Keep your workflow, lose the overhead: How Jala Design built 'Jala Forge' on Sevalla
Biggest wins with Sevalla
- Deployed from Bitbucket without changing workflows
- Connected multiple tools through API-driven integrations
- Ran a monorepo (Express + Next.js) cleanly in one deployment
- Reduced deployment uncertainty with clear docs and a familiar UI
- Supported event-driven automation (Slack + Challonge notifications)
Jala Design is a website design and development agency specialising in WordPress. The team works with arts organisations, not-for-profits, and corporate clients to design, build, and maintain accessible, high-performing websites.
What sets Jala Design apart is a strong focus on long-term sustainability. That focus led to the creation of Jala Forge, a custom internal staff portal that centralises operational data and workflows into a single application.
To build Jala Forge, Jala Design needed a hosting platform that could support modern application development without adding operational overhead.
Sevalla provided a stable, developer-friendly foundation that allowed Jala Design to extend beyond WordPress for internal tooling, while staying focused on what the business does best.
The challenge
Jarrad Langdon, the Managing Director, and Christian Luntok, the Website Developer, explained that Jala Design's challenge was supporting something new.
As the team planned Jala Forge, they needed a platform that could support custom applications and API-driven workflows outside a traditional WordPress runtime.
The decision to use Sevalla was not driven by dissatisfaction with an existing provider, but by a change in requirements.
Any new platform had to meet the same standards the team already expected: reliable performance, clear documentation, and predictable behaviour.
Clear and well-structured documentation was critical. The team needed to be able to design and build a custom internal application without relying on trial-and-error or undocumented behaviour.
Strong API support was also non-negotiable, as Jala Forge was designed from the start to connect multiple third-party platforms into a single internal tool.
Jala Design needed a solution that would let them extend beyond WordPress confidently without disrupting how they already work.
The solution
Sevalla gave Jala Design a clear path forward. As a platform built for custom applications, Sevalla aligned naturally with what the team needed for Jala Forge without forcing changes to their existing workflows.
Clear documentation and strong API support made it easy to plan and build the application with confidence.
Just as important, Sevalla fit seamlessly into the team's existing workflow. Native support for Bitbucket meant Jala Design didn’t need to restructure its stack or change deployment processes.
As a dev, Sevalla just works. It plays so well with our existing stack that I didn't have to change my workflow. No more deployment anxiety, just pushing code and focusing entirely on shipping features.
With Sevalla handling the infrastructure layer, the team could focus fully on building Jala Forge, confident that the platform would remain stable, predictable, and easy to manage as the application evolved.
The results
Building Jala Forge on Sevalla gave Jala Design a stable foundation for internal tooling without adding operational overhead.
More time building, less time managing infrastructure
Sevalla reduced the need for ongoing infrastructure oversight. The team no longer had to worry about environment inconsistencies, deployment uncertainty, or managing servers behind the scenes.
The primary return on investment from using Sevalla has been time saved and increased confidence in the systems supporting Jala Design's internal operations.
With hosting concerns out of the way, the team could focus entirely on building functionality inside Jala Forge.
Development time was used more efficiently, with fewer interruptions caused by environment inconsistencies or deployment uncertainty.
One deployment, multiple capabilities
Jala Forge runs as a single application that serves both backend and frontend functionality. Sevalla handled this setup cleanly, without requiring special configuration or workarounds.
Our monorepo architecture — serving a custom Express.js backend and Next.js frontend from a single deployment — proved essential.
This allowed the team to run API endpoints, OAuth flows, cron jobs, and server-rendered pages together, while supporting complex polling logic for integrations.
Sevalla handled this hybrid setup gracefully.
Confident scaling and modern app development
According to the team:
Previously, running a Node.js stack required heavy DevOps overhead; now, we can deploy TypeScript, Next.js, and Express applications without the burden of server management.
Today, Jala Forge is treated like any other internal project. It is deployed, maintained, and extended without friction.
We no longer spend time worrying about uptime; we just treat Jala Forge like any other client project and let Sevalla handle the rest.
A small win that proved the platform
One standout moment came from building a live integration between Challonge and Slack for internal table tennis competitions.
Using Jala Forge, the team created automated notifications that post match results and score updates directly into Slack in real time.
Beyond being fun, the integration validated Sevalla’s ability to support real-time, event-driven workflows without added complexity.
The integration relied on real-time API events and automated workflows, and it validated that Sevalla could reliably support event-driven functionality.
Conclusion
With Sevalla, Jala Design found a platform that supports modern application development without pulling focus away from the work that matters most.
Sevalla has made it possible to build and grow internal tools with confidence, supported by clear documentation and dependable infrastructure.
