astrolabe-nvc/project-docs/alpine-migration-plan.md

Alpine.js Migration Plan

Overview

Incremental migration of Astrolabe from vanilla JavaScript to Alpine.js for reactive UI management. Each phase is independently deployable and leaves the project fully functional.

Guiding Principles

1. Each step is independently deployable - Project always works
2. No big-bang rewrites - Small, focused changes
3. Test after each step - Catch issues early
4. Alpine + Vanilla coexist - No forced conversions
5. SnippetStorage/DatasetStorage remain authoritative - Alpine is view layer only
6. Migration only, no new features - Convert existing functionality without adding new UI features

Architecture Philosophy

┌─────────────────────┐
│   Alpine.js (7KB)   │  ← Reactivity + UI bindings
└──────────┬──────────┘
           │ calls
           ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│  Storage Layer      │  ← All business logic
│  - SnippetStorage   │    (filtering, sorting, CRUD)
│  - DatasetStorage   │
└─────────────────────┘

Clean separation:

• Alpine: Handles reactivity, DOM updates, user interactions
• Storage: Single source of truth for data logic

---

Phase 1: Snippet Panel ✅ COMPLETE

Status: Done Files: index.html, src/js/snippet-manager.js, src/js/app.js

What Was Converted

• Snippet list rendering with x-for
• Search with x-model (reactive filtering)
• Sort controls with @click and :class
• Selection highlighting with :class
• Ghost card (+ Create New Snippet)

What Stayed Vanilla

• SnippetStorage (localStorage operations)
• Editor integration
• Meta fields (name, comment)
• All CRUD business logic

Key Learnings

• Alpine store keeps minimal UI state (currentSnippetId)
• Storage layer does all filtering/sorting
• Alpine component is thin wrapper
• Automatic reactivity eliminates manual DOM updates

---

Phase 2: Dataset Manager Modal ✅ COMPLETE

Status: Done Files: src/js/dataset-manager.js, index.html

What Was Converted

• Dataset list rendering with x-for template
• Selection highlighting with :class binding to Alpine store
• Empty state with x-show
• Click handlers with @click

Note: Dataset modal did NOT have sort/search controls before migration, so none were added.

Implementation Approach

1. Add Alpine store with currentDatasetId for selection state
2. Create datasetList() component as thin wrapper around existing logic
3. Move meta formatting logic from inline HTML strings to component methods
4. Convert HTML to use Alpine directives
5. Update renderDatasetList() to trigger Alpine component refresh
6. Update selectDataset() to update Alpine store instead of manual DOM manipulation

What Stays Vanilla

• DatasetStorage (IndexedDB operations)
• Dataset detail panel
• Preview table rendering
• Import/export logic
• All dataset form/edit functionality

Key Learnings

• Alpine component is very thin
• Most logic moved from inline HTML strings to component methods
• Net code increase: only +20 lines total
• Same pattern as Phase 1: minimal, focused conversion
• Don't add features during migration - only convert what exists

---

Phase 3: View Mode Toggle (Draft/Published) ✅ COMPLETE

Status: Done Files: index.html, src/js/snippet-manager.js, src/js/app.js, src/js/config.js

What Was Converted

• View mode toggle buttons (Draft/Published) with :class binding and @click handlers
• All references to currentViewMode global variable now use Alpine store
• Removed vanilla event listeners from app.js
• Removed currentViewMode global variable from config.js

Implementation Approach

1. Added viewMode property to Alpine snippets store (default: 'draft')
2. Converted button HTML to use :class binding and @click handlers
3. Updated all references to currentViewMode to use Alpine.store('snippets').viewMode
4. Simplified updateViewModeUI() function (now only handles publish/revert button visibility)
5. Removed vanilla event listeners from app.js

What Stays Vanilla

• Editor integration logic
• Publish/discard actions
• Publish/revert button visibility logic (handled by updateViewModeUI)

Key Learnings

• Alpine store provides clean reactive state for view mode
• Toggle button active states now automatically update via Alpine :class binding
• All business logic references updated to use Alpine store instead of global variable
• updateViewModeUI simplified but still needed for publish/revert button management

---

Phase 4: Settings Modal ✅ COMPLETE

Status: Done Files: src/js/user-settings.js, index.html, src/js/app.js

What Was Converted

• Settings modal form with all input controls using x-model
• Apply/Reset/Cancel buttons with @click handlers
• Computed isDirty property to enable/disable Apply button
• Conditional custom date format field with x-show
• Slider value displays with x-text
• All form state management moved to Alpine component

Implementation Approach

1. Created settingsPanel() component in user-settings.js with form state tracking
2. Used x-model (with .number modifier where needed) for all form inputs:
   • Theme selects
   • Font size and render debounce sliders
   • Tab size select
   • Checkboxes (minimap, word wrap, line numbers)
   • Date format and custom format input
3. Added computed isDirty getter to compare current vs. original state
4. Added computed showCustomDateFormat getter for conditional field visibility
5. Moved all apply/reset/cancel logic into Alpine component methods
6. Removed vanilla event listeners and old loadSettingsIntoUI() / applySettings() functions

What Stays Vanilla

• Settings storage layer (getSettings, updateSettings, etc.)
• Settings validation logic (validateSetting)
• Editor option updates (applied from within Alpine component)
• Theme application logic (applied from within Alpine component)
• Modal open/close functions (simple ModalManager calls)

Key Learnings

• Alpine component handles all form state reactivity
• isDirty computed property automatically enables/disables Apply button
• x-model.number modifier ensures numeric values for sliders and selects
• x-show provides clean conditional rendering for custom date format field
• All business logic (validation, saving, applying) stays in existing functions
• Net code reduction: ~150 lines of manual DOM manipulation removed

---

Phase 5: Chart Builder Modal

Status: Planned Files: src/js/chart-builder.js, index.html

What to Convert

Chart builder form with dataset selection, chart type, and field mappings.

Implementation Approach

1. Create chartBuilder() component with form state
2. Load datasets on init, populate dropdowns with x-for
3. Track selected dataset and available fields
4. Generate spec preview with computed property
5. Enable/disable insert button based on validation

What Stays Vanilla

• Dataset field detection
• Type inference logic
• Spec generation utilities

---

Phase 6: Meta Fields (Name, Comment) ✅ COMPLETE

Status: Done Files: index.html, src/js/snippet-manager.js

What Was Converted

• Name and comment input fields with x-model bindings
• Debounced auto-save functionality moved to Alpine component
• Metadata loading when snippet is selected

Implementation Approach

1. Added snippetName and snippetComment properties to snippetList() component
2. Added loadMetadata() method to load fields when snippet selected
3. Added saveMetaDebounced() and saveMeta() methods for auto-saving
4. Converted HTML inputs to use x-model with @input="saveMetaDebounced()"
5. Updated selectSnippet() to call Alpine component's loadMetadata() via _x_dataStack
6. Removed vanilla event listeners and old autoSaveMeta()/debouncedAutoSaveMeta() functions

What Stays Vanilla

• SnippetStorage save operations (called from Alpine component)
• Name generation logic (generateSnippetName)
• Snippet list re-rendering after save

Key Learnings

• Alpine's x-model provides two-way data binding for inputs
• @input event handler triggers debounced save on every keystroke
• Alpine component accessed via DOM element's _x_dataStack[0] property
• Debounce timeout stored in component state for proper cleanup
• Net code reduction: ~40 lines of manual event listener setup removed

---

Phase 7: Panel Visibility Toggles ✅ COMPLETE

Status: Done Files: index.html, src/js/panel-manager.js, src/js/app.js

What Was Converted

• Panel toggle buttons with :class binding and @click handlers
• Button active state managed by Alpine store
• Alpine store synced with vanilla layout management

Implementation Approach

1. Created Alpine store panels with snippetVisible, editorVisible, previewVisible flags
2. Converted toggle buttons to use :class="{ 'active': $store.panels.XXX }" and @click="togglePanel()"
3. Updated togglePanel() function to sync visibility changes with Alpine store
4. Updated loadLayoutFromStorage() to initialize Alpine store from localStorage
5. Removed vanilla event listener setup from app.js

What Stays Vanilla

• Panel resizing logic (all width redistribution and drag-to-resize)
• Layout persistence to localStorage
• Keyboard shortcuts
• The togglePanel() function itself (but now syncs with Alpine store)

Key Learnings

• Alpine store provides reactive button states
• Hybrid approach: Alpine handles UI reactivity, vanilla handles complex layout math
• Store acts as single source of truth for visibility, synced bidirectionally
• Kept existing layout management logic intact - Alpine only manages button states
• Net code reduction: ~8 lines (removed event listener setup)

---

Phase 8: Toast Notifications (Optional) ✅ COMPLETE

Status: Done Files: src/js/config.js, index.html

What Was Converted

• Toast notification system with Alpine store and reactive rendering
• Toast queue managed in Alpine store
• Toasts rendered with x-for template
• Toast transitions managed via Alpine reactivity

Implementation Approach

1. Created Alpine store toasts with:
   • items array to hold toast queue
   • add(message, type) method to create new toasts
   • remove(id) method to dismiss toasts
   • getIcon(type) helper for icon lookup
   • Auto-dismiss with setTimeout after 4 seconds
2. Updated Toast utility object to call Alpine store methods instead of DOM manipulation
3. Converted HTML to use x-for to render toasts from store
4. Used :class binding for show/hide animation states
5. Used @click for close button

What Stays Vanilla

• Toast utility API (Toast.show, Toast.error, Toast.success, etc.)
• Auto-dismiss timing logic (now in Alpine store)
• Icon definitions

Key Learnings

• Alpine x-for with templates provides clean list rendering
• Store manages toast queue reactively
• Visibility flag triggers CSS transitions
• Toast API unchanged - all existing code continues to work
• Net code reduction: ~30 lines of manual DOM manipulation removed
• Cleaner separation: store handles state, CSS handles animations

---

Recommended Order

1. ✅ Phase 1: Snippet Panel - DONE
2. ✅ Phase 2: Dataset Manager - DONE
3. ✅ Phase 3: View Mode Toggle - DONE
4. ✅ Phase 4: Settings Modal - DONE
5. ✅ Phase 6: Meta Fields - DONE
6. ✅ Phase 7: Panel Toggles - DONE
7. Phase 5: Chart Builder - More complex (SKIPPED - not essential for migration)
8. ✅ Phase 8: Toast Notifications - DONE

---

Emergency Rollback Plan

If a phase causes issues:

1. Quick Fix: Comment out Alpine directives, uncomment vanilla JS
2. Git Revert: Each phase is a separate commit
3. Hybrid Mode: Alpine and vanilla can coexist - revert problematic sections only

---

Post-Migration ✅ COMPLETE

Status: Done

Code Cleanup ✅

• ✅ Removed no-op functions (initializeSortControls, initializeSearchControls)
• ✅ Removed unused vanilla event listeners
• ✅ Migrated all global state variables to Alpine stores:
  • window.currentSnippetId → Alpine.store('snippets').currentSnippetId
  • window.currentDatasetId → Alpine.store('datasets').currentDatasetId
  • window.currentDatasetData → Alpine.store('datasets').currentDatasetData
• ✅ Removed unused button references (draftBtn, publishedBtn in updateViewModeUI)

Documentation ✅

• ✅ Updated architecture.md with Alpine.js integration section
• ✅ Documented Alpine stores and components
• ✅ Added Alpine.js to Technical Stack
• ✅ Updated module responsibilities to reflect Alpine components

---

Questions & Decisions Log

Date	Phase	Question	Decision	Rationale
2025-01-24	1	Store snippets in Alpine or Storage?	Storage	Single source of truth, Alpine just views
2025-01-24	1	Keep old functions as stubs?	Yes	Backwards compatibility, easier rollback
2025-01-24	2	Add sort/search to dataset modal?	No	Migration only - don't add features that didn't exist
2025-01-24	2	How much net code increase is acceptable?	~20 lines	Alpine boilerplate worth it for reactivity gains

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Success Metrics ✅ ACHIEVED

Quantitative ✅

• ~250+ lines of code removed (manual DOM manipulation, event listeners, no-op functions)
• No performance regression (Alpine.js is only 7KB)
• Zero increase in bug reports
• All syntax checks passing

Qualitative ✅

• Code is significantly more readable with declarative templates
• New features much easier to add (reactive bindings eliminate boilerplate)
• Eliminated 100% of manual DOM manipulation in migrated components
• Perfect separation of concerns (Alpine = view, Storage = logic)
• Automatic reactivity eliminates entire classes of state synchronization bugs