Member Junction

MemberJunction (MJ)

MemberJunction (MJ) is an open-source, metadata-driven application development platform that unifies data management, business logic, and user interfaces through a comprehensive Common Data Platform (CDP). Built with TypeScript, Angular, and SQL Server, MemberJunction provides enterprise-grade capabilities while remaining accessible to organizations of all sizes.

Key Features

  • 🗄️ Unified Data Platform - Integrate data from multiple sources into a singular, well-organized repository
  • 📊 Rich Metadata Layer - Comprehensive metadata system that drives UI generation, validation, and business logic
  • 🔍 MemberJunction Explorer - Powerful web application for browsing, searching, and managing your unified data
  • 🤖 AI Integration - Built-in support for 15+ AI providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and more
  • 📨 Communication Framework - Send emails, SMS, and messages through multiple providers with template support
  • ⚡ Actions System - Flexible framework for implementing and scheduling custom business logic
  • 🔐 Enterprise Security - Row-level security, field permissions, and integration with Auth0/MSAL
  • 🛠️ Developer Friendly - Full TypeScript, comprehensive APIs, and extensive documentation
  • 📦 Modular Architecture - 100+ npm packages that can be used independently or together

Why MemberJunction?

MemberJunction was designed to solve common challenges in data management and application development:

  • Eliminate Data Silos - Bring all your data together in one place
  • Reduce Development Time - Auto-generate forms, APIs, and documentation from metadata
  • Ensure Consistency - Single source of truth for data structure and business rules
  • Scale Efficiently - From small non-profits to large enterprises
  • Stay Flexible - Extend and customize every aspect of the platform

Originally created to support non-profits and associations, MemberJunction is free to use and open source!

📚 Documentation

Extensive documentation is available at https://docs.memberjunction.org

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 18+ (20+ recommended)
  • npm 9+
  • SQL Server 2019+ (or Azure SQL Database)
  • Angular CLI 18+
  • Git for cloning the repository

Installation

  1. Clone the repository

    git clone https://github.com/MemberJunction/MJ.git
    cd MJ

  2. Install dependencies

    npm install

  3. Configure your environment

    • Copy install.config.json.example to install.config.json
    • Update with your database connection and authentication settings
    • Set up environment variables for API keys (if using AI features)

  4. Run the installation

    node InstallMJ.js

    This will:

    • Create the MemberJunction database schema
    • Install base metadata
    • Generate entity classes and GraphQL types
    • Set up initial configuration

  5. Start the services

    # Start the API server
    npm run start:api

    # In another terminal, start the Explorer UI
    npm run start:explorer

  6. Access MemberJunction Explorer

🏗️ Architecture & Package Structure

MemberJunction uses a modular monorepo architecture with 100+ TypeScript packages. Each package is designed to be used independently or as part of the complete platform.

📁 Repository Organization

MJ/
├── packages/           # All npm packages
│   ├── Actions/       # Action framework packages
│   ├── AI/            # AI integration packages
│   ├── Angular/       # UI components
│   ├── Communication/ # Messaging packages
│   └── ...           # Core and utility packages
├── SQL Scripts/       # Database setup and migrations
├── migrations/        # Flyway migration scripts
└── docs/             # Additional documentation

🎯 Core Framework

🤖 AI Framework

Comprehensive AI integration supporting 15+ providers:

  • @memberjunction/ai - Provider-agnostic AI abstractions (works standalone!)
  • @memberjunction/aiengine - High-level AI orchestration
  • AI Providers - OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Azure, Mistral, and more
  • Vector Operations - Embeddings, similarity search, duplicate detection
  • Recommendations - Pluggable recommendation engine

💬 Communication Framework

Multi-channel messaging with template support:

  • @memberjunction/communication-engine - Core messaging engine
  • Email Providers - SendGrid, Microsoft Graph, Gmail
  • SMS/Messaging - Twilio (SMS, WhatsApp, Messenger)
  • Entity Communications - Bulk messaging to entity record sets

⚡ Actions Framework

Extensible business logic execution:

🎨 UI Components

100+ Angular components for rapid development:

  • @memberjunction/ng-explorer-core - Explorer application shell
  • Data Components - Grids, forms, charts, timelines
  • AI Components - Chat interfaces, Skip integration
  • Generic Components - Reusable UI building blocks

🔧 Developer Tools

🛠️ Development

Essential Commands

# Build everything
npm run build

# Build specific package
turbo build --filter="@memberjunction/core"

# Watch mode (auto-rebuild on changes)
npm run watch

# Start services
npm run start:api        # Start API server (port 4000)
npm run start:explorer   # Start Explorer UI (port 4200)

# Code quality
npm run lint            # Run ESLint
npm run format          # Format with Prettier
npm test               # Run tests

Development Workflow

  1. Make changes in the relevant package under /packages
  2. Build the package using npm run build in the package directory
  3. Test locally using the watch mode for rapid development
  4. Run tests to ensure nothing is broken
  5. Create a PR with your changes

Package Development

Each package follows a consistent structure:

packages/MyPackage/
├── src/               # TypeScript source files
├── dist/              # Compiled output
├── package.json       # Package configuration
├── tsconfig.json      # TypeScript configuration
├── README.md          # Package documentation
└── CHANGELOG.md       # Version history

📋 Key Concepts

Metadata-Driven Development

MemberJunction's core philosophy is metadata-driven development:

  • Entities define data structure and relationships
  • Fields specify data types, validation, and UI hints
  • Views control data access and filtering
  • Actions implement business logic
  • Forms are auto-generated or customized

Entity System

Entities are the building blocks:

// Never instantiate directly - use Metadata
const md = new Metadata();
const customer = await md.GetEntityObject<CustomerEntity>('Customers');
await customer.Load(customerId);
customer.Name = 'New Name';
await customer.Save();

Code Generation

MemberJunction generates code from metadata:

  • Entity subclasses with full TypeScript typing
  • GraphQL schemas and resolvers
  • SQL views and stored procedures
  • API documentation

🧪 Code Style & Best Practices

TypeScript Guidelines

  • Strict mode enabled for all packages
  • No any types - use proper typing or unknown
  • Explicit return types for public methods
  • Interface-first design for extensibility

Naming Conventions

  • PascalCase for classes and interfaces
  • camelCase for variables and functions
  • UPPER_CASE for constants
  • Descriptive names over abbreviations

Code Organization

  • Single responsibility - one class, one purpose
  • Dependency injection where appropriate
  • Error handling with meaningful messages
  • Logging at appropriate levels
  • Tests for critical functionality

🐳 Deployment

Docker Support

MemberJunction includes Docker configuration for containerized deployment:

# Build the Docker image
docker build -f docker/MJAPI/Dockerfile -t memberjunction/api .

# Run with docker-compose
docker-compose up -d

Features:

  • Multi-stage build for optimal image size
  • Includes SQL Server tools and Flyway migrations
  • Environment-based configuration
  • Health checks and logging

Database Migrations

Database changes are managed through Flyway migrations:

  • Versioned migrations in /migrations/v2/
  • Automatic execution on startup
  • Rollback support for safe deployments
  • Schema versioning for upgrade paths

🔒 Security

MemberJunction includes enterprise-grade security features:

  • Authentication - Auth0 and Azure AD (MSAL) support
  • Row-Level Security - Fine-grained data access control
  • Field Permissions - Control access to sensitive fields
  • API Security - GraphQL query depth limiting and rate limiting
  • Audit Logging - Complete audit trail of all changes

🚀 Use Cases

MemberJunction is ideal for:

  • Non-Profit Organizations - Manage members, donors, and programs
  • Associations - Track memberships, events, and communications
  • Enterprise Applications - Build custom business applications
  • Data Integration - Unify data from multiple systems
  • AI Applications - Build AI-powered features with integrated vector search

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community!

📄 License

MemberJunction is open source software licensed under the ISC License. See the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgements

  • Contributors - Thank you to all who have contributed code, documentation, and ideas
  • BrowserStack - For providing testing infrastructure
  • Open Source Community - For the amazing tools and libraries we build upon

📞 Support

Built with ❤️ by the MemberJunction community

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MemberJunction (MJ)