MiniBrev

MiniBrev is a minimal platform to issue, seal, send, and verify digital credentials.

Overview

MiniBrev allows organizations to create cryptographically signed credentials that can be independently verified by anyone.

Recipients receive their credentials via email in two formats:

• JSON: digitally signed and verifiable
• PDF: human-readable

Anyone can verify a credential’s authenticity through the Verify page, without registration or login.

Features

For Issuers

• Create and manage credential templates
• Issue credentials to recipients
• Automatically seal credentials with the organization’s public key
• Email credentials as JSON + PDF attachments

For Recipients

• Receive signed credentials via email
• Verify authenticity through a public verification endpoint

For Admins

• Manage users and organizations
• Verify accounts and organizations

Tech Stack

• Frontend: Angular 20.3.7
• Backend: Spring Boot 3.5.6
• Database: MySQL 8.0.43
• Auth: JWT (access + refresh tokens)

Run Locally with Docker

MiniBrev runs locally using Docker Compose, which starts three containers (services):

Service	Description	Exposed Port
db	MySQL database	3307 (mapped to container’s 3306)
backend	Spring Boot REST API	internal only (8080, not published)
frontend	Nginx container serving the built Angular app and proxying API calls to the backend	80

1. Prerequisites

• Docker
• Docker Compose

2. Project Structure

minibrev/
├── backend/
│ ├── Dockerfile
│ ├── .env
│ └── src/...
├── frontend/
│ ├── Dockerfile
│ ├── nginx.conf
│ └── src/...
└── docker-compose.yml

3. Environment Variables

Define the required secrets in backend/.env:

JWT_SECRET=
DB_USERNAME=minibrev
DB_PASSWORD=minibrev
GMAIL_USERNAME=
GMAIL_APP_PASSWORD=
ADMIN_EMAIL=
ADMIN_PASSWORD=
CRYPTO_SECRET_KEY=
APP_PUBLIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost
APP_INTERNAL_BASE_URL=http://backend:8080

Variable	Description
JWT_SECRET	Secret used to sign and verify JWT tokens. You can generate one using: openssl rand -base64 32
DB_USERNAME / DB_PASSWORD	Database credentials (must match docker-compose.yml).
GMAIL_USERNAME / GMAIL_APP_PASSWORD	Gmail account used to send activation links and credentials (requires an App Password).
ADMIN_EMAIL / ADMIN_PASSWORD	Default admin credentials created at first startup. The admin email can be the same as the app’s Gmail.
CRYPTO_SECRET_KEY	Key used to encrypt each organization’s private key in the database. Generate with: openssl rand -base64 32
APP_PUBLIC_BASE_URL	Public backend URL used in credential proofs and verification links (e.g. http://localhost or your domain).
APP_INTERNAL_BASE_URL	Internal backend URL used by the backend when calling itself within Docker. Must be http://backend:8080.

4. Start the App

From the project root:

docker compose up --build

This will:

• Build backend and frontend images
• Start MySQL and apply Flyway migrations
• Serve the app at http://localhost