mohio

feature-20260328-git-backed-collaboration-workflow

Date: 2026-03-30

Context

Mohio needed a collaboration workflow that keeps Git as the source of truth while presenting non-technical, recovery-friendly behavior in the UI. The branch also needed clearer publish visibility, automatic sync timing, conflict resolution guidance, and a simplified assistant + history panel layout.

Change

• Replaced custom checkpoint storage with commit-only safety points:
  • risky moments commit with message checkpoint
  • regular save moments commit with message auto-save
• Removed custom checkpoint refs/metadata workflows from renderer/main API surfaces and kept commit history as the only history mechanism.
• Implemented commit history UI in the right History tab showing all commits for the selected document path:
  • commit message
  • localized date/time
  • Git short stats
• Kept Unpublished flow in the left sidebar and added remote-vs-local diff view when an unpublished file is selected.
• Updated publish UX to explicit action surfaces:
  • quick publish icon near workspace name
  • full-width publish action at the bottom of the Unpublished tab
• Updated new document UX similarly:
  • quick new document icon near workspace name
  • full-width new document action at the bottom of the Documents tab
• Added automatic sync and commit triggers:
  • workspace open
  • document open
  • 1-minute interval while workspace is open
  • before assistant message send
  • before commit operations
• Kept merge-safe incoming update handling and guided overlap resolution in History.
• Fixed publish runtime issues and commit path handling:
  • resolved publishedAt publish handler crash
  • corrected Git path staging/commit behavior for paths with spaces
• Refined right/left panel tab layout and footer composition:
  • full-width aligned tab headers
  • assistant composer with icon-only send control inside a growing textarea
  • restored quick-action prompt pills above the composer
• Updated docs across docs/features/, docs/manual/, docs/design.md, and docs/architecture.md to match final behavior.

Decision

Use regular Git commits as the sole recovery/history checkpoint unit instead of maintaining parallel checkpoint refs/metadata. This keeps collaboration state understandable, reduces hidden storage complexity, and aligns user-visible history with actual repository history.

Affected Areas

• Main collaboration logic: desktop/src/main/git-collaboration.ts
• Main IPC wiring: desktop/src/main/index.ts
• Shared API/types: desktop/src/shared/mohio-api.ts, desktop/src/shared/mohio-types.ts
• Renderer shell/history/assistant UI: desktop/src/renderer/App.tsx, desktop/src/renderer/styles.css
• Documentation: docs/features/review-history-publish-and-sync.md, docs/features/ai-assistance-panel.md, docs/features/document-editing-and-persistence.md, docs/manual/desktop-basics.md, docs/design.md, docs/architecture.md

Decision Follow-Up

• Keep publish explicit (no silent auto-publish).
• Keep commit messages fixed (checkpoint / auto-save) for predictable history scanning.
• Keep conflict resolution in product language and avoid exposing Git internals to end users.

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