Platform overview
The platform is the full no-code QA experience—not only the npm package. It is how backend teams expose selected, allowlisted behavior and how QA (and other non-developer roles) discover, configure, run, and judge checks without writing application code.
Who does what
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Backend developers | Integrate @gloocan/cat-inspector, register or annotate units (fnKey, params, return metadata), start a transport (for example embedded WebSocket or Socket.IO), and keep production invokes authenticated and rate-limited. |
| QA / product / support | Use the QA web app: browse the catalog, fill dynamic forms built from parameter metadata, attach expected outcomes, run invokes, and see pass/fail—without learning TypeScript or your service layout. |
| Platform operators | Run the services (host app, optional bridge, databases, object storage) and govern tenants, keys, and environments—depending on how you deploy the reference stack. |
How the pieces connect
- Host application — Your product’s Node.js server (for example Express) plus business logic.
- SDK (runtime) — Registry, validation,
executeRPC, serialization, uploads, inspector broadcasts, and bootstrap/AST helpers. This is what lives insdk/tsand ships as@gloocan/cat-inspector. Today the published host SDK is TypeScript / Node.js; other runtimes would be separate deliverables. - Wire protocol — Versioned messages for catalog sync, invoke, sessions, file wire hints, and inspector events so clients and hosts stay compatible.
- QA web app — Connects over the transport, renders the catalog, authors test cases (function + payload + assertions), runs checks, and visualizes results. In this monorepo, the main UI lives under
frontend/alongsidebackend/for tenancy and APIs. - Pipeline (optional) — Scheduled or CI-driven reruns, notifications, and history are natural extensions; the core loop today is connect → catalog → invoke → assert.
For implementation detail on registration, RPC, transports, and protocol fields, use the SDK documentation.
Where to read next
- SDK overview — package role, pillars, and links into the technical tree.
- Getting started → attachCatRPC — Socket.IO host wiring for catalog + RPC.
More platform guides (tenancy, auth, running the demo stack) can be added here over time.