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Drupal as the Operations Brain

April 8, 20261 min read
Engineer's Log #6 — Drupal as the Operations Brain
Donors, pledges, commerce, fulfillment, and messages — why Drupal stays authoritative behind the decoupled curtain.

Algorithm workflow

Drupal operations brain — module graph

Drupaloperations brainaxanar_donorsRoster indexdonor_portalLogin · mergeaxanar_messagesSupport APICommercePayPal hooksadmin_uxGin dashboardsyoutube_syncVideo chronicleconfig/syncReproducible envsGraphQL→ Next.jsWebhooks→ ISR bustHttpOnly donor session cookie proxied to Next.js /portal
Custom Axanar modules expose GraphQL, push ISR webhooks, and issue HttpOnly donor sessions to Next.js.

Drupal is not the public website anymore — it is the operations brain. Custom modules on this repo include:

  • axanar_donors — roster index, forum ranks, master-list segments, profile graph
  • axanar_donor_portal — login, register, legacy pledge merge, session APIs
  • axanar_messages — support tickets, direct messages, operator replies
  • Commerce + PayPal — headless checkout with webhooks back to Drupal
  • axanar_admin_ux — streamlined Gin dashboards for Alec's executive role
  • axanar_youtube_sync — video chronicle metadata into nodes

GraphQL exposes articles, products, menus, and personnel records to Next.js. Webhooks push ISR revalidation when editors publish. Donor auth sets an HttpOnly session cookie that Next.js proxies — one login for portal and support inbox.

Config sync in config/sync keeps environments reproducible. Drush scripts seed personnel logs, backwire blog articles, and run migration QA. Boring enterprise CMS work — exactly what a ten-year fan production needs when legal, logistics, and premiere traffic all land together.

Engineer's Log — Unification series (Part 6 of 8)

Drupal is not the public website anymore — it is the operations brain. Custom modules on this repo include:

  • axanar_donors — roster index, forum ranks, master-list segments, profile graph
  • axanar_donor_portal — login, register, legacy pledge merge, session APIs
  • axanar_messages — support tickets, direct messages, operator replies
  • Commerce + PayPal — headless checkout with webhooks back to Drupal
  • axanar_admin_ux — streamlined Gin dashboards for Alec's executive role
  • axanar_youtube_sync — video chronicle metadata into nodes

GraphQL exposes articles, products, menus, and personnel records to Next.js. Webhooks push ISR revalidation when editors publish. Donor auth sets an HttpOnly session cookie that Next.js proxies — one login for portal and support inbox.

Config sync in config/sync keeps environments reproducible. Drush scripts seed personnel logs, backwire blog articles, and run migration QA. Boring enterprise CMS work — exactly what a ten-year fan production needs when legal, logistics, and premiere traffic all land together.

Engineer's Log — Unification series (Part 6 of 8)

Drupal as the Operations Brain | Axanar Productions