SRS Addendum: Tech Architecture (Supabase + Next.js + Cloudinary)

1. System Architecture Overview

Stack

Frontend: Next.js (App Router)
Backend (BaaS): Supabase
Storage (Media): Cloudinary
Auth: Supabase Auth
DB: PostgreSQL (Supabase)

2. High-Level Architecture

Client (Next.js)
↓
Supabase (Auth + DB + Realtime)
↓
Cloudinary (Images + PDFs)

3. Module Design

3.1 Authentication Module

Handled by Supabase Auth

Features

Email/password login
OAuth (Google optional)
Session management (cookies)

Tables

users (auto-managed by Supabase)

3.2 Notes Module

Fields

id
title
description
subject
semester
file_url (Cloudinary)
thumbnail_url (Cloudinary)
created_at

Flow

Admin uploads PDF → Cloudinary
Get URL
Save metadata in Supabase

3.3 MCQ Module

Tables

mcqs

id
question
options (jsonb)
correct_answer
category_id

attempts

id
user_id
score
total
created_at

3.4 Categories Module

categories

id
name
parent_id (for nesting)

3.5 Articles Module

articles

id
title
content (rich text JSON / HTML)
tags
created_at

3.6 File Upload System (Cloudinary)

Why Cloudinary

CDN
Auto optimization
Easy upload API

Flow
Client → Next.js API → Cloudinary → URL → Supabase DB

4. API Design (Next.js Route Handlers)

Example Routes

POST /api/upload

Upload image/pdf to Cloudinary

GET /api/notes

Fetch notes

POST /api/mcq/submit

Submit quiz

5. Database Design (PostgreSQL)

Key Tables

users (Supabase default)

notes
mcqs
categories
articles
attempts

6. Supabase Usage

Features Used

Auth (JWT-based)
Row Level Security (RLS)
Postgres DB
Realtime (optional for leaderboard)

RLS Example

Users can only see their attempts
Admin can manage content

7. Cloudinary Setup

Resource Types

Images → thumbnails
Raw → PDFs

Folder Structure

notes/pdfs/
notes/thumbnails/
articles/images/

8. Frontend Structure (Next.js)

app/
(public)/
notes/
mcq/
articles/
(auth)/
login/
admin/
dashboard/
upload/
mcq/

components/
lib/
hooks/
services/

9. Security

Supabase RLS policies
Signed upload (Cloudinary)
API route validation

10. Performance

Use Cloudinary CDN
ISR / caching (Next.js)
Supabase query optimization

11. Future Enhancements

AI MCQ generator
Bookmark notes
Offline support (PWA)
Paid subscriptions (Stripe)

12. Key Advantages of This Stack

No backend maintenance
Fast MVP build
Scalable (Supabase + CDN)
Fits your experience (Next.js)

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