MellowBase

Overview

MellowBase is Polynovea’s managed content-operations product. It takes the open-source Content Operations Platform and reconfigures it as a hosted, multi-tenant service, so teams get the same governed content model without running any infrastructure.

The problem

Self-hosting a content platform means owning identity, databases, storage, backups, upgrades and security. Most teams want the capability, not the operations. A managed version has to provide that without forking the product into two diverging codebases.

Constraints

• One product, not two. There is no parallel “hosted” application and no runtime switch between open-source and hosted personalities.
• The public repository stays clean. Private SaaS work must never leak into the open-source repository.
• Fail closed. Any page or API that hasn’t been converted to the managed runtime stays unavailable until it passes certification.

My role

I designed the SaaS architecture and the conversion plan. The code is written with Claude.

Reasoning and architecture

MellowBase keeps the open-source domain model (content models, entries, workflow, releases, media, developer contracts) and replaces the seams that self-hosting owned:

1. IdentityManaged identity with authenticator MFA
2. TenancyOrganisations containing workspaces
3. PersistenceRestricted Azure PostgreSQL access with Row-Level Security
4. OperationsProvisioning, entitlements, metering, billing, tenant-aware background jobs, backup and recovery
5. GovernanceOperator and support controls, observability

The repository tracks the public open-source repository as a read-only upstream, with push disabled locally, and keeps a frozen snapshot of the exact baseline commit for comparison. The open-source MIT notice is preserved for inherited code.

Implementation

The security and identity foundation (phases one to five) is implemented and certified for continued internal development. Every converted surface must pass both an own-tenant positive test and a cross-tenant negative test before it’s switched on.

Evidence and outcomes

MellowBase is in development and not yet open to customers. Remaining gates before onboarding include live invitation flows, authenticator recovery, authentication-abuse certification and operator MFA.

Verdict

• Keep: one product shell, not an open-source edition and a hosted edition drifting apart. The adapters in the open-source core turned out to be exactly where the managed runtime plugs in.
• Keep: fail closed. Unconverted surfaces stay off until they pass both own-tenant and cross-tenant certification. It’s slower, and it means a half-converted page never ships.
• Next: live invitation flows, authenticator recovery, authentication-abuse certification and operator MFA before the first customer.