Platform vs Template

Ever Works consists of two main products that serve different purposes but work together as a unified ecosystem. This page explains what each product does, how they differ, how they connect, and when to use which.

Ever Works Platform

The Ever Works Platform is the backend infrastructure for building and managing work websites at scale. It is organized as a Turborepo + pnpm workspaces monorepo containing multiple applications and shared packages.

What It Does

• Provides a REST API (NestJS 11) for work management, authentication, AI conversations, and deployment orchestration
• Includes a Next.js Web Dashboard for administrators to manage works, configure pipelines, and monitor AI agents
• Ships with CLI tools (public CLI and internal CLI) for development, deployment, and automation tasks
• Runs AI agents powered by LangChain with support for 7 LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Groq, OpenRouter, Ollama, and custom endpoints)
• Features a plugin system with 39 plugins across categories: AI providers, AI gateways, search engines, content extraction, screenshot services, Git integrations, deployment, pipeline generators (Standard, Agent, Claude Code, Claude Managed Agent, Codex, Gemini, OpenCode, Make.com, SIM AI, Zapier), and prompt management (Langfuse)
• Manages background jobs via Trigger.dev and BullMQ for scheduled updates, pipeline execution, and async processing
• Includes monitoring via Sentry (error tracking) and PostHog (product analytics)

Tech Stack

• Runtime: Node.js 22+
• Framework: NestJS 11 (API), Next.js 16 (Web Dashboard)
• Language: TypeScript 5.9 (strict mode)
• ORM: TypeORM 0.3 (supports SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL)
• AI: LangChain with multi-provider support
• Build: Turborepo, tsup (plugins), SWC (NestJS)
• Testing: Jest (agent, API), Vitest (plugins)
• Package Manager: pnpm 10+
• Deployment: Docker, DigitalOcean

Work Web Template

The Work Web Template is a production-ready, full-stack work website that you can clone, customize, and deploy as a standalone application.

What It Does

• Provides a complete work website with item listings, search, filtering, categories, tags, and collections
• Includes authentication via NextAuth.js v5 with OAuth providers (Google, GitHub, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft) and Supabase Auth
• Supports payments through Stripe, LemonSqueezy, and Polar with subscription management
• Features internationalization with multiple languages and RTL support via next-intl
• Uses a Git-based CMS to synchronize work content from Git repositories
• Includes a theming system with built-in themes and dynamic color generation
• Provides analytics and monitoring through PostHog and Sentry
• Ships with SEO optimization, sitemap generation, and structured data (JSON-LD)
• Includes an admin dashboard with content management, user management, and analytics

Tech Stack

• Runtime: Node.js 20+
• Framework: Next.js 15, React 19
• Language: TypeScript 5
• ORM: Drizzle ORM (PostgreSQL via postgres driver)
• UI: Tailwind CSS 4, HeroUI React, Radix UI
• Auth: NextAuth.js v5, Supabase Auth
• Payments: Stripe, LemonSqueezy, Polar
• Testing: Playwright (E2E)
• Package Manager: pnpm
• Deployment: Vercel (primary), Docker (alternative)

Side-by-Side Comparison

Aspect	Platform	Template
Purpose	Backend infrastructure and AI pipeline	Frontend work website
Architecture	Monorepo (Turborepo + pnpm workspaces)	Standalone Next.js application
Backend Framework	NestJS 11	Next.js API routes
Frontend Framework	Next.js 16 (admin dashboard)	Next.js 15 (public website + admin)
Database ORM	TypeORM	Drizzle ORM
Database Support	SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL	PostgreSQL (via Supabase or direct)
Authentication	JWT + OAuth (NestJS Guards)	NextAuth.js v5 + Supabase Auth
Payment Integration	Not included (delegated to Template)	Stripe, LemonSqueezy, Polar
AI Features	LangChain agents, 7 LLM providers, plugin system	None (consumes AI-generated content)
Content Management	Generates content via AI pipelines	Reads content from Git-based CMS
Deployment Target	Docker on DigitalOcean (or any VPS)	Vercel (or Docker)
Background Jobs	Trigger.dev, BullMQ	Vercel Cron (limited)
Monitoring	Sentry + PostHog	Sentry + PostHog
i18n	next-intl (admin dashboard)	next-intl (full site, RTL support)
Testing	Jest + Vitest	Playwright
Primary Audience	Platform operators, AI pipeline developers	Website builders, work creators

How They Connect

The Platform and Template are designed to work together through the Git-based CMS pattern:

The Content Flow

1. Platform generates content. The AI pipeline discovers items, generates descriptions, captures screenshots, and produces structured data (YAML) and long-form content (Markdown).
2. Platform commits to Git. Generated content is committed and pushed to a Git repository (the CMS data repository, e.g., ever-works/awesome-time-tracking-data).
3. Template reads from Git. The Template clones the CMS repository into its .content/ work at build time (via scripts/clone.cjs).
4. Template renders the website. Next.js reads the structured files and renders the work website with all items, categories, and content.
5. Template deploys automatically. Vercel detects changes in the CMS repository (via Git integration or webhooks) and triggers a rebuild.

Independent Operation

While the Platform and Template are designed to work together, they can also operate independently:

• Template without Platform: Manually maintain the Git-based CMS repository. Add items, categories, and content by editing YAML and Markdown files directly. The Template works as a fully functional work website without any AI generation.
• Platform without Template: Use the Platform API to generate work data and export it to any frontend. The API provides REST endpoints for accessing all generated content.

When to Use Which

Use the Template When...

• You want to launch a work website quickly with minimal backend setup
• Your work content is manually curated or comes from a static data source
• You need a production-ready website with authentication, payments, and SEO out of the box
• You prefer deploying to Vercel with zero server management
• You are comfortable managing content through Git (editing YAML/Markdown files)

Use the Platform When...

• You need AI-powered content generation for large works (hundreds or thousands of items)
• You want automated pipelines that discover, enrich, and update work items
• You need to manage multiple works from a single backend
• You want to use the plugin system to integrate custom AI providers, search engines, or data sources
• You need background job processing for scheduled updates and async tasks

Use Both When...

• You want the full Ever Works experience: AI-generated content flowing into a production website
• You are building a SaaS product on top of Ever Works (like Pinler.com)
• You need automated content generation AND a polished frontend with authentication and payments
• You want to scale from a single work to multiple works managed by the same backend

Deployment Architectures

Template Only (Simplest)

• Manual content management via Git
• Single Vercel deployment
• No AI generation

Platform + Template (Full Stack)

• Automated content generation via Platform
• Platform on Docker/DigitalOcean
• Template on Vercel
• Connected via Git repository

Platform + Multiple Templates (Multi-Work)

• Single Platform instance managing multiple works
• Each work has its own CMS repository and Template deployment
• Centralized AI pipeline and plugin configuration