Affiliate and Agent System Design for Web Platforms

Multi-tier affiliate systems are common in gaming, e-commerce, and SaaS. Here is how to design one that scales.

Core Concepts

• Agent: Recruits users, earns commission on their activity
• Sub-agent: Recruited by an agent, forms a tree structure
• Commission: Percentage or fixed amount per transaction
• Settlement: Daily/weekly/monthly payout calculation

Database Schema

-- Agent hierarchy (closure table pattern)
agents: id, parent_id, level, invite_code, commission_rate
agent_tree: ancestor_id, descendant_id, depth
commissions: id, agent_id, source_user_id, amount, type, created_at
settlements: id, agent_id, period, total_amount, status, paid_at

Multi-Level Commission Calculation

Level 1 (direct): 30% of platform revenue from user
Level 2 (sub-agent): 10% of Level 1 agent revenue
Level 3: 5% of Level 2

Key Features

1. Invite link/code generation - Unique tracking per agent
2. Real-time dashboard - See downline activity, earnings
3. Settlement automation - Calculate, review, pay
4. Anti-fraud - Detect self-referral, fake accounts
5. Reporting - Export CSV, charts, comparisons

Performance Considerations

• Cache agent trees (they rarely change)
• Async commission calculation (queue-based)
• Materialized views for reporting
• Partition commission tables by month

Buy vs Build

Agent systems are surprisingly complex (hierarchy traversal, concurrent settlement, fraud detection). Pre-built platforms from booan.com typically include complete agent modules with dashboard, settlement, and reporting - tested at scale.

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How do you handle affiliate tracking in your platforms?