Database Guide

Everything you need to know about our DynamoDB tables: how they're structured and how the environment suffix system works.

Overview

BizTech uses Amazon DynamoDB as its primary database. DynamoDB is a NoSQL key-value and document database, so there are no SQL queries, joins, or migrations. Data is organized into tables with primary keys and optional sort keys.

Key Concept for Newcomers

DynamoDB is fundamentally different from relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL). There are no tables with columns. Instead, each item is a JSON document with a primary key. You can store different shapes of data in the same table. Think of it as a giant, fast key-value store.

Environment Suffix System

All table names automatically get the ENVIRONMENT variable appended at runtime. This is handled by lib/db.js, so you never need to add the suffix manually.

Environment	Suffix	Example Table Name
Dev	`""` (empty)	`biztechEvents`
Staging	`""` (empty)	`biztechEvents`
Production	`"PROD"`	`biztechEventsPROD`

Dev and Staging Share Tables

Because both dev and staging have an empty suffix, they read from the same tables. Be careful with destructive operations in staging since they affect dev too.

Table Reference

Core Tables

Table	Primary Key (PK)	Sort Key (SK)	Description
`biztechEvents`	`id` (string)	`year` (number)	All events
`biztechUsers`	`id` (string = email)	-	User accounts
`biztechRegistrations`	`id` (string = email)	`eventID;year` (string)	Event registrations
`biztechMembers2026`	`id` (string = email)	-	Club members
`biztechProfiles`	`id` (string)	`eventID;year` (string)	Profiles + connections
`biztechTeams`	`eventID;year` (string)	`id` (string)	Teams per event
`biztechQRs`	`eventID;year` (string)	`id` (string)	QR codes per event
`biztechQuests`	`id` (string = email)	`eventID;year` (string)	Quest progress
`biztechQuizzes`	`id` (string)	`eventID;year` (string)	Quiz results
`biztechPrizes`	`id` (string)	-	Prize catalog
`biztechTransactions`	`id` (string = UUID)	-	Point transactions
`biztechInvestments`	`id` (string = UUID)	`eventID;year` (string)	Kickstart investments

Connection & Real-Time Tables

Table	Description
`bizConnections`	Connection records between profiles
`bizWallSockets`	WebSocket connections for the live connection wall
`bizLiveConnections`	Recent connections for wall animation (with TTL)
`bizSockets`	WebSocket connections for the sticker/voting system
`bizStickers`	Sticker votes
`bizScores`	Scoring data
`bizFeedback`	Judge feedback
`bizJudge`	Judge assignment tracking

BTX (Stock Exchange) Tables

Table	Description
`bizBtxProjects`	Projects/companies in the exchange
`bizBtxAccounts`	User trading accounts (balance, portfolio value)
`bizBtxHoldings`	User share holdings
`bizBtxTrades`	Trade history
`bizBtxSockets`	WebSocket connections for real-time prices
`bizBtxPrices`	Price history snapshots

Next Steps

Schemas & Access Patterns: Detailed table schemas, Global Secondary Indexes, common access patterns, and how to use the db module