Nginx Feature Management Tool

The Challenge

Managing the complex Nginx configurations for our application required precise text file edits.

• The Risk: Technicians and QA staff, though skilled, occasionally made syntax errors (missing semicolons, bad paths) when editing nginx.conf manually.
• The Consequence: A bad config meant the web server wouldn’t start, causing immediate service downtime.

The Solution

I developed a WPF-based Infrastructure Management Tool (written in PowerShell with embedded XAML) that abstracted the complexity and enforced “Defensive Programming” principles.

1. Abstraction Layer

• Replaced raw text editors with a GUI form. Users selected options (dropdowns, toggles) rather than typing code.

• The tool programmatically generated the valid configuration blocks based on user input. 2. Validation Loop (The “Safety Net”)

• Before applying any change, the tool generated a temporary config file.
• It ran a silent nginx -t -c temp.conf command to validate the syntax against the actual Nginx binary.
• Logic: If the exit code was non-zero (error), the tool blocked the application and alerted the user with the specific error message. The live production config was never touched.

3. Atomic Rollback

• If the validation passed, the tool backed up the current configuration (timestamped).
• It applied the new config and attempted a service reload.
• If the reload hung or failed, the tool automatically restored the backup file, returning the system to its last known good state.

The Outcome

• Uptime: Eliminated service outages caused by invalid configurations.
• Empowerment: Allowed non-systems staff to safely manage complex infrastructure settings.
• Speed: Reduced troubleshooting time effectively to zero, as the system refused to accept broken states.

Results

• 📈 Users: 2000+ active users within 3 months
• ⭐ Product Hunt: Featured and received 200+ upvotes
• 🚀 Performance: Sub-100ms API response times
• 💯 Uptime: 99.8% uptime since launch
• 📱 Mobile: 40% of traffic from mobile devices

Tech Stack

Frontend

• Next.js 14 (App Router)
• TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS
• Framer Motion (animations)
• React Beautiful DnD

Backend

• Next.js API Routes
• Prisma ORM
• PostgreSQL
• Socket.io for WebSockets
• NextAuth.js for authentication

Infrastructure

• Vercel for hosting
• Supabase for PostgreSQL
• Redis Cloud for caching
• AWS S3 for file storage

User Feedback

“Finally, a task manager that doesn’t get in my way. The real-time updates are magical!” - Sarah K., Product Manager

“We switched from Trello and haven’t looked back. TaskFlow is faster and more intuitive.” - Mike R., Engineering Lead

Open Source

TaskFlow is open source! Contributions welcome.

License: MIT
GitHub: alexjohnson/taskflow
Demo: Try it live

What’s Next

Currently working on:

• Mobile apps (iOS & Android)
• Gantt chart view
• Advanced reporting and analytics
• API for third-party integrations
• Offline mode support

Status: ✅ Live & Actively Maintained
Try it: taskflow-demo.example.com