hermes - 💡(How to fix) Fix Architecture v0: control plane, brain, memory, voice, client, workers

Goal

Define the v0 architecture for a premium assistant platform that can evolve from a single-user product into a multi-tenant product.

Components

1) Control plane

Owns:

• tenant management
• auth / identity
• pricing / packaging
• feature flags / policies
• observability hooks

2) Brain / orchestration layer

Owns:

• conversation loop
• tool dispatch
• context assembly
• model/provider routing
• policy enforcement
• response shaping

3) Memory service

Owns:

• persistent user/session/entity memory
• retrieval of relevant context
• summaries / conclusions / embeddings later
• data model that can grow into a Honcho-like system without inheriting all of its complexity immediately

4) Voice / realtime layer

Owns:

• live audio sessions
• STT/TTS boundaries
• room/session state
• transport and presence

5) Client app

Owns:

• chat UI
• voice entry/exit points
• user settings
• session history
• feedback loop

6) Async workers

Owns:

• background memory updates
• embeddings
• summaries
• cleanup
• analytics/event processing

Build vs buy decisions

• Use LiveKit for realtime transport instead of building our own RTC stack
• Use Postgres first for memory storage
• Keep the brain/orchestrator ours
• Keep the product UX ours

Key risks

• Overbuilding the memory layer too early
• Binding the architecture to one model provider
• Overcomplicating multi-tenancy before first value
• Mixing product concerns with platform concerns too soon

Acceptance criteria

• The component boundaries are explicit
• The request/response flow is documented
• The storage and voice decisions are clear
• The architecture supports an MVP without unnecessary complexity