serverAppConfigs/serverAppConfigs-docs/Infrastructure/Homepage Design Grilling.md

Homepage Design Grilling

The decision log for the homepage design. All questions are settled (2026-08-23). This page records the final decisions and the places where the operator's answer changed the initial recommendation.

Final decisions

#	Decision	Value
Q1	How the page learns up/down	Server-side checker writes status.json; the page reads only that file. (Documented future intent: client-side probing.)
Q2	How the checker runs	systemd timer, rewrites status.json every 3 minutes.
Q3	Page model	Single site on Dankclaw. Root = user services (no host labels). /admin/ = admin services, second operator-only password.
Q5	Service split	User: SearXNG, ComfyUI, OpenWebUI, Gitea, Calibre-Web, RomM, Copyparty, Plex, Jellyfin. Admin: Hermes, Grafana, Prometheus, Loki, Caddy, dnsmasq, Gluetun, LLM fleet, low-level backends (status-only). The *arr stack is excluded.
Q6	Tourist /how/ page	Defer — it is extra.
Q7	status.json	One file; each service carries a category field; each page filters.
Q8	services.json	One file with a category field.
Q9	Checker language	python3.
Q10	Probe method	Per service — tcp or http, set per entry.
Q11	Probe timeout	5 s per service.
Q12	LLM loading	Three states; a listening port is Up (health 503 = Up).
Q13	Checker location	scripts/homepage-status.py + .service + .timer, tracked in git.
Q14	Reach backends	probe = full host:port (127.0.0.1:PORT or 192.168.0.235:PORT).
Q15	WIP	static "wip": true; the checker skips the probe.
Q16	Staleness	generated_at in status.json; the page warns when it is older than 10 min.
Q17	Writes	atomic (write a temp file, then rename).
Q18	Admin password	CADDY_ADMIN_HASH in the host .env (git-ignored), operator-only.
Q19	Per-path basicauth	@admin path /admin/* with a second basicauth block.
Q20	Descriptions	hand-written one-liners in services.json.
Q21	Open link	the Caddy site URL; status-only backends set showLink: false.
Q22	Docs link	a per-service /docs/ page. Do NOT link the existing reference docs (they may contain secrets).
Q23	Layout	TUI-style cards/panels (a grid of panels), not a flat list.
Q24	Summary line	yes — a placeholder for now; refine later.
Q25	Terminus	bundle the font (woff2) + a monospace fallback.
Q26	Palette	as proposed (green #33ff66, red #ff5555, amber #ffcc33, cyan #33ccff, bg #050805).
Q27	Styling	toggleable: default = full theme; a toggle strips to bare unstyled HTML (motherfuckingwebsite.com style).
Q28	Cursor	do not alter the user's cursor.
Q29	Docs content	how a regular user uses the service; no maintenance details.
Q30	Docs path	/docs/<svc>/ (not /usage/).
Q31	Docs auth	the same auth as the homepage section (user docs = shared password, admin docs = admin password).
Q32	Docs workstream	a separate effort; built as each service goes active.
Q33	Deploy	git-driven; master always reflects the deployed state.
Q34	/srv/homepage/	deploy.sh creates it and copies the assets.
Q35	Timer	enabled at boot.
Q36	Checker tests	full TDD.
Q37	Page/config tests	full TDD.
Q38	Security test	full TDD.
Q39	Backend move	a config edit (probe host:port).
Q40	LAN timeout	5 s.
Q41	Auto-refresh	no — the page reads status.json once on load.
Q42	Mobile	responsive.
Q43	Footer timestamp	last master deployment datetime (not last-check).

Styling (settled): terminal TUI, Terminus (monospace fallback), green-on-black, 1995 phosphor palette. Default = full theme; a toggle strips to bare unstyled HTML. Do not alter the user's cursor.

Where the operator changed the recommendation

These are the deltas from the initial recommendations. Everything else was accepted as recommended.

• Q10 — the probe method is per service (tcp or http), not TCP-only.
• Q11 / Q40 — the probe timeout is 5 s (not 3 s).
• Q22 — the docs link points to a per-service /docs/ page, never the existing reference docs (they may contain secrets).
• Q23 — the layout is TUI-style cards/panels, not a flat list.
• Q27 — styling is toggleable: the full theme by default, with a toggle to bare unstyled HTML.
• Q28 — do not alter the user's cursor (no fake blinking cursor).
• Q29 — the docs are user-facing only; no maintenance details.
• Q30 — the docs path is /docs/ (not /usage/).
• Q31 — the docs use the same auth as the homepage section.
• Q33 — git-driven; master always reflects the deployed state.
• Q36–Q38 — full TDD.
• Q41 — no client-side auto-refresh.
• Q43 — the footer shows the last master deployment datetime (not last-check).

Build status — complete (2026-08-23)

The build is done, slice by slice, full TDD (each slice red → green, committed and pushed). 116 tests pass. The render logic is verified with a Node DOM shim.

flowchart LR
    A[write the checker tests] --> B[write the checker]
    B --> C[write services.json]
    C --> D[write the pages + theme + toggle]
    D --> E[extend deploy.sh + Caddyfile]
    E --> F[tests green]
    F --> G[deploy to Dankclaw]
    G --> H[verify in browser]

Slices: 1 the checker core (tcp/wip/atomic/generated_at), 2 the http probe, 3 the real services.json + schema, 4 the pages + theme + toggle, 5 the Caddyfile auth split, 6 the git-driven deploy (both hashes, deployed.js, the timer).

Remaining to go live: the operator adds CADDY_ADMIN_HASH (the operator-only password, caddy hash-password) to the target .env, then runs ./scripts/deploy.sh dankclaw. Until then the admin hash stays a placeholder.

The per-service docs pages (Q22/Q29/Q30/Q31) are a separate workstream, built as each service goes active.