Events Service

The events service manages event records, image uploads, and the feedback system. All handlers live in services/events/handler.js with helpers in helpers.js and feedbackHelpers.js.

Endpoints

POST /events/ Create

Handler: create Auth: Cognito

1. Validates required fields: id, year (number), capac (number)
2. If attendeeFeedbackQuestions or partnerFeedbackQuestions provided, runs each through normalizeFeedbackQuestions() from feedbackHelpers.js — validates types, labels, scale bounds, assigns UUIDs
3. Runs ensureDefaultOverallRatingQuestion() to prepend the locked default question (LINEAR_SCALE 1-10, questionId "overall-rating")
4. Validates enabled/questions consistency — returns 406 if feedback is enabled but no custom questions exist
5. Assigns UUIDs to registrationQuestions and partnerRegistrationQuestions entries missing a questionId via addIdsToRegistrationQuestions()
6. Checks for duplicate events — fetches db.getOne(id, EVENTS_TABLE, { year }) and throws if exists
7. Writes to biztechEvents with ConditionExpression: "attribute_not_exists(id)" as a secondary safeguard
8. Returns 201

GET /events/ List All

Handler: getAll Auth: Public

Scans the event-overview GSI on biztechEvents. Supports optional ?id= query parameter to filter by event slug. Results are sorted by startDate (string sort, ascending).

GET /events/{id}/{year} Get Single

Handler: get Auth: Public

Three modes controlled by query parameters:

Default

Returns the bare event record from biztechEvents.

?count=true

Calls eventHelpers.getEventCounts(id, year) which delegates to registrationHelpers.getEventCounts(). This queries the event-query GSI on biztechRegistrations and counts by status (excluding partners):

{
  ...event,
  "registeredCount": 45,
  "checkedInCount": 38,
  "waitlistCount": 5
}

Also returns dynamic workshop capacity counts if the event has questions with participantCap.

?users=true

Performs a full table scan on biztechRegistrations with a FilterExpression matching eventID;year, then batch-gets user records from biztechUsers (up to 100 per batch). Merges each user's profile data with their registrationStatus. Returns the enriched list.

{% callout type="warning" title="Performance note" %} This is a table scan, not a GSI query. For events with many total registrations across all events, this can be slow.

PATCH /events/{id}/{year} Update

Handler: update Auth: Cognito

1. Fetches the existing event (404 if not found)
2. If feedback questions are included, validates via normalizeFeedbackQuestions()
3. Runs ensureDefaultOverallRatingQuestion() to ensure the default question is present
4. Resolves feedback state — merges new questions with existing, respects enabled/disabled state
5. Assigns UUIDs to new registrationQuestions entries via addIdsToRegistrationQuestions()
6. Builds a dynamic UpdateExpression using db.createUpdateExpression()
7. Writes with ConditionExpression: "attribute_exists(id) and attribute_exists(#vyear)" to verify the event still exists

DELETE /events/{id}/{year} Delete

Handler: del Auth: Cognito

Verifies the event exists (404 if not), then deletes the record. Does not cascade to registrations, feedback submissions, or S3 images.

GET /events/getActiveEvent Active Event

Handler: getActiveEvent Auth: Public

Scans all events via the event-overview GSI with a DynamoDB FilterExpression:

startDate <= :now AND endDate >= :now

Where :now is new Date().toISOString(). Sorts matches by startDate and returns the first (earliest-starting) event. Returns null (not 404) if no event is currently active.

This uses ISO 8601 string comparison — works because ISO strings sort lexicographically in chronological order.

POST /events/event-image-upload-url Image Upload

Handler: createThumbnailPicUploadUrl Auth: Cognito CORS: Restricted to localhost:3000, app.ubcbiztech.com, dev.app.ubcbiztech.com

Required body fields: fileType, fileName, prefix, eventId.

1. Validates fileType starts with "image/"
2. Sanitizes file extension: fileName.split(".").pop().toLowerCase().replace(/[^a-z0-9]/g, "")
3. Builds S3 key: event-thumbnails/{eventId}/{folder}/{timestamp}.{extension} — folder is "original" or "optimized" based on prefix
4. Creates a PutObjectCommand with ContentType and CacheControl: "public, max-age=31536000, immutable"
5. Generates presigned URL with 60-second expiry
6. Returns { uploadUrl, key, publicUrl }

S3 Bucket: biztech-event-images

Feedback Endpoints

GET /events/{id}/{year}/feedback/{formType} Get Form Config

Handler: getFeedbackForm Auth: Public

Returns a subset of the event record:

• id, year, ename, description, partnerDescription, imageUrl, endDate, isCompleted
• formType (from path param)
• enabled flag (attendeeFeedbackEnabled or partnerFeedbackEnabled)
• feedbackQuestions array (attendeeFeedbackQuestions or partnerFeedbackQuestions)

formType must be "attendee" or "partner" — returns 400 otherwise.

POST /events/{id}/{year}/feedback/{formType} Submit Feedback

Handler: submitFeedback Auth: Public

1. Validates the feedback form is enabled (returns 403 if disabled)
2. Validates the event has questions for this form type
3. Runs validateFeedbackPayload() from feedbackHelpers.js:
   • Checks respondentName (≤120 chars if provided)
   • Checks respondentEmail (valid email if provided)
   • Validates each response matches a valid questionId
   • Validates response values by question type:
     • SHORT_TEXT: ≤280 characters
     • LONG_TEXT: ≤4000 characters
     • MULTIPLE_CHOICE: value must be in question's choices
     • CHECKBOXES: each value must be in choices
     • LINEAR_SCALE: numeric, within scaleMin–scaleMax
   • Validates required questions have non-empty responses
4. Generates a UUID for the submission
5. Writes to biztechEventFeedback with eventFormKey = "{id};{year};{formType}" and eventIDYear = "{id};{year}"
6. Returns 201

GET /events/{id}/{year}/feedback/{formType}/submissions List Submissions

Handler: getFeedbackSubmissions Auth: Cognito

Queries the event-form-query GSI on biztechEventFeedback with eventFormKey = "{id};{year};{formType}". Results are sorted by submittedAt descending (most recent first).

IAM Permissions

From services/events/serverless.yml:

DynamoDB Tables

The biztechEventFeedback table is defined as a CloudFormation resource in services/events/serverless.yml with BillingMode: PAY_PER_REQUEST.

Helper Modules

services/events/helpers.js

services/events/feedbackHelpers.js

Key Files

Related Pages

• Events System Overview — architecture and system dependencies

• Event Data Model — complete field reference

• Event Creation Flow — frontend-to-backend trace

• Active Event Detection — getActiveEvent implementation

• Event Image Upload — thumbnail pipeline

• Event Feedback — feedback system deep dive

• Admin Event Management — admin dashboard

• Admin Event Management — admin workflows for events

• Event Lifecycle — full lifecycle flow

• Event Feedback — feedback system details

• Registration System — how registrations work