Building Revela: A Curated Art Auction Platform (Part 1) - Architecture
Making serious art collecting safer, clearer, and more supported.
The Problem We're Solving
Art collecting online is broken. Buyers worry about authenticity and fraud. Sellers worry about non-payment. Both sides lack trust.
Revela fixes this with a curated ecosystem: verified users, approved artwork, and escrow-based payments with human assistance on every transaction.
Architectural Decisions
1. Event-Driven Order Management
The core of Revela is the OrderOrchestrator—a state machine that handles all order transitions atomically. API endpoints never update state directly. This ensures:
- Consistent state transitions
- Audit trail of all events
- Easy testing of business logic
- No race conditions
2. Date-Based Status Detection
Auction status isn't stored in the database—it's computed from dates. Single source of truth. No sync issues. No stale data.
3. API-First Authorization
Server-side JWT validates all authorization. The client's useAuth hook is only for UI state. Never trust the client for security decisions.
4. Stateless Sessions
JWT in localStorage. No cookies. No CSRF attack surface. Trade-off: XSS becomes more critical. Solution: strict CSP headers.
The Dual-Approval Workflow
User Verification
Registration → Identity Documents → Admin Review → Verified
Users upload front/back of ID document. Admin manually reviews. Only verified users can bid.
Artwork Approval
Submission → Quality Review → Admin Approval → Listed
Sellers submit artwork for review. Admin approves for auction. Maintains platform quality.
Tech Stack
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Framework | Next.js 15 (App Router) |
| Database | PostgreSQL + Prisma |
| Auth | JWT (no cookies) |
| State | Zustand |
| Payments | Stripe (escrow) |
| i18n | i18next (EN/FR) |
| Testing | Vitest + Playwright |
What's Next
In Part 2, we'll dive into the escrow payment flow: how we handle the 10-state order process from auction end to seller payout.
Follow the series:
- Part 1: Architecture (this post)
- Part 2: Payment & Escrow Flow (coming Feb 14)
- Part 3: Real-Time Bidding (coming Feb 21)
- Part 4: Identity Verification (coming Feb 28)
Try Revela: revela.club — or get in touch if you're building a curated marketplace and want a lean, trust-first approach.
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