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Multi-tenancy

What is multi-tenancy?​

A multi-tenant system allows multiple users (tenants) to use the same software independently.

Let's break this down:

... system ...​

Here are some example systems:

  1. Application binary: each user downloads a copy and runs it on their own device. (VSCode, Chrome)
  2. Self-hosting: users can deploy the system on their server, one tenant per server. (Wordpress)
  3. SaaS: users sign in at a central portal and create a tenant. (Shopify)

Healthblocks supports both the 2nd & 3rd model, so multiple servers and each server may have multiple tenants (projects).

... multiple users ...​

Healthblocks users can interact in different ways, it's important to understand this mental model!

  1. Server/user: A user account is required to sign in to a server. A user may create projects of which they are automatically an admin member. In a self-hosting setup, user signups and project creation are typically disabled.
  2. Project/member: A member can have one of three roles: admin/caregiver/patient.
    • Admin members can manage all members and their careteams in the project.
    • Caregivers can view basic member info and join their careteam.
    • Patients can only see caregivers in their careteam.
  3. Careteam/participant: A participant can have multiple roles. Each role gives that member some permissions. Care team roles and associated permissions can be configured per project.
    • FHIR has a value set for participant roles that can be used as inspiration.
    • A general purpose "View-only" role can be used to create URL-shareable exports.

... same software ...​

All Healthblocks projects run the same core APIs even though the patient/caregiver facing interface is branded or even custom built. Integrations & extensions can be enabled on a project-basis. So functionality may vary between projects even though they run the same core API version.

  • Healthblocks SaaS always runs the latest available version.
  • Self-hosted Healthblocks servers may lag behind the latest version. It's up to the administrator to keep their system up-to-date.

... independently.​

Each tenant (project) is 100% independent and should in no way affect other projects. It's our highest priority to prevent data leaking between projects.

How does multi-tenancy affect integrations?​

Integrations MUST be aware of the relevant project they are interacting with. The naive solution would be to have one API key and add ?projectId=3 to each API call, but this is error prone. That's why API keys are linked to only one project. If an integration supports multiple projects/servers, they should keep track of the different API keys & complete API endpoint URLs. This information is available when the integration is activated.