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Third-party integrations

LifeWell depends on several third-party services for infrastructure. This page is the reference index — what each service does, why it was chosen, and how the data flow works.

The platform's free-tier discipline means each integration is on a free or very low-cost tier with realistic headroom for growth.

Core infrastructure​

Firebase​

  • Auth — email + Google sign-in.
  • Firestore — primary database (all the lifewell_* collections).
  • Hosting — web app at lifewell.aoneahsan.com.
  • Cloud Functions — minimal use; most features run client-side. Some scheduled functions for daily-summary generation.
  • Plan: Spark (free) tier for most workloads; Blaze (pay-as-you-go) only if needed.

Google Drive​

  • Purpose: User-owned media storage (photos, audio, video).
  • Scope: drive.file (only files the app creates).
  • OAuth flow: via the Cloudflare Worker proxy (no client_secret exposure).
  • Cost: Free per user — uses each user's own Drive quota.

Cloudflare Workers​

  • Purpose: OAuth token exchange + token refresh for Google Drive.
  • Worker: lifewell-gdrive-token-proxy.
  • Plan: Free tier (100k requests/day).
  • Why not Firebase Functions: avoids the Blaze plan; CF Workers free tier covers token-exchange volume.

FilesHub​

  • Purpose: Optional file storage / proxy for direct-uploaded media.
  • URL: https://fileshub.zaions.com/ai-integration.
  • Auth: X-API-Key header.
  • Visibility: All uploads public (private requires API key for retrieval).

Authentication​

ProviderUse
Firebase Auth (Google)Primary sign-in on web + mobile
Firebase Auth (Email)Alternative sign-in path
Chrome Identity APIBrowser extension auth (Firebase Auth SDK not permitted there)
Apple Sign-InRequired by App Store for iOS apps offering social sign-in (implementation pending)

Notifications​

OneSignal​

  • Purpose: Cross-platform push notifications.
  • Backed by: FCM (Android) + APNs (iOS) + browser-push (web).
  • Plan: Free tier covers our user volume.
  • Why not direct FCM/APNs: simpler cross-platform abstraction, single-API delivery.

Crash + analytics​

Sentry​

  • Purpose: Crash and error reporting.
  • PII scrubbing: enabled — only stack traces are uploaded, no user identifiers or content.
  • Plan: Free tier (5k errors/month).

Amplitude​

  • Purpose: Product analytics (which features are used, conversion funnels).
  • Privacy: Opt-out toggle in user Settings.
  • Plan: Starter (free) tier.
  • Banned: Firebase Analytics is NOT used — Sentry + Amplitude cover the need with cleaner privacy controls.

Microsoft Clarity​

  • Purpose: Heatmaps + session replays (web only).
  • Privacy: Opt-out via Settings; PII masking on all input fields.
  • Plan: Free.

Communication​

Email​

  • Provider: TBD (Resend / SendGrid / Postmark all considered).
  • Use: Password reset, account notifications, refund confirmations.
  • Volume: low — < 10k emails/month projected.

In-app push​

Via OneSignal (above).

Mobile-specific​

Capacitor​

  • Purpose: Hybrid-app framework (web → native shell).
  • Plugins: 20+ official + community plugins (see Mobile overview).
  • Cost: Open-source (free).

Capgo / native-update​

  • Purpose: (Future) OTA JS updates for Capacitor apps without store review.
  • Status: Not yet integrated.

Banned services​

LifeWell explicitly does NOT use:

  • Google Analytics 4 — privacy concerns + Firebase Analytics already covered the need (which is itself replaced by Sentry+Amplitude).
  • Firebase Analytics — replaced by Sentry+Amplitude.
  • @capacitor-firebase/crashlytics — Gradle wiring issues caused runtime errors.
  • @capacitor-firebase/performance — same family.
  • Stripe / PayPal direct — uses aoneahsan.com/payment external flow to avoid platform fees.
  • CDN-loaded JavaScript — Manifest V3 forbids; LifeWell complies.

Data flow summary​

User device (web / mobile / extension)
  → Firebase Auth (login)
  → Firestore (read/write structured data)
  → Cloudflare Worker (OAuth proxy)
    → Google (token exchange)
  → Google Drive (media upload/download, user's account)
  → OneSignal (push delivery)
  → Sentry / Amplitude / Clarity (telemetry — privacy-scrubbed)

Nothing in this stack profiles users for ad networks. No personal-data brokers.

Data-residency notes​

  • Firebase: data location chosen per project (currently us-central1).
  • Google Drive: user's Drive region (varies per Google account).
  • OneSignal: US data centres.
  • Sentry: US / EU options.

Users in regulated jurisdictions (GDPR, HIPAA-adjacent care) should consult LifeWell's privacy policy for compliance details.

Last updated: 2026-05-11 Author: Ahsan Mahmood