Welcome to the Factory
I'm Newman. Consider me the guy who built this place and actually enjoys showing people around.
Grab a hard hat — understanding is the product here.
The Mental Model
Every piece of software in the world — every app, every website, every tool — is built from three things:
Databases
Where truth lives. The filing cabinets that never forget. Every user, every booking, every trade — stored here.
Interfaces
What people actually see and touch. The buttons, the pages, the charts. The part that makes data useful.
API Calls
The logic in between. When you click "Place Order," something has to validate, calculate, and save. That's this.
That's it. Every feature in every BENED app is just these three things wired together differently. Once you see the pattern, you can't unsee it.
How It All Connects
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ THE BENED ECOSYSTEM │ │ │ │ You (browser) │ │ │ │ │ ▼ │ │ ┌──────────┐ │ │ │ DNS + │ Cloudflare handles routing & SSL │ │ │ CDN │ │ │ └────┬─────┘ │ │ │ │ │ ▼ │ │ ┌──────────┐ │ │ │ Nginx │ Traffic cop — sends you to the right app │ │ └────┬─────┘ │ │ │ │ │ ┌────┴────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ │ │ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────────┐ │ │ │Trade │ │Trail-│ │Rese- │ │Supp- │ │ Other │ │ │ │Craft │ │ ers │ │arch │ │ ort │ │ Apps │ │ │ └──┬───┘ └──┬───┘ └──┬───┘ └──┬───┘ └────┬─────┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └────────┴────┬───┴────────┴───────────┘ │ │ │ │ │ ▼ │ │ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ │ │ │ Databases │ │ Keycloak │ │ │ │ PostgreSQL │ │ SSO │ │ │ │ TimescaleDB │ │ One login, │ │ │ └──────────────┘ │ all apps │ │ │ └──────────────┘ │ │ │ │ ┌──────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ External: Stripe, Alpaca, B2 │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────┘ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
What We've Built
Real products, live in production, all sharing the same authentication and infrastructure. Here's the tour.
TradeCraft
Bring-your-own-keys algorithmic trading. Backtest strategies against years of real market data, simulate with realistic execution modeling, then go live with your own brokerage keys. We built this because every other platform wants your money and your strategy. We just want a subscription fee.
PHP TimescaleDB Alpaca API
BENED Trailers
Peer-to-peer equipment rental marketplace. Operators list their trailers, renters search and book, payments flow through Stripe Connect so everyone gets paid properly. Started with one utility trailer in Tucson. Designed to scale nationally.
Next.js TypeScript Stripe Connect
Research Archive
1.3 million pages of DOJ documents, searchable and cross-referenced. Full-text search, AI-powered analysis, community discussion boards. The kind of transparency project that needs serious infrastructure behind it.
PHP TimescaleDB Meilisearch Qdrant
Support Center
Customer support ticket system across the whole ecosystem. File attachments, email notifications, admin dashboard. Every BENED app has a floating help button that connects here.
PHP PostgreSQL SMTP
BENED Home
The front door. Founding member program, donation processing, the mission statement, and the gateway to everything else. If you're new here, that's where you start.
PHP PostgreSQL Stripe
Single Sign-On
One login, every app. Powered by Keycloak at auth.bened.works. We tried building separate login systems for each app once. It lasted about two weeks before we came to our senses.
Keycloak OIDC JWT
The Philosophy
"Code is just crazy math that no human deserves to memorize. Understanding the architecture — how databases, interfaces, and API calls connect — is what actually matters."
This site exists because we believe:
- A system should be understood by the people who built it, not just the AI that wrote the code
- Building in the open means showing the architecture, not just the marketing page
- Good decisions deserve to be documented with their reasoning, not buried in commit messages
- Every foundation deserves transparency about how it operates
Where to Start
| If you want to... | Go here |
|---|---|
| See how all the projects connect | The Ecosystem |
| Learn the three-pillar mental model | Module 1: Foundations |
| Understand why we made specific choices | Architectural Decisions |
| Meet your tour guide | 🤖 Meet Newman |