Privacy-First Backend for Inner Atlas

I’m building Inner Atlas, an MVP that turns journal and dream entries into a living 3D planet of forests, ruins, and glowing emotion currents. To make that experience seamless, I need a rock-solid backend that keeps every user’s inner world both responsive and private.

The stack will revolve around PostgreSQL—it’s my first choice for relational strength and spatial extensions—but I’m open to complementary tools if they help us meet three non-negotiables: scalability, security, and a privacy-first architecture. You’ll own the API layer end-to-end, designing versioned endpoints (REST or GraphQL) that handle text ingestion, real-time planet updates, and encrypted user sessions. Expert-level API architecture will be essential; I expect well-documented interfaces, graceful rate limiting, and forward-compatible versioning.

Key responsibilities
• Model an extensible PostgreSQL schema for user profiles, entries, and procedural planet data.
• Implement encryption at rest and in transit, along with user data-ownership controls (export/delete by design).
• Containerize the service (Docker/Kubernetes preferred) and automate deployments so we can scale usage spikes without downtime.
• Set up monitoring, logging, and alerting that respect privacy while giving us actionable insights.

Acceptance criteria
• All endpoints pass automated security tests and load tests at projected user volumes.
• User records can be fully exported or deleted through a single API call.
• Deployment pipeline spins up a new environment in under 15 minutes with no manual steps.
• Clear README and API reference so front-end devs can plug in immediately.

If you are interested in contributing to something meaningful, let’s talk about timelines and milestones.