Building Nexus
20 Jun 2026
Nexus is a self-hosted live support wallboard — it puts a help desk's real-time state on a wall TV, a desk monitor, a phone, the desktop, and inside Zendesk itself. This is a short build log of how it's put together.
One codebase, five surfaces
The whole thing ships from a single React codebase to web, desktop (Electron), iOS, Android and a Zendesk app. Each surface keeps its own per-device layout, so a 4K wall TV and a single-column phone are the same board reflowed — not separate builds to maintain.
The stack
- React + Vite for the UI, Electron for the desktop app.
- Node services behind it, Docker / GHCR images for self-hosting.
- Stripe billing, with self-renewing, offline-verified licences.
- Live data from Zendesk (Support + Talk), plus Freshdesk, Freshservice, Jira Service Management, HaloPSA and more behind one adapter layer.
Production-minded by default
Every pull request runs 200+ automated tests. Secrets live in an OS-native encrypted vault, client-scoped access links are isolated server-side, and outbound fetches are SSRF-guarded. A first-run wizard and a zero-setup demo mode mean it's useful within about 30 seconds of opening it.
Want to see it? There's a live demo at nexus.joekane.org/demo.