Ephesus Vault: A Modern Document Management System with Built-In Security, Roles

In a world where organizations generate more digital content than ever, the need for a secure, organized, and flexible document management system (DMS) is no longer optional—it's essential. Ephesus Vault was built with that need in mind. Designed using Laravel 12 on the backend and React 19 on the frontend, it delivers a powerful, modern platform for managing files, posts, categories, and user permissions.

Whether you’re running a small team or managing content at enterprise scale, Ephesus Vault gives you the tools to keep your content secure, accessible, and structured.

DMS screenshot

⭐ Why Ephesus Vault Stands Out

Ephesus Vault isn't just a CMS—it functions as a full document management system with granular access control, powered by a clean modern tech stack and a production-ready Docker environment.

Here’s what makes it special.

🔐 Role-Based Document Security — Now Powered by PostgreSQL RLS

One of the most significant architectural improvements in the system is the migration from MySQL to PostgreSQL, specifically to take advantage of Row Level Security (RLS).

Why this matters

With RLS, the database itself decides what each logged-in user can query, update, or delete. Instead of filtering permissions only at the application level, access control is enforced at the database level—providing an additional, highly secure layer of content isolation.

Key benefits:

Users only see the content they are allowed to see
Sensitive files remain protected even if application queries are misconfigured
Moderators can confidently assign read, edit, or delete permissions per role
Performance improves thanks to database-native filtering
Auditing and compliance become dramatically simpler

RLS transforms Ephesus Vault into a true security-first DMS.

🧩 Powerful Content Organization

Ephesus Vault includes everything you’d expect from a modern document management system:

✔ Categorization and Tagging

Organize documents into structured categories and flexible tags.

✔ File Attachments

Upload and attach documents, media, or other files to posts.

✔ Moderator Dashboard

A modern, React-powered admin interface allows moderators to:

Add and edit documents
Manage categories and tags
Assign permissions to roles
Delete content

✔ Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Grant read, edit, or delete permissions to user roles with ease.

Combined with PostgreSQL RLS, permissions are enforced at both application and database levels for maximum security.

👥 Complete User & Team Management

Ephesus Vault includes:

Full authentication: login, registration, password reset, email verification
User profiles
Admin-level user management
Role creation and permission assignment
Fine-grained access control

This makes it ideal for teams, departments, or multi-organization environments where not every user should access every document.

🛠 Technology Stack Built for Reliability & Speed

Backend

Laravel 12
PostgreSQL
Pest for testing

Frontend

React 19
TypeScript 5
Tailwind CSS 4
Radix UI & Headless UI
Inertia.js for SPA-like performance without building a REST API

Development & Deployment

Vite for blazing-fast builds
Docker for consistent environments
Laravel Sail for easy local development

Everything is designed for maintainability, scalability, and productivity.

🚀 Production-Ready with Docker

Ephesus Vault ships with a fully configured Docker production setup:

Nginx serving static assets and proxying requests
PHP-FPM running the Laravel backend
PostgreSQL with health checks
Named volumes for persistent data

To spin up the entire stack:

docker compose -f compose.prod.yml up -d --build

The Docker stack includes:

Automatic .env file generation from GitHub secrets
Asset serving from a dedicated laravel-public-assets volume
Health checks and clean container startup order
Initialization of storage, cache, and application key
Removal of old frontend assets to ensure fresh deploys

⚙️ Developer Experience Made Simple

Local installation is straightforward:

composer install
php artisan migrate
php artisan db:seed
npm install
npm run dev

Production Optimization

composer install --optimize-autoloader --no-dev
php artisan optimize

Testing Support

Backend tests

php artisan test

Frontend tests

npm run test

📦 Clean Architecture You Can Extend

Ephesus Vault follows clean Laravel MVC principles:

Models

Users, Posts, Categories, Tags, and more.

Controllers

Organized by feature for clarity and maintainability.

Views

Rendered as React components via Inertia.js.

Routes

Grouped into:

Public Routes
Auth Routes
Dashboard Routes
Internal Routes
Settings Routes

This structure keeps the application maintainable even as it grows.

🎯 Why Choose Ephesus Vault as Your Document Management System?

1. Security First

PostgreSQL RLS enforces permissions at the database level, providing unmatched protection.

2. Granular Permissions

Role-based access control allows you to define exactly who can read, edit, or delete content.

3. Modern User Experience

A responsive and intuitive dashboard built with React and Tailwind CSS.

4. Scalable Infrastructure

Docker ensures reliable deployments across servers and cloud platforms.

5. Organized Content Management

Tags, categories, file attachments, and metadata keep documents structured and searchable.

6. Enterprise-Ready

Suitable for teams, organizations, or multi-tenant environments needing strict content isolation.

💬 Final Thoughts

Ephesus Vault is more than a traditional CMS—it’s a secure, modern document management system designed for organizations that need precision, structure, and strict access control.

With PostgreSQL’s Row Level Security handling content isolation at the database level and a React-driven interface ensuring speed and clarity, Ephesus Vault is ready to become the backbone of your content operations.

If you need a DMS that is secure, fast, extensible, and built with modern tools, Ephesus Vault is ready to support your workflows today.