Product Architecture

How Gelatin works under the hood

A two-sided marketplace built around three pillars: discovery, booking, and payouts. Below is the high-level system, the booking flow, and the rules that drive matches.

System overview

Web Client

Responsive React UI for DJs, venues, and admins.

API Layer

REST + Webhooks. Auth, gigs, bookings, messaging.

Database

Postgres with row-level security per role.

Matching Engine

Scores DJs against open gigs in real-time.

Payments

Escrow at booking, release on completion.

Notifications

Email + push on every booking state change.

Booking flow

Step 1

Venue posts gig

Date, budget, genres

Step 2

Engine matches

Top DJs ranked

Step 3

DJ proposes

Quote + intro

Step 4

Venue confirms

Funds escrowed

Step 5

Show & payout

Review released

Matching rules engine

Genre match

weight 0.35

DJ genres ∩ gig genres / total gig genres

Geo proximity

weight 0.25

Same city = 1.0, same country = 0.6, else 0.2

Budget fit

weight 0.2

Gig budget within ±20% of DJ rate × hours

Availability

weight 0.1

DJ has no overlapping confirmed booking

Reputation

weight 0.1

Average rating, weighted by completed gigs

Data model

User ──┬── DJ Profile (genres, rate, rating)
       ├── Venue Profile (capacity, address)
       └── Admin

Gig ───── posted by Venue
   │       (date, budget, genres, city, status)
   ↓
Booking ── DJ ↔ Venue ↔ Gig
   │       (status, amount, contract)
   ↓
Payout ─── escrow → DJ wallet

Notification ── triggered on every state change

State machine — Gig lifecycle

Open

Proposed

Confirmed

In Progress

Completed

Reviewed

Cancellations from any state route to the disputes queue and notify both sides. Cancellation fees apply within 48h of the gig date.