Case Study: Brainhub achieves efficient handling of nested document models and powerful AQL queries with ArangoDB

Brainhub Nested Document Models with ArangoDB and AQL

Brainhub, a 35‑person JavaScript software company in Poland, needed to manage highly nested document data and expose an API that accepts JSON schemas for validation and joining across collections. To satisfy requirements for an open‑source, multi‑model DB with strong NodeJS support and ACID transactions, Brainhub chose ArangoDB and its AQL query language.

Using ArangoDB, Brainhub built AQL-based queries, server-side JavaScript procedures and transactions, and a custom ArangoDB query builder plus an abstract data-access layer. ArangoDB made query writing and debugging far easier than MongoDB’s aggregation framework and provided transactional safety; the abstract models also allowed Brainhub to swap in Redis for high‑write hotspots without major refactoring. The result was improved developer productivity, reduced DB coupling, and the ability to address performance bottlenecks while keeping ArangoDB as the primary multi-model store.

Brainhub

Piotr Sroczkowski

Full Stack JavaScript Developer