Lite IMS | Production-Ready Inventory Management System

Project Overview

Introduction

Lite IMS is a production-ready, enterprise-grade Inventory Management System built with the PERN stack (PostgreSQL, Express, React, Node.js). It provides comprehensive inventory tracking, role-based access control, and real-time stock management capabilities designed for real business operations.

This project was built to demonstrate full-stack proficiency with modern TypeScript, production-ready patterns, and outcome-driven development with proper documentation.

✨ Key Features

Advanced RBAC System

Dynamic role & permission management with granular resource-level access control. The system implements:

• Dynamic Roles - Create and manage custom roles with specific permissions
• Resource-Level Access - Fine-grained control over create, read, update, delete operations
• Real-time Enforcement - Middleware-based permission validation on every request

Inventory Management

Comprehensive stock tracking with full audit trail:

• Item Management - Track items with categories, SKUs, and metadata
• Stock Movements - Record all stock in/out movements with timestamps
• Audit Trail - Complete history of all inventory changes
• Category Management - Organize items with hierarchical categories

Custom Authentication

JWT-based authentication with enterprise security patterns:

• HTTP-Only Cookies - Secure session management
• Refresh Tokens - Automatic token rotation for extended sessions
• Session Management - User activation/deactivation with immediate effect

Real-Time Updates

Server-Sent Events (SSE) for live data synchronization:

• Live Stock Updates - Real-time inventory level changes
• System Notifications - Instant alerts for important events
• Multi-User Sync - Collaborative workspace support

🛠️ Tech Stack

Lite IMS is built using a modern, type-safe tech stack:

Frontend

• React 19 - Modern SPA with hooks and functional components
• Vite - Fast HMR and optimized production builds
• TypeScript - End-to-end type safety with strict mode
• TailwindCSS v4 - Utility-first styling
• Zustand - Lightweight state management

Backend

• Express.js 5 - RESTful API server
• Node.js v22+ - Modern runtime with async/await patterns
• TypeScript - Type-safe backend development
• Zod - Runtime type validation and schema parsing
• JWT + bcryptjs - Secure authentication

Database & Cache

• PostgreSQL 15 - Primary relational data store
• Prisma 6 - Type-safe ORM with auto-generated types
• Redis 7 - Session storage and caching layer

DevOps & Testing

• Docker & Docker Compose - Containerized development and deployment
• Vitest - Fast unit testing with Vite integration
• Supertest - API integration and E2E testing
• pnpm - Efficient package management for monorepo

🏗️ Architecture

Monorepo Structure

lite-ims/
├── apps/
│   ├── api/           # Express.js API server (Port 3030)
│   └── web/           # React frontend (Vite)
├── packages/
│   ├── shared/        # Shared schemas & constants
│   ├── types/         # TypeScript definitions
│   └── database/      # Prisma client & migrations
├── docker/            # Docker configurations
└── docker-compose.yml # Local development stack

System Architecture

flowchart TB
    subgraph LiteIMS["Lite IMS System"]
        direction TB
        
        subgraph Frontend["Frontend"]
            WebApp["Web App<br/>React 19 + Vite<br/>TailwindCSS"]
        end
        
        subgraph Backend["Backend"]
            APIServer["API Server<br/>Express.js 5<br/>TypeScript"]
        end
        
        subgraph Data["Data Layer"]
            PostgreSQL[("PostgreSQL<br/>Prisma ORM")]
            Redis[("Redis<br/>Cache/Sessions")]
        end
    end
    
    Frontend <-->|HTTP Port 3030| Backend
    Backend --> PostgreSQL
    Backend --> Redis
    
    style LiteIMS fill:#dbeafe,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style Frontend fill:#f0fdf4,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
    style Backend fill:#fef3c7,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
    style Data fill:#fae8ff,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px

🚀 Deployment

Lite IMS is optimized for free-tier deployment:

Live Demo

• Demo URL: https://lite-ims.onrender.com
• Source Code: https://github.com/mrmeaow/lite-ims

Default Demo Credentials

🎯 What Makes This Project Unique

1. Portfolio-Driven Design - Built specifically to demonstrate enterprise-grade full-stack skills beyond typical tutorial projects

2. Sophisticated RBAC - Features dynamic roles, granular permissions (resource + action matrix), and real-time enforcement middleware

3. Production-Grade Patterns - Implements HTTP-only cookies, refresh tokens, SSE for real-time updates, and comprehensive audit trails

4. End-to-End TypeScript - Complete type safety from database to frontend with shared packages and Prisma ORM

5. Free-Tier Optimized - Specifically configured for deployment on Render.com, Neon (PostgreSQL), and Upstash (Redis) free tiers

6. Complete Documentation - Includes deployment guides, Docker setup, monitoring, and troubleshooting documentation

7. Real Business Logic - Goes beyond CRUD with stock movements, category management, user activation/deactivation, and system settings

📝 Documentation

The project includes comprehensive documentation:

• README.md - Project overview and quick start guide
• RENDER.md - Step-by-step deployment instructions
• DOCKER_SETUP.md - Local development with Docker
• MONITORING.md - Application monitoring and logging
• TROUBLESHOOTING.md - Common issues and solutions

🤝 Author & Contact

• Author: @mrmeaow - Full-Stack Developer | TypeScript Enthusiast
• Email: iam.mahabub@proton.me
• Other Projects: Cloud ERP (Multi-tenant, WIP)

📸 Screenshots

Screenshots coming soon - The UI features a clean, modern design with TailwindCSS v4 and responsive layouts.

🔧 Local Development

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/mrmeaow/lite-ims.git
cd lite-ims

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Start development stack with Docker
docker-compose up -d

# Run the application
pnpm dev

📄 License

MIT License - See LICENSE for details.