NGB Platform v1.3.1 is released.
This release is an important milestone for the project because it shows something I wanted to prove from the beginning:
NGB is not a single vertical application.
NGB is a platform for building vertical business systems.
The new CRM demo is not intended to be a Salesforce replacement or a full CRM product.
It is a demonstration of how a completely different business vertical can be built on top of NGB Platform using published packages.
Live demo:
https://crm-demo.ngbplatform.com
Release:
https://github.com/ngbplatform/NGB/releases/tag/v1.3.1
GitHub repository:
https://github.com/ngbplatform/NGB
What changed in v1.3.1
The main highlight of this release is the new NGB CRM demo.
But the more important part is how it was built.
The CRM demo consumes NGB Platform as packages:
-
NGB.Platform.*NuGet packages -
@ngbplatform/uinpm package
That means the CRM demo does not need to clone the platform source projects directly.
This is a major step for NGB because it moves the project closer to a real platform model:
- platform core
- published backend packages
- published UI package
- vertical applications built on top
Why CRM?
Previous NGB demos were closer to traditional business and ERP-like domains:
- Property Management
- Trade
- Agency Billing
- Accounting and reporting scenarios
Those demos are useful, but they can create the wrong impression.
It may look like NGB is only about accounting-heavy systems.
That is not the goal.
NGB is designed for business applications in general:
- catalogs
- documents
- lifecycle actions
- posting semantics
- reference registers
- operational registers
- accounting registers
- reports
- auditability
- metadata-driven UI
Some verticals need accounting.
Some do not.
CRM is a good example of a vertical that can use the NGB model without using the accounting engine at all.
CRM demo without accounting
The CRM demo does not use the accounting engine.
It also does not use operational accounting-style movements.
That is the point.
The demo is built around CRM concepts:
- accounts
- contacts
- products
- opportunity stages
- lead intake
- lead qualification
- lead conversion
- opportunity updates
- quotes
- activity logs
- sales pipeline reporting
- activity reporting
- quote register reporting
- lead conversion funnel
The CRM flow is document-driven.
A lead is captured as a document.
Qualification is a document.
Lead conversion is a document.
Opportunity updates are documents.
Quotes are documents with reusable product lines.
Activities are documents.
When documents are posted, they update read-side projections through reference registers.
Reports are built from those projections.
So even without accounting, the same NGB platform ideas still apply:
source documents → posting boundary → register projections → reports
Why packages matter
Before this release, it was possible to build verticals inside the repository.
That is useful for development, but it is not enough to prove a platform.
A real platform should be usable from the outside.
With v1.3.1, NGB now has public package families:
- NuGet packages for backend platform capabilities
- npm package for the UI framework
This makes the platform boundary much clearer.
A vertical solution can depend on NGB Platform packages instead of directly depending on platform source projects.
That is important for several reasons.
First, it validates the public API surface.
If a vertical can only work by referencing internal source projects, the platform boundary is not real yet.
Second, it makes versioning more meaningful.
A vertical can target a specific platform version.
Third, it makes the project easier to understand.
Developers can look at CRM as an example of how to consume NGB Platform rather than digging through the entire platform implementation first.
Current live demos
NGB now has multiple live demos:
Property Management: https://pm-demo.ngbplatform.com
Agency Billing: https://ab-demo.ngbplatform.com
Each demo shows a different type of vertical application built on the same platform foundation.
Final thoughts
The CRM demo is intentionally not a full CRM product.
That is not the purpose.
The purpose is to show that NGB Platform can be used to build vertical business applications of different types and different complexity levels.
With v1.3.1, NGB takes an important step toward that platform model:
published packages, reusable UI, and a new vertical built as an external consumer.
Release:
https://github.com/ngbplatform/NGB/releases/tag/v1.3.1
Repository:
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