CLAUDE.md

This file provides guidance to Claude Code (claude.ai/code) when working with code in this repository.

Project Overview

Astrolabe is a lightweight, browser-based snippet manager for Vega-Lite visualizations. It's designed as a local-first application with minimal dependencies - vanilla JavaScript, no build tools, and direct CDN imports.

Architecture

Frontend-only: Pure HTML/CSS/JavaScript with no build process
Storage: localStorage (initial), planned migration to IndexedDB for scale
Key Dependencies: Monaco Editor and Vega-Embed loaded via CDN
Structure: Three-panel resizable interface (snippet library, editor, preview)

Development Commands

This project uses no build tools or package managers. Development is done by:

Opening index.html directly in a browser
Using browser dev tools for debugging
No npm, yarn, or build commands needed

Core Data Model

The application centers around two main entities:

Snippets: {id, name, created, modified, spec, draftSpec, comment, tags[], datasetRefs[], published}
Datasets: {id, name, created, modified, data, format, size}

Development Phases

The project follows a structured 14-phase development plan (see docs/dev-plan.md):

Phase 0: Storage architecture design
Phase 1-4: Basic UI layout and editor integration
Phase 5-7: Data persistence and draft/publish workflow
Phase 8-12: Polish and advanced features
Phase 13-14: Future enhancements (search, cloud sync)

Current Status: Phase 0 - Storage Architecture Design

Key Design Principles

Lean: No frameworks, no build step, minimal dependencies
Local-first: All data stored in browser initially
Developer-friendly: Full JSON schema support with Monaco Editor
Safe experimentation: Draft/published workflow prevents data loss

File Structure

Currently minimal:

docs/dev-plan.md - Complete development roadmap
Future: index.html, CSS, and JavaScript files in root

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