Archaeology, prompted by the user asking when it broke: the builder's
save NEVER worked. The page was born (2026-02-19, a92bf99a) posting
auto_assign_rules as a JSON-encoded STRING into an endpoint that has
bound []Rule since its creation (2026-01-31, 6495cc2c), plus fields
(manual_book_ids, match_type, library_id, show_on_dashboard) the
endpoint never accepted. The preview button hit a real endpoint, so
the page looked alive while Save always failed at request binding.
Verified live before this change: the page's exact payload 400'd
"invalid request" against the unmodified server.
The fix adapts the builder's payload at write time — the legacy rules
vocabulary converts to a filter tree (RulesToFilterTree restored from
the retirement commit as the single write path, unit test restored
with it):
- match_type seeds the converted tree's root mode (any default).
- manual_book_ids attach to the created collection after create
(unparsable ids skipped — the AddBooks leniency).
- show_on_dashboard persists (new create field).
- Converted trees validate under ParseFilterTree: an unhonorable rule
is a 400 at write naming the problem, never a stored 500 at render.
Dashboard sections: smart user sections now evaluate their tree LIVE —
GetUserCollectionItems merges stored membership with the composed
engine's matches (deduped, library-scoped, capped at the section
limit). This exposed a REAL production wiring bug: every production
NewDashboardService call omitted the search service, so tree
evaluation through the dashboard could never have worked (the test
harness wired it correctly — the gap was production-only and latent,
because nothing in the dashboard evaluated trees before this
migration). The dashboard handler and both inline sites now receive
the search service, and evaluation failures log instead of silently
emptying a section.
Supersedes the same-day loud-400 stance for the builder's payload
(contract_pins migration entry); custom-section-builder.md documents
the save contract; the create_collection API doc gains the adapted
fields. New TestCustomSectionBuilderSave/BadRule pin the payload →
tree → dashboard-render path end to end. Full container suite green
(155s).
The pre-tree rules machinery is deleted: no row ever carried a rules
array or a non-default match mode (verified in the dev DB), the web
never read the envelope keys, and the Android app consumes none of it.
Dead code gets no documentation.
Removed:
- PUT /api/collections/:id/match-mode — endpoint, route, and the
UpdateCollectionMatchMode query. The tree's root mode owns any|all.
- auto_assign_rules / rule_match_mode from every envelope
(create/list/detail/update), from the create/update request shapes,
and from the schema: both columns DROPPED (schema.sql carries
idempotent DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS heals for existing DBs; sqlc
regenerated).
- The rules CRUD service layer (AddRule/SetRuleEnabled/RemoveRule +
validateRule + UpdateCollectionRulesJSON), ParseRules /
EnabledRules / IsSmartCollection, RulesToFilterTree (+ the SSR
preload branch), the legacy branch of EvaluateSmartMembership, and
SmartEvalOptions.MatchMode. IsCollectionSmart = tree presence;
create-path isSmart = collection_type=smart OR a filter_tree.
Kept (live consumers): POST /api/collections/preview still evaluates
rules payloads in memory (the custom-section builder's preview), and
include_auto stays on the list (the Android app sends it).
The custom-section builder's SAVE was already broken — its
stringified auto_assign_rules payload failed request binding (probed
live: 400 invalid request). Create now rejects that payload loudly
with a 400 naming the retirement, instead of silently creating a
hollow static section; custom-section-builder.md carries the flag.
The builder's tree migration remains the flagged follow-up.
Test-side (asymmetry rule — deleted behavior, deleted tests):
TestPodcastSmartCollections rewritten onto trees (mode lives in the
tree root), match-mode subtests and tree_wins_over_legacy_rules
deleted, TestRulesToFilterTree deleted, contract-pin envelope keys
retracted per the contract_pins 2026-10-31 retirement entry. Mirrors
hand-synced: openapi.yaml, bruno create/update, docs/api/*.md,
docs/schema.go, api.d.ts. Full container suite green (155s).
Three mirrors had drifted:
- The rules-endpoint retirement (4f71eda6) deleted the routes but not
their mirrors: removed docs/developer/api/collections/
{add_auto_assign_rule,remove_auto_assign_rule,test_rule,update_rule}
.md + their bruno twins, and pruned /api/collections/test-rules,
/{id}/rules, /{id}/rules/{ruleId} from the generated openapi spec
(hand-edited — regenerating with -update would wipe hand-authored
bruno suites that predate the docs mirrors).
- New endpoint PUT /api/collections/:id/view-settings gets a doc page
+ schema-registry entry + bruno mirror (repo convention: the route
and its docs land together).
- 54 pre-existing TestDocsMatchRoutes failures: the media-item
endpoints emit the 16 episode/download fields (source_feed_id,
feed_position, download_state, enclosure_url, hosts/guests, …) and
libraries emit purpose/allow_member_feeds, but the doc examples
were never extended — the package only runs on the host, so the
container suite never caught it. Examples now carry every key the
handlers emit; internal/docs is fully green.
Three problems, one root cause each:
1. Sidebar jump: the server rendered its own default (current section
open, rest collapsed) and restoreDocsNav corrected it after paint —
open-then-close. Fix: persistence moved server-side. toggleCollapsible
now writes a docs_nav cookie (strictly-necessary UI state, no
identifiers, SameSite=Lax); ApplyNavOverrides merges it into the nav
before render, so first paint IS the visitor's state. The post-paint
restore is deleted.
2. Arrows out of sync / double-click: two visibility mechanisms
disagreed. There was NO data-collapsed CSS at all — collapsed sections
were only ever hidden by JS after paint, and the arrow rotation came
from a different (server) state. Now: style.css hides on
[data-collapsed=true] (single source of truth, server-rendered),
applyCollapsed sets only the attribute, arrows rotate from the same
merged value. Live check: 37/37 collapsibles arrow-consistent.
3. api-reference.md links: all 20+ quick links were directory-style
(authentication/ etc.) that 404 on the docs site, plus stale targets
(books/, ../collections-api.md, websocket 'coming soon'). Rewritten to
real per-file links — all 9 unique targets return 200 live. Same rot
fixed in admin/hash-conflicts.md, development.md, android-app.md,
create_media_item.md, koreader-protocol.md; docs/index.md redirected
from the deleted collections-api monolith (stale 530-line duplicate of
the gated api/collections docs — deleted, per the WO2 doctrine).
New gate: TestDocsRelativeLinks walks docs/developer/** and fails make
test on any relative link that is directory-style or unresolvable —
overview links can never silently rot again.
All remaining endpoint docs frontmatter'd: media-item bulk ops + audio
surface, collections book-listing/preview, koreader rating/review/stats
plugin protocol, hash-conflicts JSON list.
Scope call (Claude): resolve_hash_conflict.md DELETED — the resolve POST
renders an htmx fragment (renderResolved), a web-admin flow under rule 3;
only the GET list is a JSON API. update_media_review skipped by Beam
(correct): ratings/upsert_media_review.md already covers the PUT.
Registry: 16 entries. koreader rating/review/stats all bind
koreaderBookRef (query or body) — odd=half-star rating scale; audio track
endpoint serves raw bytes (ServeContent, Range) — response nil. Fixed
drift: deleted_annotations doc's secondary restore/purge fences
unlabeled (gate validates labeled blocks against the ONE frontmatter
route); chapters example labeled. UNVERIFIED: 1 (koreader book-ref
fields, push_stats). make test 9/9.
WO3 sync internals resolved: the book-matching docs ARE the sync surface
(books/query, link-book, bulk/auto-link, unlinked-books, suggestions,
file-alias CRUD) + collections rule/test/bulk-assign/shelf-mapping
surface.
Dedupe resolved (Claude call): search_books.md declared
GET /api/books/match but its BODY documents POST /api/sync/books/query —
both routes exist and are distinct (query-param device protocol vs JSON
body plugin protocol). Repointed search_books.md frontmatter to the POST
route; get_book_matches.md keeps the GET.
Claude registry: 15 entries (one pre-existing link-book entry deduped).
Drift fixed by gate: auto-link request {confidence_threshold, limit} not
{device_id, threshold}; bulk-link link objects {unlinked_book_id,
media_item_id, confidence_score} not {device_id, book_id, ...};
responses {results,total,successful,failed}/{auto_linked,results}; added
missing example-responses (bare delete, remove-rule is_smart-after
semantics, bulk-assign per-book results). make test 9/9.
Scanner surface frontmatter'd (scan/start/stop/cancel/status/active/
active-summary + watch start/stop/status) with provenance comments;
active-summary on a non-admin group.
Claude registry: 10 entries. Fixed handler drift Beam missed: scan_library
request has no "recursive"; scanner/start binds folder_paths (not
invented interval_seconds); scanner/stop binds no body; response is
{message, job_id, status} with 409 coalescing variant
{error, active_job_id}.
Gate fix in drift_test seed: registerScannerRoutes group seeds used bare
"jwt"/"admin" tokens invisible to authLabel; and silently passed before
only because the seeded set was unchecked. Seeds now 'jwtMiddleware'/
'AdminMiddleware' markers. Also: cleanup of a stale-merge-script residue
in collections/update_rule.md example (extra null keys). make test 9/9.
Kobo emulation + KOReader calibre-compatible surface backfilled with
device-token auth; collections reorder + update_rule created.
Claude registry: 12 entries. kobo/koreader emulation endpoints all bind
arbitrary protocol POST bodies (markup/bookmark/gettests/sync-from-server,
koreader progress/bookmarks) — registered as AnyJSONObject, not bodyless as
first drafted. Initialization returns the library sync payload, not the init
response.
Contract correction in update_rule.md: the route is SetRuleEnabled ({enabled}
required -> {collection_id, is_smart}); Beam's draft invented rule-field
updates. Reordered response/status: {item_ids} -> {status: reordered}.
make test 9/9.
Beam backfilled 11 library docs (CRUD, folders, visibility, browse, stats,
media-items) and re-attached frontmatter to create_collection.md — which had
silently lost its pilot version in cc893f75: the negative-test
'git checkout --' restored the OLD file because the pilot was never staged,
and a frontmatter-less doc is invisible to the gate. Claude restored the full
corrected pilot content (priority higher-wins, time.String() note, 409).
Claude registry: 11 entries + one inverted catch — DELETE /:id/folders DOES
bind {folder_path} (handler reuses AddLibraryFolderRequest); registry first
draft said bodyless. GET /:id/visibility returns joined
GetUserVisibleLibrariesRow (type_name etc.), not bare Libraries.
Gate-driven merges fixed create/get library response shapes (sqlc row keys:
created_by_admin_id, library_type_id, updated_at; dropped invented type/
folders/is_visible). Fixed invented request fields (user_id in
set-visibility; library_type_id in update). make test 9/9.
Every API doc that declares frontmatter (method/path/auth/area) is now
checked by a unit test against three sources of truth:
1. Route registration: internal/router/*.go is parsed the way echo resolves
it (group prefixes concatenate; scanner.go's parameterized groups seeded).
Doc paths that no longer exist fail. (This is the check that would have
caught the /api/api/admin/hash-conflicts split.)
2. Auth: frontmatter auth label must match the middleware chain
(none|jwt|jwt+admin|device-token|optional-jwt).
3. Shapes: internal/docs/schema.go registry — example-request decoded with
unknown fields DISALLOWED (typo guard), required-by-validate fields must
appear (staleness guard), example-response top-level key set compared
both directions against the marshaled handler type (or a RawMessage pin
for hand-built map responses).
Five collections docs are the pilots with real handler shapes; notable
corrections they pin: update returns 201 (not 200), list excludes smart
collections unless include_auto=true, rule priority is 1-10 higher-wins
(docs claimed 1=highest), created_at is Go time.String() not RFC3339,
hide_finished/show_up_next toggles documented. CollectionResponse hoisted
out of GetCollections/GetBookCollections as CollectionSummary /
BookCollectionSummary so the registry can pin real types.
The gate fails on missing registry entries by design — that is the
maintenance contract. Known pre-existing (not this commit): vet copy-lock
warnings in media.go.
- Renamed subdirectory INDEX.md files to section-specific names:
- user/INDEX.md → user/user-guide.md
- developer/INDEX.md → developer/development.md
- operations/INDEX.md → operations/operations.md
- contributing/INDEX.md → contributing/contributing.md
- developer/api/INDEX.md → developer/api/api-reference.md
- developer/api/collections/INDEX.md → developer/api/collections/collections-api.md
- Updated all internal links to use new filenames
- Updated navigation.go to skip subdirectory INDEX files from sidebar
- Added Dockerfile to include docs directory in container build
This fixes the issue where multiple 'INDEX' links appeared in the sidebar,
making navigation confusing. Now each section has a descriptive name.
BREAKING CHANGE: Documentation URLs have changed
New structure:
- user/ - End-user documentation (device setup, sync guides, frontend)
- developer/ - Developer documentation (API reference, protocols, specs)
- operations/ - Operations documentation (deployment, troubleshooting)
- contributing/ - Contribution guides
Changes:
- Created portal INDEX.md files for each audience section
- Moved device guides to user/devices/ (kobo-setup.md, koreader-setup.md)
- Moved API docs to developer/ (api-reference.md, collections-api.md)
- Moved sync guide to user/sync-guide.md
- Moved troubleshooting to operations/troubleshooting.md
- Moved all split API docs to developer/api/
- Renamed protocol files (kobo-protocol.md, koreader-protocol.md)
- Added placeholder user guides (frontend, user-areas, settings, admin)
- Updated all internal links to new paths
- Updated Go code (http_handler.go, navigation.go) for new paths
- Updated main INDEX.md for audience-based navigation
Benefits:
- Clear separation of user and developer documentation
- Scalable structure for future user guide expansion
- Better organization and discoverability
- Audience-specific landing pages
Related to DOCS_IMPLEMENTATION_PLAN.md Phase 2 completion
John O'Keefe
john-okeefe