# Werkbaum **English** · [Deutsch](README.de.md) **▶ Try it live: ** (stable) · (latest build 🚧) A textual, Markdown-like notation for work breakdown structures with and/or decomposition — plus a live editor that renders it as a diagram. ``` [~] Werkbaum (XL) https://wiki.example.de/relaunch - [~] Document store | [x] Text file with copy+paste in the frontend (S) - [x] Parser - [x] Text input field in the frontend | [ ] Backend - [~] Display/rendering (XL) - [/] H (S) @anna - [ ] CMS integration (M) | [ ] WordPress | [?] Headless CMS ``` `-` = mandatory sub-package (all of, side by side in the diagram) · `|` = alternative (any of, stacked) · `[…]` = status · `(M)` = T-shirt effort · `@name` = responsibility · `%%` = comment. ## Usage  Open the [hosted editor](https://werkbaum.javagil.de) — edit text on the left, the diagram is built live on the right. Toggles: transposed (narrow) layout, show discarded elements. ### Jumping between diagram and text Diagram and editor are linked in both directions: - **Alt+click a node** (keyboard: **Alt+Enter**, touch: **long press**) selects its line in the text editor — collapsed editor panel opens first. - **Moving the cursor in the text** highlights the matching node in the diagram. A plain click keeps its old meaning: a node carrying a URL still opens it. ### Loading a diagram from a URL The editor can pull its notation text from an external text file via the `sourceUrl` query parameter — handy for sharing a plan or keeping the source in Git or a wiki: ``` https://mhoennig.github.io/werkbaum/?sourceUrl=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mhoennig/werkbaum/main/docs/examples/example-plan-0.werkbaum ``` Ready-made examples in [`docs/examples/`](docs/examples/) — **open them one after another**, each becomes its own document, so afterwards you can switch between all of them in the editor title bar: | Example | Shows | |---|---| | **▶ [0 · Online shop relaunch](https://mhoennig.github.io/werkbaum/?sourceUrl=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mhoennig/werkbaum/main/docs/examples/example-plan-0.werkbaum)** | a software project with all eight states | | **▶ [1 · New kitchen](https://mhoennig.github.io/werkbaum/?sourceUrl=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mhoennig/werkbaum/main/docs/examples/example-plan-1.werkbaum)** | a non-software plan, lots of alternatives — good for the cheapest-path toggle | | **▶ [2 · Community conference](https://mhoennig.github.io/werkbaum/?sourceUrl=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mhoennig/werkbaum/main/docs/examples/example-plan-2.werkbaum)** | a wide plan with many people; compare horizontal vs. compact | | **▶ [3 · Three workstreams](https://mhoennig.github.io/werkbaum/?sourceUrl=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mhoennig/werkbaum/main/docs/examples/example-plan-3.werkbaum)** | several roots = several trees side by side | | **▶ [Werkbaum itself](https://mhoennig.github.io/werkbaum/?sourceUrl=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mhoennig/werkbaum/main/docs/examples/example-werkbaum.werkbaum)** | what exists today and where it could go | (The links point at the latest build 🚧; the stable instance supports `sourceUrl` from its next production deploy on.) The loaded text becomes its own document whose **name is the URL**, so your own documents stay untouched; the same link updates that one document instead of piling up copies. The URL is the source of truth — it is re-fetched on every load, so local edits to it do not survive a reload. Notation files use the extension **`.werkbaum`** (UTF-8; see `docs/SPEC.md` §12 and D24) — a convention, not a contract: `sourceUrl` reads any text file over http(s) regardless of extension or content type. **Caveat — CORS:** the browser only fetches a foreign host if it sends `Access-Control-Allow-Origin`. `raw.githubusercontent.com` and GitLab raw links do; an arbitrary web server often does not. If loading fails the previous content stays and a warning explains why. Only `http`/`https` are allowed. ### Working on one plan together (Etherpad) For real-time collaboration Werkbaum needs no backend of its own — it borrows an **Etherpad**. Pass the pad address as it appears in your browser (no export path, Werkbaum appends that itself): ``` https://werkbaum.javagil.de/?etherpad=https://pad.hostsharing.net/p/my-plan ``` Everyone edits the notation text **in the pad**; a reload button next to the pad button fetches the current state. Merging simultaneous edits is Etherpad's job — that is the whole point. Deliberately **no background polling**: Etherpad rate-limits the export (10 fetches per 90 s per IP by default), so a timer does not win against it — it *causes* the throttling. Measured: after exceeding the budget the server holds the connection open with no reply for about two minutes, then answers in 0.4 s. The button pairs well with "what's new": press it, and whatever went into production since your last look lights up. Because the pad is the writing surface, the text area here is **read-only**; a button in the editor title bar opens the pad in a new tab. Without that protection, anything you typed would vanish on the next fetch. Verified against Etherpad: the plain-text export sends `Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *`, and the notation comes back **byte-identical** — leading spaces, `-`/`+`/`|`, status boxes and `%%` survive Etherpad's storage model, and `-` is not turned into a bullet list. The pad can also be **embedded** in the editor panel: a selector in the title bar cycles through *pad and text* (split by a draggable divider), *pad only* and *text only*. The narrow text mirror keeps its purpose — the jump between diagram and text works on it, and in *pad only* a jump brings it back by itself. The frame is only loaded while it is visible, because a loaded pad connects and shows you in the pad's list of people. **A shared pointer:** write `!!!` on a line and that node is highlighted and scrolled into view — for **everyone** looking at the pad, which is something a cursor cannot do. Recognised only as a standalone token, so `Careful!!!` stays an ordinary label. It stays in the text until someone deletes it. **Be aware:** your plan text then lives on third-party infrastructure, and a pad is readable by anyone who knows its address. In an embedded frame Etherpad's author cookie (`SameSite=Lax`) is not sent, so you count as a new author on every load — fixable only on the server (`cookie.sameSite: "None"`). For the same reason the **embedded frame is best for reading along**: if editing in it ever stops working, cycle the view selector once (that reloads the frame), or use the "edit in the pad" button and work in the pad's own tab, where the cookie does apply. See `docs/DECISIONS.md` D31 and D32. ### Running it locally The editor source now lives as ES modules under `frontend/src/`, bundled by [Vite](https://vitejs.dev/) (see `docs/DECISIONS.md` D19). Because browsers block ES-module imports over `file://`, opening `frontend/index.html` directly no longer works — use one of: ```bash cd frontend npm install # once npm run dev # dev server at http://localhost:8137 npm test # Vitest unit tests npm run build # -> frontend/dist/index.html (single self-contained file) ``` The built `dist/index.html` inlines all JS, CSS and the favicon, so **that** file does open standalone via `file://` and is what gets deployed. ### Build hint & your own production install Non-production builds carry a small hint next to the title (symbol + tooltip) so it's clear this is **not** the stable instance: - **Dev server** (`npm run dev`) → 🔧 "Preview – local development build" - **Default build** (`npm run build`, incl. the GitHub Pages deploy) → 🚧 "Latest build – may still be buggy" For **your own production install** the hint is switched off: ```bash cd frontend npm ci # or: npm install npm run build:prod # -> frontend/dist/index.html WITHOUT the hint ``` `build:prod` runs Vite in mode `prod`; `frontend/.env.prod` sets `VITE_BUILD_BADGE=none`, so the badge code is tree-shaken away entirely (it isn't even present in the output source). Drop the resulting `dist/index.html` onto your web space/server (standalone, `file://`-capable). Details: `app.js` (`mountBuildBadge`), `docs/DECISIONS.md` D16. Two things otherwise handled only by the Pages workflow, to fix up yourself when self-hosting: the footer **MIT-License** link is relative to `../LICENSE` (place that file one level above `index.html`, or adjust the link), and the **version number** stays the source placeholder `1.0` (the workflow otherwise replaces it from `VERSION` + commit count). **Easier: `scripts/deploy-prod.sh`.** The script runs exactly that prod build **and** both fix-ups (drop `LICENSE` alongside + straighten the link, footer version + commit link just like the Pages workflow) and mirrors the result to a server via rsync/SSH: ```bash scripts/deploy-prod.sh mih00@mih00.hostsharing.net:~/doms/werkbaum.javagil.de/htdocs-ssl ``` The target is either this argument or — with no argument — the `DEPLOY_TARGET` variable from the **git-ignored** file `.env` (template: `.env.example`, copy it once and fill in the path). An argument takes precedence. Without `-y` it first shows a `--dry-run` preview and asks for confirmation. `rsync --delete` ensures **nothing old** is left at the target — so the target directory is treated as exclusive to Werkbaum (an in-flight Let's Encrypt challenge under `.well-known/` is spared via `--filter=protect`, and web-friendly 755/644 permissions are enforced). (Hostsharing: a **directly-served** domain is served from `…/htdocs-ssl/`; as a **subdomain** under another domain the web directory would be `…/subs-ssl//`.) ## Project documents - `frontend/` — editor · `backend/` — Kotlin/Spring (scaffold to follow, see backend/README.md) - `docs/SPEC.md` — normative language definition - `docs/DECISIONS.md` — design decisions with rationale - `docs/ROADMAP.md` — Mermaid plugin, Taiga integration, Tenzu - `docs/TASKS.md` — open tasks (checkboxes) - `docs/brand/BRAND.md` — logo, wordmark, usage rules - `docs/design/` — design derivation of the brand - `CLAUDE.md` — project context for Claude Code > **Note:** The detailed project documentation under `docs/` is maintained in > German, the project's source language (see `CLAUDE.md`). This README is > available in [English](README.md) and [German](README.de.md). ## Deployment The editor is published as a static page on **GitHub Pages** via GitHub Actions (workflow: `.github/workflows/pages.yml`). Triggered on every push to `main` and manually (`workflow_dispatch`). The workflow sets up Node, runs `npm ci`, `npm test` (Vitest) and `npm run build` (Vite), then publishes the bundled `frontend/dist/index.html` as `index.html` at the root URL, plus `LICENSE` for the MIT link in the footer. The favicon is already inlined into the build, so nothing else needs copying; only the runtime `../LICENSE` link is straightened on the copy. A failing test blocks the deploy. `backend/` and the remaining `docs/` are not published. While assembling the site, the workflow also stamps the version into the footer: **major.minor** comes from the `VERSION` file (bumped by an explicit "bump commit"), and the **micro** part is the number of commits since that last bump — so it grows with every commit and resets to `0` right after a bump (`Werkbaum 1.0.0`, `1.0.1`, … then bump `VERSION` to `1.1` → `1.1.0`). Nothing is written back to the repo. In the footer the name **Werkbaum** links to the repository, while the **version number** links to that exact commit (`…/commit/`). Opened locally, the editor shows the source placeholder (`Werkbaum 1.0`). **One-time setup:** In the repo settings under **Pages**, select **Source** = "GitHub Actions". The repo must be **public** for this (GitHub Pages via Actions is only available for private repos on a paid plan). ### Stable instance `scripts/deploy-prod.sh` mirrors a badge-free production build to a server over SSH (target in `.env`, template `.env.example`). Unlike Pages this is a **deliberate** step, so it is also the moment a feature actually goes live. The script therefore starts by running `scripts/promote-shipped.sh`, which turns `[x]` (done) into `[^]` (in production) in `docs/examples/example-werkbaum.werkbaum` — the shipped plan describing Werkbaum itself — and records that as its own commit. The convention is: mark a finished feature `[x]` when it is merged and let the deploy promote it. That keeps the plan honest on both instances and keeps the "what's new" highlighting meaningful. Skip it with `--no-promote`; see [docs/DECISIONS.md](docs/DECISIONS.md) D30. The commit is **not** pushed automatically — run `git push` afterwards, or the footer version link points at a commit GitHub does not know yet. ## License MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE). © 2026 Michael Hönnig. The bundled IBM Plex fonts are under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 (see [LICENSE](LICENSE) and `frontend/src/fonts/OFL.txt`).