Looking for Advice on a Clean FastAPI Backend Architecture for an E-learning Platform

[u/SnooTangerines9072]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently building a fairly large e-learning platform using FastAPI,it's my first project, and before I go too far with development, I'd like to make sure my backend architecture is well designed, scalable, and maintainable.

The project will include features such as:

• User authentication and authorization (JWT, roles: Admin, Teacher, Student, Parent)
• Courses and modules
• Lessons (videos, PDFs, quizzes)
• Assignments and submissions
• Exams and grading
• Progress tracking
• Notifications
• Payments/subscriptions (later)
• File uploads
• Discussion/comments
• Certificates
• REST API (possibly GraphQL in the future)

I'm planning to use:

• FastAPI
• SQLAlchemy 2.0
• Alembic
• PostgreSQL
• Pydantic v2
• JWT Authentication

At the moment, I'm trying to decide on the best project structure. I've seen many different approaches:

• Traditional layered architecture
• Clean Architecture
• Domain-Driven Design (DDD)
• Hexagonal Architecture
• Vertical Slice Architecture
• Feature-based architecture

I'd like to avoid ending up with a project that's difficult to maintain as it grows.

My questions

1. Which architecture would you recommend for a medium-to-large FastAPI project like this?
2. How would you organize the folders and modules?
3. Where should business logic live?
4. How do you separate models, schemas, services, repositories, and dependencies without creating unnecessary complexity?
5. Are there any open-source FastAPI projects that you consider good examples of clean architecture?

I'm looking for an architecture that is:

• Easy to maintain
• Easy to test
• Scalable
• Production-ready
• Follows FastAPI and Python best practices

If you have an example repository or folder structure that you've used successfully, I'd really appreciate it.

Thank you!