Ponder

ADR 001: Appwrite Over Firebase

Architecture decision record for using Appwrite as Ponder’s backend platform.

Status

Accepted by repository implementation.

Context

Ponder needs authentication, structured content storage, user profile rows, saved items, friendships, direct-message metadata, private row-level social data, profile-image storage, and server-side functions for content refresh, fact checking, chat writes, and like-count synchronization.

The repository is implemented around Appwrite:

• Flutter uses the Appwrite SDK for Account, Databases, Functions, and Storage.
• Flutter uses a custom TablesService for Appwrite TablesDB REST access.
• appwrite.json is the source of truth for backend tables, functions, auth settings, and storage.
• Backend code is organized as Appwrite Functions under functions/.

No Firebase SDK, Firebase configuration file, or Firebase function implementation is present in the repository snapshot.

Decision

Use Appwrite as the backend platform for Ponder instead of Firebase.

Rationale

• Appwrite TablesDB is already the declared schema backend in appwrite.json.
• Existing Flutter services and repositories centralize around Appwrite clients and table IDs.
• Appwrite Functions match the required server-side operations already implemented: news_refresh, fact_check, chat_write, and like_sync.
• Appwrite Storage is already configured for profile_images.
• Appwrite Auth settings are already declared and consumed by the Flutter auth flow.
• Row permissions and row security are used by the social and messaging implementation.

Consequences

• Backend schema changes must update appwrite.json and the corresponding constants in AppwriteConfig.
• Flutter data access should continue through Riverpod providers, services/repositories, and TablesService.
• Function write paths are required for trusted social operations that need server-side authorization, especially chat writes.
• Legacy direct Databases usage still exists in ProfileService; new table access should prefer TablesService unless a migration explicitly changes that contract.

Alternatives Considered

Firebase is not implemented in this repository. Because no Firebase code or configuration exists, the current codebase does not provide verifiable Firebase-specific tradeoff data beyond the absence of Firebase integration.