reaction

This repository is the source code for Mailchimp Open Commerce, an e-commerce platform that was originally called Reaction Commerce. It is now discontinued: the project description in the repo itself states that it has been shut down. The code remains publicly available, but it is no longer actively developed or supported.

When it was active, Open Commerce was a platform for building online stores, designed to be used through an API rather than through a traditional all-in-one storefront. The architecture is called headless, which means the backend that handles products, orders, inventory, and checkout is separate from whatever front-end a developer chooses to build. The backend communicates through GraphQL, a structured query language for APIs, and runs on Node.js with MongoDB as the database. It was built to handle multi-tenant setups, meaning one installation could power multiple independent stores at the same time.

The platform supported standard e-commerce features including product variants, inventory tracking, shipping rate integrations, tax providers, order management, and customizable email templates. It also had a plugin system so developers could swap in or out different payment, shipping, or tax providers without rebuilding the core.

Development and deployment relied on Docker and Docker Compose for running the application locally, and Kubernetes was the intended path for larger production deployments. A command-line tool called reaction-cli was provided to help developers create new projects, generate plugin scaffolding, and start local development servers.

Given the discontinuation notice, this codebase is mainly relevant as a historical reference or as a starting point if someone wanted to fork and self-maintain it. Active users looking for a similar open-source e-commerce API platform would need to look for alternatives, as there is no ongoing development or community support from the original maintainers.