docs(standard): screenshot-free UI documentation standard + UI-label gate

The planned Playwright screenshot docs (SCREENSHOT_AUTOMATION.md) are
replaced by a text standard: screenshots rot silently and cannot be
gate-checked, while this UI's labels are server-rendered templ literals
that can. Layers: pattern-first prose (concepts survive redesigns) >
capability inventory > label->outcome flows > quoted labels > generated
references where a registry exists (filters/fields.md precedent). The
filter docs stay hands-off exemplars; user-doc tone is plain language by
contract, dev/admin tone explicitly deferred.

writing-ui-docs.md is the standard (page template, findability notes,
tone-by-audience, process rule: a UI change is not done until the docs
audit runs). ui-controls.md is the canonical control-label glossary the
docs quote from; TestUIControlLabels greps every entry against
templates/*.templ (source: ts override; also:-fragments for
Alpine-composed labels like the Match/Group header) so renames fail
make test in the same commit as the rename. Gate proven both ways: a
planted bogus label failed; restored set passes.
This commit is contained in:
John O'Keefe committed 2026-11-02 08:18:19 -05:00
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<!-- Gate-checked by TestUIControlLabels (internal/docs/ui_labels_test.go):
every `controls` entry must exist as a literal in templates/*.templ
(or web/src for source: ts). Renames fail make test. Entry text is the
canonical spelling cited across the docs. -->
# UI controls glossary
The canonical spellings for controls cited across the UI documentation. Docs
quote the label exactly as this page lists it — one entry per control; two
spellings of one control is a defect. The `controls` block is machine-read:
when a doc first names a control, add its entry in the same commit; when a
rename lands, update the entry in the same commit and the gate goes green
again.
Entry fields:
- `label` — the exact rendered text users see
- `where` — semantic path (page → section/card), never spatial; see the
[writing standard](writing-ui-docs.md)
- `does` — what interacting with it produces (the outcome)
- `source` — optional; default `templ` (`templates/*.templ`); `ts` searches `web/src`
- `also` — optional, pipe-separated extra literal fragments to search when
the visible label is Alpine-composed rather than static (OR-checked with `label`)
- `note` — optional clarifier
Form-field labels inside a single modal (Name, Description…) are cited
inline in docs and not tracked here; this list carries the controls people
navigate by.
## Collections
```controls
label: New Collection
where: Collections page
does: Opens the create-collection modal.
note: the empty page offers the same action as "Create Your First Collection"
label: Create Your First Collection
where: Collections page, when no collections exist
does: Opens the create-collection modal.
label: Create Collection
where: create-collection modal → submit
does: Saves the new collection and returns to the Collections page.
label: Update Collection
where: edit-collection modal → submit
does: Saves your changes to the collection.
label: Static
where: create-collection modal → Type
does: Chooses a hand-picked collection — you add and remove items yourself.
label: ⚡ Smart
where: create-collection modal → Type; also shown as a badge on smart collections page and detail
does: Chooses a rules-matched collection — its membership stays current by itself.
label: Rules scope
where: create-collection modal, when Smart is chosen
does: Asks what the rules ask about — the two buttons below it.
also: 📚 Books|🎧 Podcast episodes
note: "Books" and "Podcast episodes" as the two scope buttons
label: Restore System
where: Collections page
does: Opens a pick-a-shelf modal to bring back a system collection you deleted.
label: Restore
where: Restore System Collection modal → submit
does: Brings the selected system collection back.
label: Edit Rules
where: collection detail page
does: Opens the smart-collection rules editor for this collection.
label: Filter tree
where: smart-collection rules editor
does: The area where the group and rules are built.
note: read/write rules — the how is the filter guide
label: Apply to Collection
where: smart-collection rules editor → save
does: Saves the filter tree and makes the collection match those rules from now on.
label: Add Items
where: collection detail page
does: Opens the item picker window.
label: Add Selected
where: item picker → footer
does: Adds everything checked in the picker to the collection.
label: Remove Selected
where: collection detail page
does: Opens a confirm dialog to remove the checked items from the collection.
label: Search within collection...
where: collection detail page → search box
does: Filters the displayed items — nothing is removed.
label: Play as Sequence
where: collection detail page (when it has a downloaded episode)
does: Plays the collection's episodes one after another in the listening order you pick.
label: Hide finished books (reading-queue mode)
where: edit-collection modal
does: Finished books disappear from the collection's shelf.
label: Show Up Next strip
where: edit-collection modal
does: Adds this collection's Up Next strip to the podcast page.
```
## Everywhere else
```controls
label: Filters
where: All Books / Podcasts page → toolbar
does: Opens the filter drawer for building and applying rules.
label: Register Device
where: Devices page
does: Submits a device registration request for the pending-approval flow.
label: Download All
where: Podcast page → episodes area
does: Queues every episode of the feed for download.
label: Download order
where: Podcast page → feed settings
does: Sets the ordering used when feed episodes are downloaded.
label: Match ALL / Group ANY header
where: filter drawer → group header (also smart collections → Rules and dashboard sections)
does: Sets how the group combines its rules; clicking the header flips ALL/ANY.
also: ? 'Match' : 'Group'|? 'ANY' : 'ALL'
note: label is Alpine-composed — 'Match' for the whole builder, 'Group' for nested; docs write it as MATCH ALL / MATCH ANY
label: Reset to Scanned
where: book detail → edit modal → scan information area
does: Restores scanner-extracted metadata over manual edits.
label: Auto-Scan
where: Settings page → Scanning section
does: Enables automatic periodic library scanning on the interval below it.
label: Scan Interval (seconds)
where: Settings page → Scanning section
does: Sets the seconds between automatic scans.
label: Resume rewind
where: audio player → player settings; profile settings
does: Rewinds playback a configured few seconds when you resume.
also: Resume Rewind
note: profile page spells it capitalized
label: Reading Direction
where: book detail → edit modal
does: Chooses the direction pages advance (publisher convention — e.g. manga).
label: Scan Info
where: book detail page → info block
does: Displays scanner-supplied notes attached to the item.
also: Scan Information
note: the editable form label in the modal reads "Scan Information"
```
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# Writing UI documentation without screenshots
Bookhoard's UI documentation uses no screenshots. This page is the standard
for writing them. The flagship example of the style is the
[filter system documentation](../user/filters/index.md): one system taught
once, the places it appears listed as a *pattern*, samples for every field in
a [generated reference](../user/filters/fields.md) that cannot drift from the
UI.
## Why no screenshots
Screenshots fail in every way the rest of this repo's rot is already gated
against:
- **They rot silently.** No gate can diff pixels against the running UI. A
renamed button makes the screenshot wrong and nothing fails.
- **They cannot be verified.** Shown text can: this app's UI is
server-rendered from `templates/*.templ`, so every stable label and heading
is a literal in the source — checkable, like routes and API examples are.
- **They die with a redesign.** Text keyed to *function* survives a
re-layout. Text keyed to a layout dies with its redesign.
- **They exclude** (screen readers, text search) and bloat diffs.
The one thing screenshots do better — "which button is it?" — text does via
**exact quoted labels** plus a semantic path, and the label gate then holds
that text against the source.
## The layering — what is load-bearing
Write every UI page in this order. The top layers are why users don't get
lost when the UI changes:
| # | Layer | Content | Lifespan |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **The pattern** | What the thing *is*, what is invariant, every place the same pattern appears | Redesign-proof |
| 2 | **Function inventory** | What the user *can do*, phrased without control names | Redesign-proof |
| 3 | **How-to with examples** | Numbered flows: current label → the outcome it produces | Survives most changes |
| 4 | **Current labels** | Exactly quoted, bold | Gate-checked today |
| 5 | **Generated references** | Enumerables regenerated from source with a currency test | Cannot drift |
Labels are **tips, not the map**. Layer 3 may quote a label; layer 1 must
make the page followable even if that label is renamed next week.
## The page template
1. **The pattern first.** The concept, its invariants, and everywhere it
appears — "one system, three places". Never page cartography.
2. **Function inventory.** Capabilities without control names: "you can pin
any narrowing to a named filter you can reopen later".
3. **How-to with examples.** Each step: the label of what you interact with,
then the outcome ("the count at the bottom shows how many books will
match"). An example beats an adjective.
4. **Findability note.** One line telling the reader how to re-locate the
feature *by function again* after any UI change — deliberately
label-independent ("it's the drawer opened from any books or podcasts
list — the only place whose header can read Match ALL").
5. **Current labels.** Quoted exactly as rendered, one canonical spelling
per control ([arbitrated by the glossary](ui-controls.md)).
## Writing rules
- **Semantic placement, never spatial.** No "top-right" or "at the bottom of
the screen" talk. "Devices page → the **Register Device** button" survives
any re-layout.
- **One canonical label per control.** Two spellings of the same control is
a defect, not a synonym.
- **Status updates get a what-it-means table**, not a color description.
- **Screenshots are never load-bearing.** Default is none.
## Tone by audience
- **User Guide (`docs/user/`) — plain language, deliberately.** Short
sentences. Everyday words. No developer jargon; any term the reader
genuinely needs (say, *rule*) is explained once, in place, then used
consistently. The reader is assumed to know books, while the app's own
words are the only technical vocabulary allowed.
- **Developer and Administration sections — tone is a separate discussion,
not yet decided.** Write them plainly and hand-off-rich as well; do not
import opinions about their voice until that pass happens.
## Generate what has a registry
Anything enumerable gets generated from source with a currency test, not
hand-typed. The precedent: every filter field is
[generated](../user/filters/fields.md) by `TestFieldReferenceDocIsCurrent`
from the same registry the menus render — the doc cannot disagree with the
UI. Hand-typed lists drift fastest; when no registry exists yet, say so in
the page and lean on the pattern layers.
## The gates
- `TestUIControlLabels` (`internal/docs/ui_labels_test.go`): every control in
the [glossary](ui-controls.md) must exist as a literal in
`templates/*.templ` (or `web/src` for TS-rendered surfaces, marked
`source: ts`). Renames fail `make test` in the same commit as the rename.
- `TestDocsRelativeLinks`: every relative link in the docs tree resolves to
a real file.
Naming a new control in prose? Add its glossary entry in the same commit.
Form labels inside one modal (Name, Description…) are cited inline and not
glossary-tracked; the glossary carries the controls people navigate by —
buttons, tabs, badges, page titles.
## The process rule
**A UI change is not finished until the docs audit runs.** Moved card,
renamed button, restructured page — all of it triggers: labels still
resolve, links still resolve, affected pages re-read against the new
surface. The pattern layers keep users oriented between audits; the audit
keeps layers 3–5 honest.
## What this does not replace
The filter documentation (and the older filtering overview) is hands-off
exemplar territory — read it as the model, never restyle it here. New UI
surfaces (scanning, devices, settings, podcasts, the reader, collections)
are written this way from the start.
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package docs
import (
"os"
"path/filepath"
"strings"
"testing"
)
// TestUIControlLabels holds the UI documentation to the source of the UI.
// The glossary (docs/developer/ui-controls.md) is the canonical spelling of
// every control the docs cite; this test greps that spelling against the
// server-rendered templates, so a renamed button fails make test in the
// same commit as the rename — the class of rot screenshots could never be
// gated. Dynamic (Alpine-composed) labels are OR-checked with their `also`
// fragments instead of requiring the composed string to exist.
//
// Scope is substring-level (not word-boundary): the point is catching
// renames and deletions, not stopping coincidental substrings. New controls
// cited in prose get a glossary entry in the same commit (writing-ui-docs.md
// is the standard; the filter docs are the hands-off exemplar).
const (
labelGlossaryRel = "../../docs/developer/ui-controls.md"
labelTemplRootRel = "../../templates"
labelTSRootRel = "../../web/src"
)
type docGlossaryEntry struct {
label string
where string
does string
source string
reason string
also []string
skip bool
}
// docCorpus concatenates every file under root ending in suffix.
func docCorpus(t *testing.T, root string, suffix string) string {
t.Helper()
abs, err := filepath.Abs(root)
if err != nil {
t.Fatalf("abs %s: %v", root, err)
}
var b strings.Builder
err = filepath.WalkDir(abs, func(path string, d os.DirEntry, err error) error {
if err != nil {
return err
}
if d.IsDir() || !strings.HasSuffix(path, suffix) {
return nil
}
raw, err := os.ReadFile(path)
if err != nil {
return err
}
b.Write(raw)
b.WriteString("\n")
return nil
})
if err != nil {
t.Fatalf("walk %s: %v", root, err)
}
return b.String()
}
func corpusName(source string) string {
if source == "ts" {
return "web/src"
}
return "templ"
}
func parseUIControlsBlock(t *testing.T, raw string) []docGlossaryEntry {
t.Helper()
var block strings.Builder
inBlock, foundAny := false, false
for _, line := range strings.Split(raw, "\n") {
trimmed := strings.TrimSpace(line)
switch {
case strings.HasPrefix(trimmed, "```controls"):
inBlock, foundAny = true, true
continue
case trimmed == "```" && inBlock:
inBlock = false
continue
}
if inBlock {
block.WriteString(line)
block.WriteString("\n")
}
}
if !foundAny {
t.Fatalf("no ```controls block found in %s", labelGlossaryRel)
}
var entries []docGlossaryEntry
haveCur := false
cur := docGlossaryEntry{}
flush := func() {
if haveCur {
entries = append(entries, cur)
haveCur = false
}
}
for _, line := range strings.Split(block.String(), "\n") {
line = strings.TrimSpace(line)
if line == "" || strings.HasPrefix(line, "#") {
continue
}
key, val, ok := strings.Cut(line, ":")
if !ok {
t.Fatalf("malformed controls line %q (want `key: value`)", line)
}
key, val = strings.TrimSpace(key), strings.TrimSpace(val)
switch key {
case "label":
flush()
haveCur = true
cur = docGlossaryEntry{label: val}
case "where":
cur.where = val
case "does":
cur.does = val
case "source":
cur.source = val
case "also":
for _, frag := range strings.Split(val, "|") {
if frag = strings.TrimSpace(frag); frag != "" {
cur.also = append(cur.also, frag)
}
}
case "skip":
cur.skip = val == "true"
case "reason":
cur.reason = val
case "note":
// free text for humans
default:
t.Fatalf("unknown field in controls block: %q (allowed: label|where|does|source|also|skip|reason|note)", key)
}
}
flush()
return entries
}
func TestUIControlLabels(t *testing.T) {
raw, err := os.ReadFile(labelGlossaryRel)
if err != nil {
t.Fatalf("read glossary: %v", err)
}
entries := parseUIControlsBlock(t, string(raw))
if len(entries) == 0 {
t.Fatalf("glossary has no entries — add at least one before citing controls")
}
tmplRequired, tsRequired := false, false
for _, e := range entries {
if e.source == "ts" {
tsRequired = true
} else {
tmplRequired = true
}
}
corpora := map[string]string{}
if tmplRequired {
corpora[corpusName("")] = docCorpus(t, labelTemplRootRel, ".templ")
}
if tsRequired {
corpora[corpusName("ts")] = docCorpus(t, labelTSRootRel, ".ts")
}
seen := map[string]int{}
for _, e := range entries {
if e.label == "" {
t.Errorf("entry with empty label (where: %q, does: %q)", e.where, e.does)
continue
}
seen[e.label]++
if e.where == "" || e.does == "" {
t.Errorf("control %q: `where` and `does` are required", e.label)
}
if e.skip && e.reason == "" {
t.Errorf("control %q: skip=true requires a reason", e.label)
}
switch e.source {
case "", "templ", "ts":
default:
t.Errorf("control %q: unknown source %q (templ|ts)", e.label, e.source)
}
if e.skip {
continue
}
fragments := append([]string{e.label}, e.also...)
found := false
for _, frag := range fragments {
if strings.Contains(corpora[corpusName(e.source)], frag) {
found = true
break
}
}
if !found {
t.Errorf("control %q (%s): none of the fragments [%s] found in %s sources — the label was renamed or the glossary is stale. Update ui-controls.md in the same commit as the rename.",
e.label, e.where, strings.Join(fragments, " | "), corpusName(e.source))
}
}
for label, n := range seen {
if n > 1 {
t.Errorf("control %q listed %d times — one entry per control", label, n)
}
}
}