TaskFlow Backend API

TaskFlow is engineered as a highly concurrent RESTful backend service designed to handle complex task management workflows at scale. The core challenge was building a system capable of real-time state synchronization while maintaining strict Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) across distributed teams.

Core System Design

The architecture is built on a Node.js/Express.js foundation, utilizing MongoDB for flexible, document-based data persistence. This allows for rapid iteration of task schemas without painful migrations.

• Authentication & Security: Implemented a stateless security model using JWT (JSON Web Tokens). Access tokens are short-lived, with secure HTTP-only refresh token rotation to mitigate XSS and CSRF vectors.
• Role-Based Access Control: Middleware interceptors parse JWT payloads and validate permissions against a strict RBAC matrix before controller execution.
• Asynchronous Processing: Integrated Nodemailer for critical path alerts (e.g., password resets, task assignments). Email dispatch is decoupled from the main request-response cycle to ensure low API latency.
• Data Integrity: Utilized Mongoose middleware for pre/post save hooks, ensuring cascading deletes (e.g., deleting a project automatically purges associated tasks) to maintain database normalization and prevent orphan records.