We are building Ora — a connected device ecosystem for professional electrical installers and homeowners. The architecture is deliberately two-phased, and the Lead Engineer must hold both phases clearly from day one. Phase 1 launches with a strict privacy-first, local-first philosophy: the Hub is the brain, the cloud is a relay. Cloud connectivity is disabled by default. The backend does not store device state, does not process command logic, and does not inspect device payloads. It routes encrypted packets, manages installer workflows, and stays out of the way. Phase 2 expands into full cloud connectivity — remote device access, live streaming, and cloud-to-device control at scale. This is a fundamentally different architecture from Phase 1, and the single most important design constraint on the Lead Engineer is this: Phase 1 must be built in a way that does not make Phase 2 a rebuild. The foundations laid now — data models, identity architecture, relay infrastructure, security ...