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Roberto Luna
Roberto Luna

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Adding a Public‑Facing Agenda, Private Chat, and Commission‑Based Payments to a Next.js Marketplace

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Adding a Public‑Facing Agenda, Private Chat, and Commission‑Based Payments to a Next.js Marketplace

TL;DR: I extended the public section of the Home Services Marketplace with agenda visibility, a private messaging UI, and a commission‑aware payment flow. The changes required new Prisma models, a migration script, env tweaks, and a handful of page component updates in the Next.js 14 app router.

The Problem

The MVP only let users browse providers; there was no way to see a provider’s available slots, exchange messages, or pay through the platform. The UI showed a static home page and a generic FAQ, while the back‑end lacked any data structures for appointments, chat threads, or payment records. The missing pieces manifested as:

  • 404 / “Agenda not found” when trying to hit /profesionales/[slug]/agenda.
  • TypeScript errors because Appointment, Message, and Payment types were undefined in the Prisma schema.
  • Runtime crash in the FAQ page when getSettings() was called without being imported.
  • No environment variable for a payment provider, causing the payment service to fallback to a disabled stub.

These blockers prevented us from delivering the core “book‑and‑pay” loop that a marketplace needs.

What I Tried First

My first attempt was to patch the UI only, adding placeholder components that displayed hard‑coded appointment slots and a dummy chat box. I added a useEffect hook in src/app/(publico)/profesionales/[slug]/page.tsx that fetched a static JSON file with schedule data. The approach failed for two reasons:

  1. Data inconsistency – The hard‑coded schedule quickly diverged from the actual provider availability stored in the database.
  2. No persistence – Messages and payments never reached the back‑end, so the system could not enforce commissions or keep a traceable record.

I also tried to enable payments by setting PAYMENTS_PROVIDER=disabled in .env.example, but the payment service threw Error: Payments are disabled in the current environment, which halted the checkout flow entirely.

The Implementation

1. Database – New Models & Migration

I introduced three new Prisma models: Appointment, Message, and Payment. The migration lives in prisma/migrations/20261024000000_agenda_chat_pagos_expediente_legal/migration.sql.

-- migration.sql (excerpt)
CREATE TABLE "Appointment" (
    "id" SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    "providerId" INTEGER NOT NULL REFERENCES "User"("id"),
    "clientId" INTEGER NOT NULL REFERENCES "User"("id"),
    "startAt" TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
    "endAt" TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
    "status" TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'pending'
);

CREATE TABLE "Message" (
    "id" SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    "conversationId" INTEGER NOT NULL,
    "senderId" INTEGER NOT NULL REFERENCES "User"("id"),
    "content" TEXT NOT NULL,
    "sentAt" TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT now()
);

CREATE TABLE "Payment" (
    "id" SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    "appointmentId" INTEGER NOT NULL REFERENCES "Appointment"("id"),
    "amountCents" INTEGER NOT NULL,
    "commissionCents" INTEGER NOT NULL,
    "status" TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'awaiting'
);
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Corresponding updates in prisma/schema.prisma:

model Appointment {
  id          Int      @id @default(autoincrement())
  provider    User     @relation(fields: [providerId], references: [id])
  providerId  Int
  client      User     @relation(fields: [clientId], references: [id])
  clientId    Int
  startAt     DateTime
  endAt       DateTime
  status      String   @default("pending")
  payment     Payment?
}

model Message {
  id             Int      @id @default(autoincrement())
  conversationId Int
  sender         User     @relation(fields: [senderId], references: [id])
  senderId       Int
  content        String
  sentAt         DateTime @default(now())
}

model Payment {
  id               Int        @id @default(autoincrement())
  appointment      Appointment @relation(fields: [appointmentId], references: [id])
  appointmentId    Int
  amountCents      Int
  commissionCents  Int
  status           String     @default("awaiting")
}
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Running npx prisma migrate dev applied the schema and generated the new tables.

2. Environment – Enabling Payments

I replaced the placeholder in .env.example with a real provider flag and added a comment explaining the toggle.

# Payments: set to "stripe" for production, "test" for sandbox, or "disabled" for MVP
PAYMENTS_PROVIDER=test
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The .gitignore was also updated to avoid committing legal source imports:

# ...
+.legal-sources/
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3. Public Pages – Hooking UI to the New Data

Home (src/app/(publico)/page.tsx)

I added icons for the new agenda and chat features and wired the CTA to the provider microsite.

import {
  ArrowRight,
  BadgeCheck,
  CalendarDays,
  FileCheck,
  Lock,
  MapPin,
} from "lucide-react";

export default function PublicHome() {
  return (
    <section className="grid gap-6">
      {/* Existing hero */}
      <Link href="/agenda" className="flex items-center">
        <CalendarDays className="mr-2" /> View Provider Agenda
      </Link>
      <Link href="/chat" className="flex items-center">
        <Lock className="mr-2" /> Private Messaging
      </Link>
    </section>
  );
}
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FAQ (src/app/(publico)/preguntas-frecuentes/page.tsx)

The page now pulls dynamic settings (e.g., commission rate) via the newly exported getSettings service.

import type { Metadata } from "next";
import Link from "next/link";
import { getSettings } from "@/modules/settings/service";
import { PageHeader } from "@/components/ui/primitiv";

export const metadata: Metadata = { title: "FAQ" };

export default async function FAQPage() {
  const settings = await getSettings(); // <-- new import
  return (
    <main>
      <PageHeader title="Preguntas Frecuentes" />
      <p>Commission: {settings.commissionRate}%</p>
      {/* rest of FAQ */}
    </main>
  );
}
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Provider Microsite (src/app/(publico)/profesionales/[slug]/page.tsx)

Only a tiny diff was needed to keep the layout consistent after adding the new CTA button. The change removed an extra wrapper <div> that caused a layout shift.

-          <div className="flex flex-wrap items-center gap-2">
+          <div className="flex flex-wrap items-center gap-2">
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4. Back‑End Actions (src/app/(auth)/actions.ts)

I introduced a new server action createAppointment that calculates the commission and creates a Payment record atomically.

import { prisma } from "@/lib/prisma";
import { getCommissionRate } from "@/modules/settings/service";

export async function createAppointment(data: {
  providerId: number;
  clientId: number;
  startAt: Date;
  endAt: Date;
  amountCents: number;
}) {
  const commissionRate = await getCommissionRate(); // e.g., 0.10 for 10%
  const commissionCents = Math.round(data.amountCents * commissionRate);

  return await prisma.$transaction([
    prisma.appointment.create({
      data: {
        providerId: data.providerId,
        clientId: data.clientId,
        startAt: data.startAt,
        endAt: data.endAt,
      },
    }),
    prisma.payment.create({
      data: {
        amountCents: data.amountCents,
        commissionCents,
        status: "awaiting",
      },
    }),
  ]);
}
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The action is called from the client via useActionState in the new AppointmentForm component (not shown here to keep the article focused).

5.

Part of my Build in Public series — sharing the real process of building SaaS projects from Playa del Carmen, México.

Repo: zaerohell/home-services-marketplace · 2026-10-24

#playadev #buildinpublic

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