Overview:
ClearFlask is an open-source feedback management tool designed to help teams collect, organize, and prioritize user feedback. It serves as an alternative to Canny and UserVoice. The README targets developers and system administrators who need to self-host the application, offering both cloud-hosted and self-hosted deployment options. It is suited for projects that require a dedicated portal for collecting feature requests and bug reports from users, with configurable search and filtering capabilities.
Core Features:
Dual search engine support: Choose between ElasticSearch (for large projects and fuzzy search) or MySQL (for lightweight, exact-match search).
Self-hosted deployment: Deploy via Docker, Kubernetes with Helm charts, or AWS infrastructure, with persistent storage via PersistentVolumeClaims.
Modular dependency configuration: Swap out core dependencies including DynamoDB/LocalStack, S3/MinIO, email (SMTP or SES), and search (ElasticSearch or MySQL).
Automated TLS certificate management: Optionally fetch and renew certificates automatically via Let's Encrypt, or use static certificates or a reverse proxy.
Super admin account management: Whitelist specific emails for initial admin creation and disable signups after setup.
Migration between search engines: Use JMX tools to migrate data between ElasticSearch and MySQL without data loss.
Use Cases:
Developers needing a self-hosted feedback portal: Set up ClearFlask on a subdomain (e.g., feedback.example.com) to collect and manage user feature requests.
Teams running Kubernetes clusters: Deploy using provided Helm charts with auto-scaling, rolling updates, and health checks for production workloads.
System administrators managing multi-cloud infrastructure: Configure ClearFlask with AWS DynamoDB, S3, SES, and ElasticSearch, or swap in MinIO and local MySQL for cheaper hosting.
Projects requiring migration between search backends: Administrators can switch from MySQL to ElasticSearch (or vice versa) using JMX reindexing and incremental read-write changes.
Why It Matters:
This project provides a self-hosted alternative to SaaS feedback tools such as Canny and UserVoice, with explicit support for multiple deployment paths (Docker, Kubernetes, AWS). Its modular architecture allows operators to choose and swap out databases, email services, and search engines. The README documents a structured migration process between ElasticSearch and MySQL, and supports automated TLS management via Let's Encrypt. These details make it practical for teams that need full control over infrastructure and data storage.
