(broadcasts on `ticket.{id}` only). Both implement `ShouldBroadcastNow`, not
`ShouldBroadcast` — this app runs with no queue worker by design (see
`TicketNotification`), so broadcasting happens synchronously within the
request like everything else here. `TicketService` dispatches both from every
ticket-mutating method (create/setStatus/setPriority/setAssignee/setTeam/
operatorReply/operatorNote/clientReply/apiMessage/merge); the two ad hoc
delete call sites (`Operator\Queue::confirmDeleteSelected()`,
`Operator\TicketShow::confirmDeleteTicket()`) dispatch `TicketQueueChanged`
directly since there's no `TicketService::delete()` to hook into.
Browser side, `resources/js/echo.js` bridges Reverb events into plain
Livewire events (`Livewire.dispatch('queue-changed', ...)` /
`'ticket-message-posted'`) rather than using the `#[On('echo-private:...')]`
attribute directly — version-agnostic, and each Livewire component just
declares a plain `#[On(...)]` listener that no-ops if the payload's `actorId`
matches the viewer's own id (self-echo suppression) or the ticket id doesn't
match the component's own ticket. Two easy-to-reintroduce bugs to know about
if "nothing updates live" ever comes back:
1. **CSRF on `/broadcasting/auth`.** Echo's private-channel subscription
POSTs there under the app's normal CSRF middleware; the `Echo` constructor
must pass `auth.headers['X-CSRF-TOKEN']` (read from the `` tag in `layouts/app.blade.php`) or every subscription
attempt is silently rejected.
2. **Script load order.** `resources/js/app.js` (which imports `echo.js`)
loads via `@vite` as `type="module"`, which the HTML spec defers until
after the document is parsed — meaning Livewire's own bootstrap script
(`@livewireScripts`, a plain synchronous `