Book Review Backend

A production-grade REST API built with Go, deployed on AWS EC2 with full CI/CD automation.

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Language	Go 1.26
Router	Chi
Database	PostgreSQL (NeonDB — serverless managed)
ORM / Query	SQLC (type-safe generated queries)
Migrations	Goose
Container	Docker (multi-stage build)
Reverse Proxy	Nginx
Cloud	AWS EC2 (t3.micro, eu-west-1)
DNS / CDN / DDoS	Cloudflare
SSL	Cloudflare Origin Certificate (Full Strict)
CI/CD	GitHub Actions

---

Architecture

Client (Browser / Mobile)
        │
        ▼
  Cloudflare Edge
  (DDoS protection, CDN, SSL termination)
        │
        ▼ HTTPS (Cloudflare Origin Cert)
  AWS EC2 — t3.micro (eu-west-1)
  ┌─────────────────────────────┐
  │  Nginx (reverse proxy)      │
  │  Port 80 → redirect HTTPS   │
  │  Port 443 → proxy to :8080  │
  │         │                   │
  │         ▼                   │
  │  Docker Container           │
  │  Go binary → port 8080      │
  └─────────────────────────────┘
        │
        ▼
  NeonDB (Serverless PostgreSQL)
  (managed, external, connection via DATABASE_URL)

---

CI/CD Pipeline

Every push to main triggers an automated deployment via GitHub Actions.

Developer pushes to main
        │
        ▼
GitHub Actions Runner (ubuntu-latest)
        │
        ├── Checkout code
        │
        └── SSH into EC2
              │
              ├── git fetch + reset --hard (sync with GitHub)
              ├── docker build (multi-stage, compiles Go binary)
              ├── docker stop + rm (remove old container)
              ├── docker run (start new container)
              ├── curl /health (verify deployment succeeded)
              └── docker image prune (clean up old images)

Workflow file: .github/workflows/deploy.yml

---

Docker — Multi-Stage Build

The Dockerfile uses a two-stage build to keep the final image small (~15MB vs ~400MB):

Stage 1 (builder)         Stage 2 (runtime)
─────────────────         ─────────────────
golang:1.26-alpine   →    alpine:3.21
Full Go toolchain         Compiled binary only
Source code               ca-certificates
go mod download           migrations/
go build                  ~15MB total
~400MB

Benefits:

• Smaller attack surface in production
• Faster image pulls
• No source code or build tools in production image

---

Infrastructure

Resource	Details
Cloud Provider	AWS (eu-west-1 — Ireland)
Instance Type	t3.micro (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM)
OS	Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Elastic IP	Static public IP (survives instance stop/start)
Storage	20GB gp3 EBS
Security Group	Ports 22, 80, 443 open

Cloudflare Setup

• Proxy: ON (orange cloud) — real server IP is hidden
• SSL Mode: Full Strict — HTTPS encrypted end to end
• Certificate: Cloudflare Origin Certificate (15 year validity)
• Bot Fight Mode: OFF (API endpoints — JS challenges break API clients)

---

Local Development

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/pixprocoder/book-review-backend.git
cd book-review-backend

# Copy environment variables
cp .env.example .env
# Fill in your DATABASE_URL and other vars

# Run in development mode (hot reload)
make dev

# Run tests
make test

# Run linter
make lint

Database Migrations

# Apply migrations
make migrate-up

# Rollback last migration
make migrate-down

# Create new migration
make migrate-create

---

Deployment

Deployments are fully automated via GitHub Actions on push to main.

For manual deployment or first-time server setup:

# SSH into server
ssh -i your-key.pem devops@<EC2_IP>

# Navigate to app
cd /opt/apps/book-review-backend

# Pull latest code
git fetch origin main && git reset --hard origin/main

# Build and restart container
docker build -t book-review-backend:latest .
docker stop book-review && docker rm book-review
docker run -d \
  --name book-review \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  --env-file /opt/apps/book-review-backend/.env \
  book-review-backend:latest

Running Migrations on Server

Migrations are NOT run automatically on deploy. Run manually when schema changes:

ssh -i your-key.pem devops@<EC2_IP>
cd /opt/apps/book-review-backend
make migrate-up

---

API Endpoints

Base URL: https://book-review.pixprocoder.com

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/health	Health check
...	/api/v1/...	Application routes

---

Environment Variables

DATABASE_URL=postgres://...    # NeonDB connection string
# add other required vars from .env.example

---

GitHub Actions Secrets Required

Secret	Value
EC2_HOST	EC2 Elastic IP
EC2_USER	devops
EC2_SSH_KEY	Contents of your .pem private key