OmniSync: A Multi-Service Collaborative Workspace Platform for Distributed Team Project Management and Real-Time Collaborative Development

Abstract

This paper presents OmniSync, a self-hosted, multi- service collaborative workspace platform designed for distributed team project management, agile task orchestration, and real- time collaborative development. The system integrates three mi- croservices (Auth Service, Task Operational Service, and Canvas Service) deployed on DigitalOcean using Docker containers, with PostgreSQL (Neon) for persistence, Redis for caching and job queueing via BullMQ, and a Next.js frontend hosted on Vercel. The Auth Service implements stateless JWT-based authentication with email verification and secure token lifecycle management. The Task Operational Service enforces comprehensive role-based access control (RBAC) for workspace, project, and issue man- agement, with support for OWNER, ADMIN, MEMBER, and VIEWER roles. The Canvas Service (in development) will provide high-concurrency collaborative editing using Elixir/Phoenix OTP. The platform incorporates BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) AI features enabling users to leverage OpenAI, Google Gemini, or self-hosted LLMs for intelligent suggestion generation without server-side API key storage. We present a comprehensive system architecture, database schema design with UUIDv7 primary keys, detailed RBAC matrix with granular permission controls, and multi-layer authorization patterns. Evaluation demonstrates robust support for 10+ concurrent operations, sub-50ms autho- rization checks, and seamless multi-tenant isolation, enabling ef- fective project coordination for small to medium-sized distributed teams. The platform’s microservice architecture, containerized deployment model, and event-driven user synchronization via BullMQ establish a scalable, maintainable foundation for enter- prise team collaboration