Appsmith: Internal Tool Builder That Actually Handles Complex Business Logic

// JS Object: ticketActions
// This runs server-side in Appsmith's sandbox

export default {
  // Escalate a ticket: update status, reassign, notify manager
  async escalateTicket(ticketId, reason) {
    // Step 1: Get current ticket
    const ticket = await get_ticket.run({ id: ticketId })

    // Step 2: Find the escalation manager based on department
    const manager = await find_manager.run({
      department: ticket.department,
      level: "escalation",
    })

    // Step 3: Update the ticket
    await update_ticket.run({
      id: ticketId,
      status: "escalated",
      assigned_to: manager.email,
      escalation_reason: reason,
      escalated_at: new Date().toISOString(),
    })

    // Step 4: Log the escalation
    await create_audit_log.run({
      action: "ticket_escalated",
      ticket_id: ticketId,
      from_agent: ticket.assigned_to,
      to_agent: manager.email,
      reason: reason,
      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
    })

    // Step 5: Send notification via Novu
    await fetch("https://api.novu.co/v1/events/trigger", {
      method: "POST",
      headers: {
        "Authorization": `ApiKey ${appsmith.store.novuKey}`,
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        name: "ticket-escalated",
        to: { subscriberId: manager.email, email: manager.email },
        payload: {
          ticketId,
          customerName: ticket.customer_name,
          reason,
          fromAgent: ticket.assigned_to,
        },
      }),
    })

    // Step 6: Refresh the ticket list
    await get_tickets.run()

    // Show success message
    showAlert("Ticket escalated to " + manager.email, "success")
  },

  // Bulk close resolved tickets older than 7 days
  async bulkCloseOldTickets() {
    const sevenDaysAgo = new Date()
    sevenDaysAgo.setDate(sevenDaysAgo.getDate() - 7)

    const tickets = await get_resolved_tickets.run({
      before_date: sevenDaysAgo.toISOString(),
    })

    let closed = 0
    for (const ticket of tickets) {
      await close_ticket.run({ id: ticket.id })
      closed++
    }

    showAlert(`Closed ${closed} tickets`, "success")
    await get_tickets.run()
  },
}

# Connect Appsmith to Git
# 1. In Appsmith settings, go to "Git Sync"
# 2. Connect to your Git repository
# 3. Appsmith commits the app JSON to the repo

# The repo structure looks like:
# ├── ticket_system/
# │   ├── metadata.json        # App metadata
# │   ├── datasources/         # Database connections
# │   ├── pages/
# │   │   ├── Dashboard/
# │   │   │   ├── canvas.json  # UI layout
# │   │   │   └── queries/     # Page-specific queries
# │   │   └── TicketDetail/
# │   └── js-objects/          # Shared JS functions

# Workflow:
# 1. Developer creates a branch in Appsmith
# 2. Makes changes to the app
# 3. Commits and pushes to Git
# 4. PR review in GitHub/GitLab
# 5. Merge triggers deployment to production

# This means:
# - Multiple developers can work on the same app
# - Changes are reviewed before going live
# - You can roll back to any previous version
# - Audit trail of who changed what and when

# Self-hosted deployment with Docker
docker run -d \
  --name appsmith \
  -p 8080:80 \
  -v appsmith_stacks:/appsmith-stacks \
  appsmith/appsmith-ee:latest

# For production, use Docker Compose with:
# - PostgreSQL for Appsmith internal DB
# - MongoDB for Appsmith metadata
# - Redis for session management
# - Nginx for SSL termination

# docker-compose.yml highlights:
version: "3"
services:
  appsmith:
    image: appsmith/appsmith-ee:latest
    ports: ["8080:80"]
    volumes: ["./stacks:/appsmith-stacks"]
    environment:
      - APPSMITH_MAIL_ENABLED=true
      - APPSMITH_MAIL_HOST=smtp.example.com
      - APPSMITH_MAIL_USERNAME=notifications@example.com
      - APPSMITH_MAIL_PASSWORD=****
      - APPSMITH_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=true
      - APPSMITH_GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY=****