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Signal/docs/superpowers/specs/2026-06-22-shield-architecture.md

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STTIL Shield — Product Architecture

Design date: 2026-06-22 Design by: Pi Status: Draft — review by Kisa before sharing with Claude Code

1. Product Definition

What Shield is: A standalone compliance automation platform for small healthcare operations and SaaS companies that engage with PHI and AI and need compliance — without paying enterprise prices.

What Shield is NOT:

  • Not DMEPOS-specific (that's Signal's lane)
  • Not a replacement for Vanta/Drata (different tier — Shield targets smaller orgs)
  • Not a consulting service (self-serve compliance tooling)

Target customer:

  • Small healthcare ops — clinics, therapy practices, home health agencies, DME suppliers of any type who handle PHI and need HIPAA compliance
  • Healthcare-adjacent SaaS — startups building AI tools for healthcare, digital health apps, telemedicine platforms, patient communication tools
  • AI companies handling PHI — any company building AI/ML products that touch protected health information and need to prove compliance to customers
  • Shield + Signal bundle — DMEPOS suppliers who need both documentation readiness (Signal) and overall compliance (Shield)

Core value proposition: "Get HIPAA compliant in days, not months. Pre-built policies, automated evidence collection, audit-ready reporting, and a free open-source AI Consent Engine — starting at less than any competitor."

2. Competitive Positioning

Competitor Price Frameworks Target Shield Advantage
Vanta $10K-$100K+/yr SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO, PCI Enterprise Overkill for small ops
Drata $7.5K-$100K+/yr SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO, PCI Mid-market Overkill for small ops
Secureframe $7.5K-$80K+/yr SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO, PCI Mid-market Overkill for small ops
Dash ComplyOps $3K/yr flat HIPAA, SOC 2, PCI, ISO, NIST Small teams Direct competitor
Shield TBD (target $1.2K-$2.4K/yr) HIPAA-first, SOC 2, expand Small healthcare ops + AI SaaS Cheaper + Consent Engine lead magnet

Differentiation strategy:

  • Price under Dash (target $100-200/mo instead of $250)
  • AI Consent Engine is a unique open-source lead-gen asset no competitor has
  • Purpose-built for small healthcare operations and AI companies — not enterprise compliance repackaged
  • Optional Signal bundle for DMEPOS suppliers who also need documentation readiness

3. Feature Set (MVP)

Core Features (v1)

Feature Description Why
Policy Templates 12+ pre-built admin policies (HIPAA-focused) Instant compliance documentation
Evidence Collection Manual upload + API integrations for cloud infra Prove controls are active
Audit Reports One-click SOC 2 / HIPAA evidence bundles Answer auditor requests fast
Risk Assessment Simple asset register + risk scoring Foundational HIPAA requirement
User Management Unlimited users (team collaboration) Match Dash's offering
Framework Support HIPAA v1, SOC 2 v2, expand to PCI/ISO Start narrow, grow

AI Consent Engine (Open-Source Lead Magnet)

What it does: An open-source tool that lets any healthcare organization generate HIPAA-compliant AI/healthcare consent forms for their patients or end-users. A client (clinic, SaaS, AI company) takes the Consent Engine, brands it with their logo and custom language, and serves it to their own patients so patients can generate consent documents.

How the client uses it:

  1. Fork or clone the open-source GitHub repo
  2. Edit a config file (JSON or YAML) with their logo URL, company name, clinic name, custom consent clauses, and branding colors
  3. Deploy via one-click to Vercel/Netlify, or self-host
  4. Their patients visit their branded consent page, fill in AI tool name and data types, and receive a formatted HIPAA-compliant consent PDF
  5. The footer includes: "Powered by STTIL Shield — Need full compliance? Learn more."

Why open source on GitHub:

  • Builds community trust and brand credibility
  • SEO magnet for "AI consent form healthcare HIPAA GitHub"
  • Low friction — any developer can try it in 5 minutes
  • GitHub stars = social proof for Shield
  • PR contributions from the community improve the tool
  • Client owns their instance, no data flows through STTIL

4. Consent Engine — Delivery Options

Option A: GitHub Template Repo (User's Suggestion) — RECOMMENDED

Create a GitHub template repository that clients can use with one click.

How it works:

  1. Client clicks "Use this template" on the GitHub repo

  2. Their own copy is created with all the code

  3. They edit a single config.yaml or config.json file:

    organization:
  name: "City Family Clinic"
  logo_url: "https://clinic.com/logo.png"
  primary_color: "#2563eb"
  website: "https://clinic.com"
consent:
  jurisdiction: "US-HIPAA"
  custom_clauses:
    - "I consent to my data being used for AI-assisted diagnosis"
    - "I understand I can revoke consent at any time"
  footer_text: "This consent form is managed by City Family Clinic"

  4. Deploy button (Vercel/Netlify) — one click to production

  5. Client gets a live, branded consent form at consent.clinic.com or a Vercel subdomain

  6. The form is ready for their patients to use

Pros:

  • True open source — client owns the code and deployment
  • Developer-friendly — uses familiar GitHub workflow
  • No data flows through STTIL — privacy advantage
  • Community contributions via PRs
  • Huge SEO value for "HIPAA consent form GitHub"

Cons:

  • Requires some technical ability (fork, edit config, deploy)
  • No usage analytics for STTIL (can't track how many consents are generated)
  • Client self-manages hosting costs (usually free on Vercel/Netlify free tier)

Option B: Hosted Multi-Tenant (SaaS)

A hosted version at consent.sttilsolutions.com where clients log in, upload their logo, customize language through a UI, and get a branded page.

How it works:

  1. Client signs up (no payment needed)
  2. Uploads logo, sets colors, writes custom clauses in a WYSIWYG editor
  3. Gets a branded URL: consent.sttilsolutions.com/city-family-clinic
  4. Links their patients to that URL
  5. Or embeds via iframe on their own website

Pros:

  • Zero technical skills required
  • STTIL controls the full experience
  • Can track usage, collect emails, measure conversion to Shield paid
  • Can A/B test CTAs and optimize lead generation

Cons:

  • STTIL hosts the service (potential PHI adjacency concerns)
  • More operational overhead
  • Less open/community feel
  • Client doesn't own their instance

Option C: Hybrid (Recommended as Final State)

Start with Option A (GitHub template) for the developer audience and open-source community. Later add Option B (hosted) for non-technical clients who want a simpler setup.

Phased rollout:

  1. Phase 0a: GitHub template repo — config-driven, deploy button
  2. Phase 0b (later): Hosted version at consent.sttilsolutions.com — for clinics without developers
  3. Both share the same rendering engine (the GitHub repo is the source of truth)

Best of both worlds:

  • Developers and open-source community get the GitHub experience
  • Non-technical clinics get the hosted experience
  • The rendering engine is MIT-licensed on GitHub regardless

5. Technical Architecture

Standalone Codebase (Not Signal Module)

Build Shield as a new, independent codebase. No shared infrastructure with Signal.

Stack:

  • Frontend: Vite/React (same stack as Signal — reuse patterns)
  • Backend: Python/FastAPI (same stack — reuse patterns)
  • Database: Supabase (separate project from Signal's DB)
  • Auth: Clerk (separate instance or same with org separation)
  • Hosting: Railway (separate project) + Vercel (separate deployment)

Why standalone:

  • Clean separation — Signal issues never affect Shield or vice versa
  • Independent pricing and scaling
  • Can sell standalone without bundling concerns
  • Easier to spin out or sell separately later

Consent Engine Architecture (GitHub Template)

shield-consent-engine/
├── README.md              # Quick start, config guide
├── config.yaml            # THE config file — client edits this
├── template/              # HTML/CSS/JS rendering engine
│   ├── index.html         # Main consent form page
│   ├── style.css          # Uses CSS variables from config
│   ├── script.js          # Form logic, PDF generation
│   └── preview.png        # Screenshot for GitHub social
├── CNAME                  # Custom domain support
├── vercel.json            # One-click deploy config
├── netlify.toml           # Netlify deploy config
├── LICENSE                # MIT license
└── .github/
    └── CONTRIBUTING.md    # How to contribute

Key technical decisions:

  • Client-side PDF generation only (jsPDF or pdf-lib) — no backend needed
  • CSS custom properties driven by config — instant branding
  • Zero data storage — forms generate PDF in-browser, nothing is sent to a server
  • Deploy preview on every PR via Vercel/Netlify
  • GitHub Actions for CI (validate config, build preview)

6. Pricing Tiers (Suggested)

Tier Price (monthly) Features Target
Free $0 AI Consent Engine (GitHub template, self-hosted) Lead gen, community
Starter $99/mo 12 policies, evidence upload, audit reports Solo practitioners, tiny teams
Growth $199/mo Starter + API integrations, risk assessments, unlimited users Growing healthcare ops, SaaS
Enterprise Custom Growth + dedicated support, custom frameworks, Signal bundle DMEPOS suppliers, larger orgs

Rationale:

  • Undercut Dash ($250/mo) at both Starter ($99) and Growth ($199)
  • Free tier = Consent Engine (zero cost to STTIL, drives organic traffic and SEO)
  • Signal bundle upsell to $299/mo for suppliers who need both Signal + Shield

7. Go-to-Market

Consent Engine as Growth Engine

  1. Developer or clinic ops person discovers "HIPAA consent form" via search
  2. Finds the open-source GitHub repo — stars, forks, tries it
  3. Impressed by quality → sees Shield CTA in the footer
  4. Signs up for Shield Starter ($99/mo)
  5. Upgrades to Growth when they need audit prep and evidence collection

Channels

  • GitHub: Stars, trending, HN posts about the open-source Consent Engine
  • SEO: "HIPAA consent form generator," "AI consent template GitHub," "HIPAA compliance for startups"
  • Content: Blog posts: "How we built an open-source HIPAA consent engine," "Shield vs Dash ComplyOps"
  • Signal cross-sell: When a DMEPOS supplier signs up for Signal, offer Shield bundle
  • Direct outreach: Small clinics, digital health startups, AI healthcare companies

8. Build Phases

Phase Scope Est.
Phase 0a: Consent Engine GitHub Template repo, config-driven, deploy button, MIT license 1 session
Phase 0b: Consent Engine Hosted Multi-tenant hosted version for non-technical users 1 session (later)
Phase 1: Shield MVP Policy templates, evidence upload, audit reports, user auth 3-4 sessions
Phase 2: Risk + Integrations Risk assessment module, API integrations (AWS, GCP, Railway) 2-3 sessions
Phase 3: Signal Bundle Shared dashboard for suppliers using both products 1 session

9. Open Questions (For Kisa)

  1. Pricing: Does $99/$199 feel right for small healthcare ops? Too low/high vs Dash at $250?
  2. Frameworks: Start with HIPAA-only and add SOC 2 later? Or launch with both?
  3. Consent Engine name: "AI Consent Engine" vs "STTIL Consent Builder" vs "Open Consent"?
  4. Consent Engine approach: Go with Option A (GitHub template only), Option C (hybrid with hosted later), or something else?
  5. Signal bundle: A shared login/dashboard, or just a discount code for Shield customers?
  6. Build order: Consent Engine first (fast win) or Shield MVP first?
  7. PHI concerns with hosted: If we offer Option B (hosted), does the consent form itself generate PHI? (Patient name + health info in a form = potentially PHI)

This is a design draft. Please review and adjust before sharing with Claude Code for build.