EventKit — System Overview

Vision

EventKit is a decentralised, 04 - Federation Architecture 01 - Inventory Management, 02 - Planning Module, and 03 - CRM Module platform purpose-built for the event industry. Each company hosts its own instance with full data sovereignty, while optional federation enables cross-company workflows like sub-hire tracking, equipment sharing, and inter-company asset visibility.

Business Model

Open core — free self-hosted with community support, paid SaaS with premium features.

MVP Scope

Build order: Inventory + Scanning → Planning → CRM → Federation

Target sectors for MVP:

🔊 Audio (PA systems, microphones, mixing desks)
💡 Lighting (moving heads, LED fixtures, dimmers)
🔩 Rigging (truss, motors, chains, shackles)
⚡ Power distribution (distros, cables, generators)

Core Modules

Module	Purpose
01 - Inventory Management	Inventory Management	Track equipment assets, flight cases, consumables, warehouse locations, maintenance, and availability
02 - Planning Module	Event Planning	Manage events end-to-end — pull lists, crew scheduling, transport/logistics, timelines, and venue specs
03 - CRM Module	CRM	Client relationships, sales pipeline, quoting, invoicing, and communication tracking

Key Differentiators

1. Event-Industry Specialised

Not a generic inventory tool — built around the realities of event production:

Equipment goes out and comes back (rental cycle, not linear supply chain)
Assets live in 01 - Inventory Management#Cases & Packing and move between warehouses and venues
Everything is driven by 02 - Planning Module
01 - Inventory Management#Sub-hire Management between companies is a first-class workflow

2. Decentralised / Federated

Every company runs their own instance with full control over their data
Instances can 04 - Federation Architecture with trusted partners for cross-company workflows
No central authority or vendor lock-in
Equipment can be 04 - Federation Architecture#Global Asset Identity via federation

3. Barcode / QR Code Scanning

Every asset, case, and warehouse location gets a 05 - Barcode and QR Scanning#QR Code Design
QR codes encode a URL — works with any phone camera or dedicated scanner
Scanning powers 05 - Barcode and QR Scanning#Scanning Workflows: check-out, check-in, stocktake, case packing, sub-hire receive/return

System Architecture

graph TB
    subgraph "Single Instance"
        UI["Web UI / PWA"]
        Scanner["Scanner Module"]
        API["API Server"]
        Fed["Federation Service"]
        Worker["Background Workers"]
        MQ[("NATS / Redis")]
        DB[(Database)]
        Files[(File Storage)]

        UI --> API
        Scanner --> API
        API --> DB
        API --> Files
        API --> Fed
        API --> MQ
        MQ --> Worker
        Worker --> DB
    end

    Fed <-->|"Federation Protocol\n(mTLS + signed requests)"| ExtFed["Other Instances"]

Module Interaction

graph LR
    CRM["CRM"] -->|"Client enquiry\n→ create event"| Planning["Planning"]
    Planning -->|"Reserve equipment\nfrom pull list"| Inventory["Inventory"]
    Planning -->|"Book crew &\narrange transport"| Resources["Crew & Transport"]
    Inventory -->|"Availability data &\npricing"| Planning
    Inventory -->|"Equipment costs"| CRM
    CRM -->|"Client & pricing"| Planning
    Planning -->|"Final costs & usage"| CRM

Terminology

Term	Definition
Instance	A single company's deployment of EventKit
Federation	The protocol enabling inter-instance communication
Asset	An individual, trackable piece of equipment (with serial number / UUID)
Product / Model	A type of equipment — assets are instances of a product
Case / Flight Case	A container holding multiple assets, tracked as its own entity
Kit / Set	A logical grouping of equipment that typically deploys together
Event	A job/gig — the core planning entity
Pull List	The equipment list required for a specific event
Sub-hire	Borrowing or lending equipment between companies
Consumable	Items that don't return (tape, batteries, haze fluid)

01 - Inventory Management — Equipment, cases, locations, maintenance
02 - Planning Module — Events, crew, transport, scheduling
03 - CRM Module — Clients, pipeline, quotes
04 - Federation Architecture — Decentralised design & protocol
05 - Barcode and QR Scanning — Scanning workflows & label design
06 - Module Integration — Cross-module flows
07 - Technical Requirements — Non-functional requirements
08 - Open Questions — Remaining decisions

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