Vela — Server

Backend for Vela, an open-source contactless-payment prototype built around Stellar testnet.

The backend contains payment-request validation and persistence, passkey-based payment authorization, and a Stellar integration service for transaction building, submission and confirmation polling. Connecting these services into a complete client-to-network payment flow remains active development work.

Mobile client: The Expo app lives in a separate repository — VelaPayments/vela-payments.

How Vela uses Stellar

Stellar is the intended settlement network for Vela payments. The product goal is a short path from sharing a payment request to approving and confirming an XLM or issued-asset transfer. NFC carries the request between devices; funds move through a signed Stellar transaction and network confirmation.

This repository implements the server-side building blocks with @stellar/stellar-sdk:

Capability	Implementation	Role in Vela
Network access	StellarModule	Configures Horizon and Stellar RPC clients, the network passphrase and the USDC issuer
Accounts and assets	StellarService — getAccount, resolveAsset	Loads source accounts; resolves native XLM or USDC by its configured issuer
Payment construction	StellarService.buildPaymentTransaction	Builds an unsigned Operation.payment transaction with fee, network passphrase, optional memo and a bounded timeout
Submission and confirmation	StellarService.submitTransaction, pollTransactionStatus	Accepts signed XDR, submits through Horizon and polls for an ingested outcome with bounded retries
RPC support	StellarService.getHealth, simulateTransaction	Checks provider health and exposes transaction simulation at the service level
Payment requests	Contract validator and request service	Validates supported assets, amount strings, recipient format and timestamps before persistence

The transaction helpers have mocked regression coverage in stellar.service.spec.ts. They are not yet exposed as a complete public settlement API, and a completed real-device transfer has not been demonstrated. WebAuthn authorizes an application payment action; Stellar transaction signatures and network confirmation remain separate parts of the intended flow.

Work that advances the Stellar integration

• Align the client/server payment payload so NFC requests can pass server validation consistently.
• Strengthen memo byte limits and confirmation polling coverage.
• Protect authorization failure ordering before connecting authorization to submission.

The current prototype targets Stellar testnet. XLM is represented as the native asset; issued assets are identified by both code and issuer, so the USDC issuer must match the selected network. See Stellar's asset model.

Project status

Vela is an early Stellar testnet prototype under active development. It is not ready for real funds or production payment use.

Area	Current status
Web preview	Live UI preview; browser passkey setup and NFC are unavailable
Mobile	Native onboarding, wallet and receive-flow code; requires a development build and physical-device validation
Sending payments	Client Send screen is a scaffold; end-to-end payment completion is not demonstrated
Authentication	Client auth uses local challenges and placeholder API responses; server verification integration remains unfinished
Shared payload	Client and server currently use different type/timestamp formats; reconciliation is tracked in the contribution backlog
Compatibility	Passkey RP domain and app/storage/NFC identifiers are pending a coordinated migration decision

See contributing and Wave preparation for current priorities. Architecture/build-plan documents include intended features and must not be treated as proof of completed functionality.

Tech stack

Layer	Technology
Framework	NestJS 11
Language	TypeScript 5.7 (strict)
ORM	Prisma + PostgreSQL
Database hosting	Supabase
Session auth	Supabase Auth (JWT)
Payment auth	WebAuthn (passkeys)
Blockchain	@stellar/stellar-sdk (Horizon + RPC)
Validation	class-validator, class-transformer
Config	@nestjs/config + Joi
API docs	@nestjs/swagger
Tests	Jest + Supertest

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+ and npm
• A Supabase project with PostgreSQL (DATABASE_URL and DIRECT_URL)
• Stellar testnet access (default URLs are provided in .env.example)

Project setup

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Configure environment (Windows: copy .env.example .env)
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your Supabase credentials and secrets

npm run prisma:generate
npm run prisma:migrate

# Start development server
npm run start:dev

The API is versioned under /v1. Swagger UI is available at /docs when the server is running.

Scripts

Command	Description
npm run start:dev	Start with hot reload
npm run start:prod	Run compiled build
npm run build	Compile TypeScript
npm run lint	Run ESLint
npm test	Unit tests
npm run test:e2e	End-to-end tests
npm run test:cov	Coverage report
npm run prisma:generate	Generate Prisma client
npm run prisma:migrate	Create/apply migrations
npm run prisma:studio	Open Prisma Studio
npm run prisma:seed	Seed development data

Project structure

Project structure:

vela-server/
├── prisma/                 # Schema, migrations, seed
├── docs/                   # Architecture, build plan, contracts
├── src/
│   ├── main.ts
│   ├── app.module.ts
│   ├── config/             # ConfigModule + env validation
│   ├── common/             # Filters, interceptors, decorators
│   ├── database/           # PrismaService (global)
│   ├── auth/               # Supabase JWT guards
│   ├── stellar/            # Horizon/RPC integration
│   ├── webauthn/           # Passkey verification
│   ├── contracts/          # payment-request.v1 contract
│   └── modules/
│       ├── users/
│       ├── payment-requests/
│       └── payments/
└── test/                   # E2E tests

Documentation

Document	Description
docs/vela-overview.md	Product vision and UX flows
docs/server-build-plan.md	Full server build plan (SRV tasks)
docs/server-build-plan-consolidated.md	Consolidated task reference

Supported assets (MVP)

Asset	Network	Notes
XLM	Stellar testnet	Native asset
USDC	Stellar testnet	Issuer via STELLAR_USDC_ISSUER in .env

Environment variables

Copy .env.example to .env and replace placeholders with your values. Variable groups:

• App — NODE_ENV, PORT, API_PREFIX, CORS_ORIGINS
• Database — DATABASE_URL, DIRECT_URL (Supabase PostgreSQL)
• Supabase Auth — SUPABASE_URL, SUPABASE_JWT_SECRET, SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY
• Stellar — network, Horizon/RPC URLs, USDC issuer, network passphrase
• WebAuthn — RP ID, name, and origin (must match the Expo client)
• Payments / rate limiting — submit timeouts, poll intervals, throttle settings

See .env.example for the full list with placeholder values.

Security notes

• Never commit .env or real secrets to the repository.
• Do not log JWTs, service role keys, or raw WebAuthn challenges.
• Hybrid auth model: Supabase session for API access + WebAuthn for payment approval.

License

MIT.