werkbaum/README.md

<p>
  <img src="docs/brand/logo.svg" width="72" alt="Werkbaum logo">
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# Werkbaum

**English** · [Deutsch](README.de.md)

**▶ Try it live: <https://werkbaum.javagil.de>** (stable) · <https://mhoennig.github.io/werkbaum/> (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

![Werkbaum editor: live diagram on top, text notation below, with status colours, T-shirt sizes, tags and export buttons](docs/screenshot.png)

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"`). 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/<name>/`.)

## 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/<sha>`). 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`).