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Support Ticket System

Complexity: Intermediate | Entities: 3 | DSL Lines: ~190

A multi-entity support ticket application demonstrating entity relationships and foreign key references. This example builds on contact_manager by introducing multiple related entities.

Quick Start

cd examples/support_tickets
dazzle serve
  • UI: http://localhost:3000
  • API: http://localhost:8000/docs

What This Example Demonstrates

DSL Features

Feature Usage
Foreign Key References created_by: ref User required
Optional References assigned_to: ref User (nullable)
Multi-Column Indexes index status, priority
Multiple Entities User, Ticket, Comment
Full CRUD for All Entities 12 surfaces total (4 per entity)

Building on contact_manager

This example adds:

  1. Entity relationships - Tickets reference Users, Comments reference Tickets
  2. Required vs optional refs - created_by is required, assigned_to is optional
  3. Complex domain - 3 entities with interconnected relationships
  4. Database indexes - Composite indexes for query optimization

Entity Relationship Diagram

User (1)
  │
  ├──< created_by ──< Ticket (many)
  │                      │
  ├──< assigned_to ──────┤
  │                      │
  └──< author ────< Comment (many) ───< ticket ──┘

Relationships:

  • User → Ticket: One user can create many tickets
  • User → Ticket: One user can be assigned many tickets
  • Ticket → Comment: One ticket can have many comments
  • User → Comment: One user can author many comments

Key DSL Patterns

Required Reference (Foreign Key)

entity Ticket "Support Ticket":
  created_by: ref User required
  # Every ticket must have a creator
  # Cannot be null

Optional Reference

entity Ticket "Support Ticket":
  assigned_to: ref User
  # Ticket can be unassigned
  # Can be null

Composite Index

entity Ticket "Support Ticket":
  ...
  index status, priority
  # Optimizes queries filtering by both fields

One-to-Many via Back Reference

entity Comment "Comment":
  ticket: ref Ticket required
  author: ref User required
  # Comment belongs to one ticket
  # Comment authored by one user

User Stories

ID Story Entities Involved
US-1 Submit support request User, Ticket
US-2 View ticket queue Ticket
US-3 Assign ticket to staff Ticket, User
US-4 Add comment to ticket Ticket, Comment, User
US-5 Resolve and close ticket Ticket

Learning Path

Previous: Contact Manager (Beginner+) - Single entity, indexes, workspaces

Next: Ops Dashboard (Intermediate+) - Personas, COMMAND_CENTER archetype

Key Learnings

  1. ref creates foreign keys
  2. ref Entity creates a nullable foreign key

  3. ref Entity required creates a non-null foreign key

  4. Entities can reference the same entity multiple times

  5. Ticket has both created_by and assigned_to referencing User

  6. Each creates a separate relationship

  7. Comments show nested relationships

  8. Comment → Ticket → User (creator)
  9. Comment → User (author)

  10. Multi-level entity graph

  11. Indexes optimize common queries

  12. index status, priority for ticket queue views
  13. index created_by for "my tickets" queries

API Endpoints

With 3 entities, DNR generates 12 CRUD endpoints:

Entity Endpoints
User GET/POST /api/users, GET/PUT/DELETE /api/users/{id}
Ticket GET/POST /api/tickets, GET/PUT/DELETE /api/tickets/{id}
Comment GET/POST /api/comments, GET/PUT/DELETE /api/comments/{id}

Customization Ideas

Try modifying this example:

  1. Add an Attachment entity with ref Ticket
  2. Add ticket categories as a separate entity
  3. Add an attention signal for unassigned critical tickets
  4. Create a workspace for "My Assigned Tickets"