Domain and data modelling
Model the core records, their ownership and their lifecycle with your team. Define migrations and data retention early, so later features extend the model instead of working around it.
A Few Good Coders · Services
Backend and API development
A Few Good Coders builds backend systems and APIs for product teams, covering data models, authentication, permissions, payments, integrations and the deployment and monitoring needed to run them.
A backend decides who can see and change what, how money and records move, and whether problems can be traced when something goes wrong. We build APIs and backend systems for products where identity, payments and operational traceability matter. Clear contracts and server-side enforcement keep the product changeable as the interface and team grow.
Is this a fit?
Start with the problem you need to solve.
- Your product needs a new API, data model and authentication, and you want them designed around the real user journeys rather than a generic template.
- An existing backend has unclear permissions, fragile integrations or failures nobody can trace, and the team is wary of changing it.
- You are adding payments, webhooks, third-party services or AI features and need retries, idempotency and audit trails designed in.
Scope and deliverables
What the engagement can include
Choose the work your product needs. The first milestone, acceptance criteria, exclusions and ownership are agreed before delivery starts.
Identity, permissions and API contracts
Implement authentication and capability-based permissions on the server, with versioned API contracts that interfaces can rely on. For web apps, patterns such as a backend-for-frontend keep tokens out of the browser.
Payments, webhooks and integrations
Integrate payment providers, identity checks and third-party APIs with idempotent handlers, retries and reconciliation. Failures are recorded and surfaced, not silently dropped, and secrets stay in managed configuration.
Operations, observability and handover
Deploy through automated pipelines with structured logging, tracing, alerts and audit events for sensitive actions. Document the architecture, runbooks and on-call expectations so your team can operate the system.
Delivery approach
A practical path to the first release
Map the domain and risks
Review the journeys, data, integrations, existing systems and compliance constraints. Identify the riskiest part, often permissions, payments or an external integration, and agree the acceptance checks for a first milestone.
Deliver a working, observable slice
Build one API journey end to end with its data, permissions, tests and deployment, and make its behavior visible in logs and dashboards. Review it with your team before adding endpoints.
Harden, extend and hand over
Add journeys incrementally, test failure paths such as retries and partial outages, and prepare documentation and runbooks. Agree operational ownership and support boundaries before release.
Work and engineering resources
Relevant experience you can explore
Hospital operations platform
Our anonymized hospital example is a .NET and Blazor platform with BFF cookie authentication, per-employee permissions, Azure infrastructure, automated delivery, structured audit logging, observability and guarded AI access to operational data.
Explore the hospital platform workBankSathi advisor workflows
Our BankSathi work is the Flutter application architecture for lead management, conversion tracking and payouts. It shows the account and money-movement workflows our app layer integrates with; we do not claim ownership of BankSathi's backend.
Read the BankSathi case studyBoundaries that keep systems changeable
Our architecture guide explains the module and data boundaries we use to separate product rules from infrastructure and external providers.
Read the architecture guideBefore we start
Common project questions
Which backend technologies do you use?
We work with .NET, Node.js, Python and Firebase for services, PostgreSQL and Firestore for data, and Azure, AWS and GCP for hosting, with CI/CD and OpenTelemetry for delivery and observability. We match the stack to your team and existing systems rather than introducing a new one by default.
Can you work on our existing backend?
Yes. We begin with a review of the code, data model, permissions, deployment and incidents, then propose prioritized fixes. Changes are made behind tests and released incrementally so existing clients keep working.
How do you handle authentication and permissions?
Permissions are enforced on the server for every request, based on the user's role and the record involved, and sensitive actions are written to an audit log. We use established identity providers where they fit, such as Entra ID or Firebase Authentication, rather than building login from scratch.
Can you integrate payments and third-party services?
Yes. Payment and webhook handlers are built to be idempotent, so a repeated or delayed event cannot charge or update twice, with reconciliation and alerts for failures. Provider-specific code sits behind a boundary so a provider can be replaced later.
What affects the cost of backend work?
The number of domains and user roles, integrations and their documentation quality, data migration, expected load, security and compliance requirements, and the operational support you need. We size a first milestone after reviewing those, and state the assumptions behind the estimate.
How do you test and monitor a backend?
Business rules and permissions get automated tests, API contracts are checked against their consumers, and failure paths such as timeouts and retries are tested deliberately. In production, structured logs, traces and alerts show what happened and to which request.
Your first brief
Bring the goal and the constraints.
Describe the product and its users, the main records and who may change them, the current system if any, the integrations involved, expected load, and security or compliance constraints. Do not send credentials or production data; a non-sensitive description is enough to scope a first milestone.