mohio

Desktop Shell and Workspace

This document covers the current shell and workspace flow in desktop/.

Scope

• Electron application shell
• window and menu setup
• preload API surface
• workspace opening
• workspace tree rendering
• document selection

Current State

• The app is a single Electron window.
• The shell layout has:
  • top bar
  • left workspace sidebar
  • center editor panel with a single active document surface
  • right sidebar with assistant and versions tabs
• Both side panels can be collapsed and reopened from icon controls in the top bar.
• The renderer is implemented in React and TypeScript.
• The right sidebar hosts the live Codex assistant panel.

Menu and Native Entry Points

• File > Open Folder... opens the native folder picker.
• Shortcut: CmdOrCtrl+O
• The top-bar workspace button triggers the same workspace-opening flow.

Preload and Shared API

The renderer depends on window.mohio and does not access Node APIs directly.

Current API surface:

• getAppInfo()
• getCurrentWorkspace()
• openWorkspace()
• searchWorkspace(query)
• readDocument(relativePath)
• createDocument({ directoryRelativePath })
• deleteDocument(relativePath)
• saveDocument(input)
• getPublishSummary()
• syncWorkspaceChanges()
• getAutoSyncStatus()
• syncIncomingChanges(reason)
• getSyncState()
• resolveSyncConflict(input)
• watchDocument(relativePath | null)
• listAssistantThreads()
• createAssistantThread()
• getAssistantThread(threadId)
• sendAssistantMessage(input)
• cancelAssistantRun(threadId)
• renameAssistantThread(input)
• deleteAssistantThread(threadId)
• onWorkspaceChanged(listener)
• onDocumentChanged(listener)
• onAssistantEvent(listener)

Workspace Enumeration

• A workspace is a local folder selected by the user.
• Indexed document extensions:
  • .md
  • .markdown
  • .mdx
• Ignored directories:
  • .git
  • node_modules
  • dist
  • build
  • coverage
• Workspace nodes are sorted with directories first, then names alphabetically.

Workspace Tree Behavior

• The left sidebar renders tabbed views:
  • Documents for full tree
  • Search for live document search
• Tree document open behavior:
  • single-click opens the document in the main editor surface
  • right-click includes Delete Document
• The New Document action creates a markdown document in the selected document folder.
• If no document is selected, New Document creates the document at workspace root.
• Directories are expanded by default after a workspace loads.
• Clicking a directory row toggles expansion.
• Clicking a document row selects that document.
• Right-clicking a document row opens a context menu with Delete Document.
• The first document in the tree becomes the default selection after workspace load.
• Document rows display parsed titles when available.

Workspace States

No Workspace Open

• Left and right sidebars keep tab structure visible without workspace-empty placeholder copy.
• Center panel shows a single CTA to choose a folder.
• Search tab remains visible; its input is disabled until a folder is open.

Workspace With No Markdown Documents

• Left sidebar shows No Markdown documents found.
• Center panel shows the workspace name and the same empty-content message.

Workspace With Documents

• The selected document loads into the single editor surface.
• Newly created documents are selected and opened immediately.
• The active row is highlighted in the workspace tree.
• The top bar keeps quick New Document, manual Sync status action, and panel visibility controls.
• The right sidebar supports assistant and versions flows.

Search and Discovery

• Left-sidebar Search tab includes a dedicated full-width input.
• Search is live and queries:
  • file/path matches
  • content matches with snippets
• Active query text is highlighted in the open editor with yellow in-document marks.
• Search input uses the native clear control provided by type=\"search\" (when available).
• Internal Markdown and wiki links can be opened directly from the editor with Cmd/Ctrl+Click.

Security Boundary

• The renderer is isolated from direct filesystem access.
• Workspace document access is validated in the main process.
• Paths outside the active workspace root are blocked.

Current Limitations

• No dedicated rename-document action beyond title-driven file rename
• Panel collapse state is session-local (not persisted across restart)
• History diff is rendered as raw patch text rather than a rich split diff

Code Anchors

• Main process workspace loading: desktop/src/main/workspace.ts
• Menu wiring: desktop/src/main/menu.ts
• Main process IPC and workspace state: desktop/src/main/index.ts
• Shared API contract: desktop/src/shared/mohio-api.ts
• Renderer workspace shell: desktop/src/renderer/App.tsx

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