IssueFlow – Ticket Management Backend Platform

Overview

IssueFlow is a backend service designed to handle a lightweight project and issue tracking platform. The system manages users, projects, tickets (issues), comments on tickets, audit logs, ticket dependencies, attachments, and bulk ticket import/export.

Functionality

The system provides the following APIs:

• Users API: Manages user identities behind ticket assignments and comments.
• Projects API: Manages top-level containers that group related tickets.
• Tickets API: Manages the core work items (issues) tracked in the system.
• Comments API: Manages user comments on tickets.
• Audit Log API: Read-only log of all state-changing actions in the system.
• Dependencies API: Manages ticket-to-ticket blocker relationships.
• Attachments API: Manages file attachments on tickets.
• Export/Import API: Supports bulk ticket export and import via CSV.
• Soft Delete API: Tickets and projects are soft-deleted and can be restored by ADMIN users.
• Mentions API: @username mentions in comments are validated, persisted, and retrievable per user.
• Auto-Escalation: A background scheduler automatically escalates ticket priority when a dueDate is exceeded.
• Auto-Assignment: Tickets without an explicit assignee are automatically assigned to the least-loaded DEVELOPER in the project.

Technical Aspects

The system is built using Java 21 or Java 25 with Spring Boot 3 or Spring Boot 4, leveraging its robust framework for creating RESTful APIs. Data persistence is managed using PostgreSQL via Spring Data JPA (Hibernate).

Homework Task

Candidates are expected to design and implement the above APIs, adhering to RESTful principles, including input validation, proper error handling, and relevant tests.

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APIs

Users APIs

API Description	Endpoint	Request Body	Response Status	Response Body
Get all users	GET /users		200 OK	[ { "id": 1, "username": "jdoe", "email": "jdoe@example.com", "fullName": "John Doe", "role": "DEVELOPER" } ]
Get user by ID	GET /users/:userId		200 OK	{ "id": 1, "username": "jdoe", "email": "jdoe@example.com", "fullName": "John Doe", "role": "DEVELOPER" }
Create a user	POST /users	{ "username": "jdoe", "email": "jdoe@example.com", "fullName": "John Doe", "role": "DEVELOPER" }	200 OK	{ "id": 1, "username": "jdoe", "email": "jdoe@example.com", "fullName": "John Doe", "role": "DEVELOPER" }
Update a user	POST /users/update/:userId	{ "fullName": "Jane Doe", "role": "ADMIN" }	200 OK
Delete a user	DELETE /users/:userId		200 OK

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Authentication APIs

API Description	Endpoint	Request Body	Response Status	Response Body
Login (obtain JWT)	POST /auth/login	{ "username": "jdoe", "password": "secret" }	200 OK	{ "accessToken": "<jwt>", "tokenType": "Bearer", "expiresIn": 3600 }
Logout (invalidate token)	POST /auth/logout		200 OK
Get current user	GET /auth/me

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Projects APIs

API Description	Endpoint	Request Body	Response Status	Response Body
Get all projects	GET /projects		200 OK	[ { "id": 1, "name": "Sample Project", "description": "A sample project", "ownerId": 1 } ]
Get project by ID	GET /projects/:projectId		200 OK	{ "id": 1, "name": "Sample Project", "description": "A sample project", "ownerId": 1 }
Create a project	POST /projects	{ "name": "Sample Project", "description": "A sample project", "ownerId": 1 }	200 OK	{ "id": 1, "name": "Sample Project", "description": "A sample project", "ownerId": 1 }
Update a project	PATCH /projects/:projectId	{ "name": "Updated Name", "description": "Updated description" }	200 OK
Soft-delete a project	DELETE /projects/:projectId		200 OK

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Tickets APIs

API Description	Endpoint	Request Body	Response Status	Response Body
Get tickets by project	GET /tickets?projectId=:projectId		200 OK	[ { "id": 1, "title": "Fix login bug", "description": "...", "status": "TODO", "priority": "HIGH", "type": "BUG", "projectId": 1, "assigneeId": 2, "dueDate": "2026-04-01T00:00:00Z", "isOverdue": false } ]
Get ticket by ID	GET /tickets/:ticketId		200 OK	{ "id": 1, "title": "Fix login bug", "description": "...", "status": "TODO", "priority": "HIGH", "type": "BUG", "projectId": 1, "assigneeId": 2, "dueDate": "2026-04-01T00:00:00Z", "isOverdue": false }
Create a ticket	POST /tickets	{ "title": "Fix login bug", "description": "...", "status": "TODO", "priority": "HIGH", "type": "BUG", "projectId": 1, "assigneeId": 2, "dueDate": "2026-04-01T00:00:00Z" }	200 OK	{ "id": 1, "title": "Fix login bug", "description": "...", "status": "TODO", "priority": "HIGH", "type": "BUG", "projectId": 1, "assigneeId": 2, "dueDate": "2026-04-01T00:00:00Z", "isOverdue": false }
Update a ticket	PATCH /tickets/:ticketId	{ "title": "...", "description": "...", "status": "IN_PROGRESS", "priority": "MEDIUM", "assigneeId": 3, "dueDate": "2026-04-01T00:00:00Z" }	200 OK
Soft-delete a ticket	DELETE /tickets/:ticketId		200 OK
Export tickets to CSV	GET /tickets/export?projectId=:projectId		200 OK	CSV file with fields: id, title, description, status, priority, type, assigneeId
Import tickets from CSV	POST /tickets/import	multipart/form-data: file (CSV), projectId (form field)	200 OK	{ "created": 42, "failed": 3, "errors": [...] }

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Comments APIs

API Description	Endpoint	Request Body	Response Status	Response Body
Get comments for ticket	GET /tickets/:ticketId/comments		200 OK	[ { "id": 1, "ticketId": 1, "authorId": 2, "content": "Hello @jdoe!", "mentionedUsers": [{ "id": 1, "username": "jdoe", "fullName": "John Doe" }] } ]
Add a comment	POST /tickets/:ticketId/comments	{ "authorId": 2, "content": "Hello @jdoe!" }	200 OK	{ "id": 1, "ticketId": 1, "authorId": 2, "content": "Hello @jdoe!", "mentionedUsers": [{ "id": 1, "username": "jdoe", "fullName": "John Doe" }] }
Update a comment	PATCH /tickets/:ticketId/comments/:commentId	{ "content": "Updated comment." }	200 OK
Delete a comment	DELETE /tickets/:ticketId/comments/:commentId		200 OK

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Audit Log APIs

API Description	Endpoint	Query Params	Response Status	Response Body
Get audit logs	GET /audit-logs	Optional: entityType, entityId, action, actor	200 OK	[ { "id": 1, "action": "CREATE", "entityType": "TICKET", "entityId": 5, "performedBy": 2, "actor": "USER", "timestamp": "2026-03-01T10:00:00Z" } ]

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Ticket Dependencies APIs

API Description	Endpoint	Request Body	Response Status	Response Body
Add a dependency	POST /tickets/:ticketId/dependencies	{ "blockedBy": 42 }	200 OK
List dependencies	GET /tickets/:ticketId/dependencies		200 OK	[ { "id": 42, "title": "Blocking ticket", "status": "IN_PROGRESS" } ]
Remove a dependency	DELETE /tickets/:ticketId/dependencies/:blockerId		200 OK

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Attachments APIs

API Description	Endpoint	Request Body	Response Status	Response Body
Upload attachment	POST /tickets/:ticketId/attachments	multipart/form-data: file	200 OK	{ "id": 1, "ticketId": 1, "filename": "screenshot.png", "contentType": "image/png" }
Delete attachment	DELETE /tickets/:ticketId/attachments/:attachmentId		200 OK

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Soft Delete APIs

Tickets and projects support soft delete only — deleted records are hidden from standard responses but can be restored by ADMIN users. Permanent (hard) deletion is not exposed through the API.

Tickets

API Description	Endpoint	Request Body	Response Status	Response Body
List soft-deleted tickets	GET /tickets/deleted?projectId=:projectId		200 OK	[ { "id": 1, "title": "...", "status": "TODO", "priority": "HIGH", "type": "BUG", "projectId": 1 } ]
Restore a soft-deleted ticket	POST /tickets/:ticketId/restore		200 OK

Projects

API Description	Endpoint	Request Body	Response Status	Response Body
List soft-deleted projects	GET /projects/deleted		200 OK	[ { "id": 1, "name": "Sample Project", "description": "...", "ownerId": 1 } ]
Restore a soft-deleted project	POST /projects/:projectId/restore		200 OK

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Mentions APIs

API Description	Endpoint	Query Params	Response Status	Response Body
Get mentions for a user	GET /users/:userId/mentions	Optional: page, pageSize	200 OK	{ "data": [ { "id": 1, "ticketId": 3, "authorId": 2, "content": "Hey @jdoe ...", "mentionedUsers": [{ "id": 1, "username": "jdoe", "fullName": "John Doe" }] } ], "total": 10, "page": 1 }

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Workload API

API Description	Endpoint	Response Status	Response Body
Get project workload	GET /projects/:projectId/workload	200 OK	[ { "userId": 1, "username": "jdoe", "openTicketCount": 3 }, { "userId": 2, "username": "asmith", "openTicketCount": 5 } ]

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Jump Start

For your convenience, compose.yml includes a PostgreSQL DB and the app is already configured to connect to it.

Document your exact setup, build, and run steps in run.md (install dependencies, start the database, build the project, run the application, and run the tests).

Description

Spring Boot Java starter project. Supports Java 21 or Java 25 with Spring Boot 3 or Spring Boot 4.

Build

# using Maven wrapper
$ ./mvnw clean package

Running the app

# run with Maven
$ ./mvnw spring-boot:run

# run the packaged jar
$ java -jar target/issueflow-*.jar

Test

# run all tests (Maven)
$ ./mvnw test

AI & Agents

We encourage you to use AI during the process. Document how you used the agent and add all relevant files (skills, instructions, plan, etc.).

Add the main and relevant prompts that show your interaction with the agents in a prompts.md file.

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License

This project is MIT licensed.