Converting the monolithic application into micro services archtecture

1. Current Architecture Overview

Application: A comprehensive aquarium/aquaculture platform (The Aqua Guide) combining content guides, community features, social networking, and an e-commerce marketplace.

Deployment Model: Single-VM monolith (Linux VPS + HestiaCP)

Frontend: React 18 + Vite SPA served via express.static() from the backend
Backend: Single Node.js (Express 5) process managed by PM2 (aquaguidebackend on port 5000)
Database: Single PostgreSQL instance with ~80+ tables, accessed via Sequelize 6 ORM
Reverse Proxy: nginx (custom HestiaCP templates — see nodejs-app.tpl)
CDN/Edge: Cloudflare (DNS, WAF, CDN, TURN for WebRTC)
No message broker, no Redis, no worker queue — all async/scheduled tasks run in-process via setTimeout
2. Technology Stack Inventory
2.1 Frontend (React SPA)

Source: package.json
Layer Technology
Framework React 18.3 + TypeScript 5.8 + Vite 7 (SWC compiler)
UI components shadcn/ui + Radix UI primitives + Tailwind CSS 3.4
State management Redux Toolkit + TanStack React Query 5
Routing react-router-dom 6
Forms & validation react-hook-form + Zod validation
Real-time client socket.io-client
Maps & 3D Leaflet + react-leaflet, three.js + react-globe.gl
Rich text editors TipTap + Jodit (dual editors — consolidation opportunity)
2.2 Backend (Node.js / Express)

Source: package.json
Layer Technology
Runtime Node.js ES Modules + Express 5
ORM & DB Sequelize 6 + pg driver
Authentication JWT (jsonwebtoken) + bcryptjs + express-session
Real-time Socket.IO 4 (chat, presence, calls, notifications, cache-bust)
Email Nodemailer (Gmail SMTP)
Logging Winston + daily rotate + alert pipeline (email + ntfy push + socket bell)
Security Helmet CSP + express-rate-limit + sanitize-html
File uploads Multer → local backend/uploads/ (NOT object storage)
2.3 Database (PostgreSQL)

Source: DATABASE.md

~80 tables covering: users, profiles, community chat, DMs, tickets, forums, guides (video/text), species/plants catalog, likes/ratings (polymorphic), ads, marketplace (cart/orders/payments), tanks, blog, SEO config, admin audit/alerting.
Connection pool: max 10 connections per backend instance (db.js)

2.4 External Integrations
Domain Integrations
Social Posting Meta Graph (FB/IG), Threads, Twitter/X, Bluesky, LinkedIn, Pinterest — raw axios calls, provider-registry pattern in services/social/
Payments (12 adapters) Razorpay, Stripe, Cashfree, Paytm, PhonePe, CCAvenue, BillDesk, Axis, Easebuzz, Instamojo, Juspay, PayPal — see services/payments/adapters/
Other YouTube Data API, OpenStreetMap/Nominatim, Cloudflare TURN (WebRTC), ntfy.sh (ops push), Google Analytics 4