---
name: Corbie — feature-complete roadmap
description: Build plan from 2026-04-23 baseline to full feature-complete v0.1 release
type: roadmap
tags: [roadmap, planning, corbie, release]
created: 2026/04/23
status: active
author: Wren (CORBEL's resident agent) on behalf of Jake Sames
---

# Corbie — Feature-Complete Roadmap

> **What Corbie is.** A local-first, cognitive-load-aware dictation + task-capture desktop app. Vulkan-accelerated Whisper / Parakeet speech-to-text, a local LLM (Qwen3 tiers) for transcript cleanup and task extraction, an MCP server for integration with Claude Desktop / Cline / Cursor, and a UI designed around ADHD / executive-dysfunction needs. Tauri 2 + Svelte 5 + Rust. Zero telemetry.
>
> **Formerly known as Kon.** Rebrand in flight; repo names at `jakejars/kon` + `git.corbel.consulting/jake/kon` still carry the Kon name and will rename together with the codebase sweep in the final phase.

## Baseline — where we are (2026/04/23)

**Core MVP (from `docs/brief/feature-set.md`):** 9 of 10 complete.

One gap: **visual time representation** (the spec's "#1 community-requested feature" — shrinking colour disks / progress rings, externalising time passage). The rest — local transcription, auto-populating tasks, WIP limits, history + search, light/dark theming, templates, vocabulary profiles, file upload, open-format markdown export — all shipped.

**Post-MVP (designed, not yet prioritised):** 1 of 9 complete.

MicroSteps is shipped; its "just-start" timer button emits an event that currently has no listener anywhere in the codebase. The differentiating ADHD-specific features (Margot nudges, energy-aware sequencing, rituals, if-then intentions, forgiving gamification, TTS, human-in-the-loop feedback) are all documented in the brief but not started.

**Release-blockers:** 1 — RB-08 macOS power-assertion, pending manual verification on a real Mac (Jake's friend Rachmann has a Mac and can run this offline).

**Workspace state:** main is clippy-zero-warnings, 245/245 tests passing, fmt clean, svelte-check clean, npm build clean. Three dependabot bumps landed this session plus a clippy cleanup pass and a needless_range_loop refactor. One orphan design-system WIP branch parked on github as archive.

## Approach

> **Layer 1 first** (per Jake's standing rule): build the features roughly, in series, through Phase 1 – Phase 8. Do polish passes in Phase 9 and QC + release in Phase 10. **Do not mix make-it-work and make-it-neat passes** — every phase ships end-to-end (event wired, UI rendered, store state committed, tests updated) but does not chase aesthetic polish until Phase 9.

> **Ordering rationale.** Phase 1 closes the Core MVP gap and unblocks the already-half-wired just-start timer. Phase 2 enables model improvement by collecting human feedback — useful even while later phases are being built. Phases 3–8 build the differentiating ADHD-specific features from highest-utility-per-effort to lowest. Phase 9 is polish debt. Phase 10 is release prep (including Rachmann's RB-08 verification and the Kon → Corbie codebase rename).

---

## Phase 1 — Visual countdown + Just-Start timer

**Why now.** Closes the one remaining Core MVP gap. Unblocks the dangling `kon:start-timer` emit from MicroSteps. Directly combats time blindness, which the brief names as the single biggest lever for the target audience.

**Scope.**
- `FocusTimer.svelte` — a progress-ring countdown component. Shrinking colour ring (not digital). Subtle colour shift across the last 15%. Remaining time label inside the ring for users who want the number; small enough that the ring dominates the visual field.
- `focusTimer.svelte.ts` store — single active timer, running / paused / completed state, elapsed / remaining computed, event dispatch on state transitions.
- Mount in `+layout.svelte` so the timer persists across page navigation (dictation → tasks → settings).
- Listener for `window` event `kon:start-timer` with `{ durationSeconds, label }` payload.
- Trigger from MicroSteps row (already exists). Trigger from task-row context button (new).
- Floating position top-right of main content, above everything, not intrusive when idle (hidden until a timer is running).
- On completion: gentle chime + 3-second ring flourish + OS notification via `tauri-plugin-notification`. No modal. No guilt copy.
- Store survives window close/reopen via localStorage.

**Out of scope for Phase 1.** Rhythmic voice anchoring (part of Margot, Phase 6). Custom-duration picker (fixed 2 / 5 / 10 / 15 min presets for now). Multi-timer UI.

**Acceptance.** From a MicroStep row, clicking the timer button (a) shows the ring visible somewhere on screen, (b) it counts down, (c) at 0 it fires completion + notification, (d) works across page switches, (e) survives a window close + reopen mid-countdown.

**Estimated effort.** Half day.

---

## Phase 2 — Human-in-the-loop feedback

**Why here.** AI output quality is the single biggest determinant of whether Corbie feels useful. Thumbs-up / thumbs-down on AI-generated micro-steps and task extractions costs almost nothing to add and gives us a feedback corpus the moment anyone uses it. Enables later retraining / prompt tuning.

**Scope.**
- Thumbs-up / thumbs-down buttons on every AI-generated item (micro-step row, extracted task, cleanup paragraph).
- "Edit" path already exists for text; the feedback is additive.
- `feedback` table in SQLite: `item_id`, `item_type`, `rating`, `timestamp`, optional `correction_text`.
- Rust command `record_feedback` + `list_feedback` (for later export).
- No UI surface for viewing feedback yet. Just capture. A future export pass to JSONL feeds prompt-engineering or fine-tuning.

**Out of scope.** Retraining loop, per-user profile adjustment, any UI to view feedback history.

**Acceptance.** Thumbs visible on AI-generated items. Clicking records to SQLite. `cargo test` on storage covers migration + insert + list.

**Estimated effort.** Half day to 1 day.

---

## Phase 3 — Energy-aware task sequencing

**Why here.** Next-highest-utility post-MVP feature. Replaces the cut-for-OS-reasons temptation-bundling feature. Small surface, clear user-facing outcome.

**Scope.**
- `energy` column on tasks: nullable enum `High | Medium | BrainDead`.
- Migration + Rust CRUD.
- Tag chip on task rows; tap to cycle / set.
- Sort / filter option on the tasks page: "Match my energy" → AI surfaces tasks matching a user-set current energy, falls back to `Medium` if unset.
- No automatic energy detection. Pure user input.

**Out of scope.** Time-of-day heuristics, calendar integration, AI-predicted user energy.

**Acceptance.** User tags a task, sets their current energy via a header control, tasks page filter respects it.

**Estimated effort.** 1 day.

---

## Phase 4 — Read Page Aloud (TTS)

**Why here.** Small and self-contained. Engages auditory processing which the brief specifically calls out as a retention lever for the target audience. Uses OS-native TTS (no new dependencies, no model download). Clean single-tap affordance.

**Scope.**
- Rust command `tts_speak(text: String, rate: f32, voice: Option<String>)` — platform dispatch:
  - Linux: `spd-say` (speech-dispatcher is available on most distros; graceful fallback to `espeak` if missing).
  - macOS: `say` (built in).
  - Windows: PowerShell `System.Speech.Synthesis.SpeechSynthesizer`.
- Small "speaker" icon on any text view (transcript viewer, micro-step list, cleanup result).
- Single-tap play; second tap stops. No pause/resume in v1.
- Settings: voice picker (populated from OS), rate slider (0.5–2.0).

**Out of scope.** Premium voices. Cloud TTS. Concurrent-speaking queue. SSML.

**Acceptance.** Tap speaker icon on a transcript → hear it read on Linux + expected-to-work-on macOS+Windows (test matrix in Phase 10).

**Estimated effort.** Half day.

---

## Phase 5 — Start / shutdown rituals

**Why here.** Meaningful UX but larger surface. Needs calm copy, gentle flow, and a default-off toggle because rituals can feel parental if not optional.

**Scope.**
- Morning triage: on first launch after 06:00, show a modal / dedicated page: "yesterday's incomplete tasks" (from SQLite query: `completed = false AND created_at < today`), with checkbox pick-list, and "pick 1–3 for today" constraint that refuses selections > 3.
- Evening shutdown: user-triggerable (not scheduled) review: "what got done today", "open loops to close", "separate work from rest" copy. No automation; ritual as reflection.
- Both off by default in settings. When off, no modal, no pressure.
- Skip-for-today button on morning triage; never shows guilt copy.

**Out of scope.** Calendar integration, automatic sleep detection, weekly / monthly reviews.

**Acceptance.** Morning modal shows correct tasks. Selecting > 3 is prevented with a gentle message. Skip works and doesn't re-prompt same day. Evening shutdown opens a reflective page, doesn't block closing the app.

**Estimated effort.** 1 – 2 days.

---

## Phase 6 — Soft-touch nudging (Margot protocol) — **REVISED 2026/04/23**

**Why here.** Big differentiator. Scheduled late because it nudges *about* the things the earlier phases built (tasks, timers, rituals), and needs careful copy so it doesn't collapse into a push-notification daemon. Spec is explicit: not push notifications — anticipatory guidance.

**Revised architecture — "nudge bus" hybrid.** Earlier drafts proposed a Rust-side OS-activity watcher (keyboard, active window). Cross-platform review flagged this as fragile: Wayland offers no sanctioned global-keyboard API, macOS needs accessibility permission, Windows needs a message-loop hook, and the signal is low quality everywhere. Deferred to post-v0.1.

Phase 6 instead ships a **frontend-owned nudge bus** that consumes signals Corbie already produces:
- Focus-timer state (running / completed / cancelled) — already on `window` events from Phase 1.
- Task-completed events — adds a `kon:task-completed` window event dispatched when `complete_task_cmd` / `complete_subtask_cmd` resolve.
- Micro-step generation — event from the decompose path.
- Ritual state — `ritualsMorning`, `lastTriageDate` from settings/storage.
- App focus / visibility — `document.visibilitychange` + Tauri window `focus`/`blur` events.

The bus applies suppression rules, then dispatches via Rust commands for platform-native delivery.

**Notification plugin prerequisites (new cross-cutting work, done in Phase 6).**
- Add `tauri-plugin-notification = "2"` (Cargo.toml) + `@tauri-apps/plugin-notification` (package.json).
- Register the plugin in `lib.rs`.
- Frontend checks `isPermissionGranted()` and calls `requestPermission()` on first use.
- Expose ACL entries in `src-tauri/capabilities/default.json`.
- Windows caveat: notifications only deliver properly for *installed* apps (not `tauri dev` builds). Flag this in release notes and the dev HANDOVER.
- Sound path: Windows expects a `.wav` file path, not a platform sound name. Drop the original spec's `"Default"` string for Windows; ship a tiny custom `.wav` in `src-tauri/sounds/`. macOS `"Glass"` is valid. Linux freedesktop sound-name `message-new-instant` works via `tauri-plugin-notification`'s `sound` option.

**Scope (revised).**
- `nudgeBus.svelte.ts` store — subscribes to the in-app signals above, owns cooldown/suppression logic.
- Rust command `deliver_nudge(title, body, sound?)` — thin wrapper around `tauri-plugin-notification` that also persists a row to a new `nudges` SQLite table (for debugging + future analytics).
- **Trigger set for v1 (all in-app, no OS-wide detection):**
  - `inactivity_with_active_timer` — timer running + `document.visibilitystate === 'hidden'` OR window `blur` for 90 s continuous. (We know the user has switched away; we don't need to know what they switched to.)
  - `pending_morning_triage` — past 10:00 local + triage enabled + last-shown ≠ today. Fires once per day; gets suppressed forever if user later skips or completes.
  - `micro_step_idle` — micro-step created + no `kon:task-completed` or `kon:step-completed` event for that parent-task-id within 15 min.
- **Suppression rules:**
  - Global mute in settings (on/off).
  - Hard cap 3 nudges per rolling hour.
  - No nudge in first 60 s of a timer.
  - No nudge during app focus (the user is already looking).
- Rhythmic voice anchoring: piggy-back on Phase 4 TTS. Optional "speak nudges aloud" toggle. Default off. British-English calm lines: "Time to move on", "Your list is still here". No personality yet — Phase 9.

**Out of scope.**
- OS-wide activity detection (keyboard hooks, active-window polling). Deferred post-v0.1 as a separate phase, if a real need emerges.
- Custom trigger editor (owned by Phase 7).
- Biometric signals. Any Margot-as-character visual.

**Acceptance.** Each trigger fires on its defined condition in a dogfood walkthrough. Suppression observed (hidden-for-90 s → nudge; return-to-focus → no nudge). Global mute kills everything immediately. Notification permission request appears on first trigger; denial is respected.

**Estimated effort.** 1 – 2 days (including notification-plugin setup and the nudges table).

---

## Phase 7 — Implementation intentions (if-then automation) — **REVISED 2026/04/23**

**Why here.** Leans on Phase 6's nudge bus. User-defined rules reuse the same delivery path.

**Rule idempotency (new explicit requirement).**
- Each rule stores `last_fired_at: ISO8601` and, for daily rules, `last_fired_local_date: YYYY-MM-DD`. Without this, a poll-driven "at 09:00" fires on every tick.
- On sleep/resume: on app focus after > 10 minutes away, check each time-of-day rule; if today's fire time has passed and `last_fired_local_date` is not today, fire once and update. Configurable per-rule toggle: `catch_up_on_resume` (default ON for time-of-day rules).
- "After a task completes" rule: subscribes to the `kon:task-completed` event from Phase 6. Rule fires once per task id (guarded via `last_fired_task_ids`).
- "Morning triage finishes" rule: fires on *either* "Start the day" or "Skip for today" — skip counts as finishing. Fires once per `last_fired_local_date`.

**Scope.**
- Rule editor UI. Minimal: `if [when-condition], then [action]`.
- When-conditions for v1: `time of day = HH:MM`, `after a task completes` (pick a specific task from list), `morning triage finishes`.
- Actions for v1: `surface a specific task` (jump to Tasks page + highlight), `start a 5-min timer`, `speak a line aloud` (reuses Phase 4 TTS).
- Rules stored in SQLite (`rules` table: id, name, when_json, then_json, enabled, last_fired_at, last_fired_local_date, last_fired_task_ids). Global mute respected.
- No location triggers (desktop app, no geolocation). No app-running detection (fragile cross-platform — revisit post-v0.1).

**Out of scope.** Calendar triggers, cross-app automation, macro-style action chains, shared/community rules.

**Acceptance.** User can write "at 09:00, speak 'time to plan the day' aloud and surface my 'daily standup' task", save it, have it fire next morning at 09:00. Polling tick does not re-fire it. Delete works. Sleep the machine through 09:00; on resume the rule catches up once, then goes quiet until tomorrow.

**Estimated effort.** 1 – 1.5 days.

---

## Phase 8 — Forgiving gamification — **REVISED 2026/04/23** — **SHIPPED 2026/04/24**

**Why here.** Low-risk, closes the spec list.

**Scope (revised — grace days dropped).**
- Completion count per day (non-punitive). "You've finished 3 today."
- **No streaks, no chains** — so the original "grace days" logic was solving a problem that doesn't exist in this design. Dropped.
- Optional "recent momentum" sparkline: last 7 days' daily completion counts as a tiny inline chart on the Tasks header. Always additive; empty days render as baseline, never as gaps.
- Visual: soft-edged numeric badges on the Tasks header. No leaderboards, no social comparison.
- Zero loss language. Always "look what you did".

**Out of scope.** Leaderboards. Shared challenges. Streak repair purchases. XP systems.

**Acceptance.** Complete 3 tasks today, header shows "3 today". Open the app after 4 days off, no "you were away" framing; header reads today's count only; sparkline simply shows flat zero bars for the away days.

**Estimated effort.** Half day.

**Shipped note (2026/04/24).** Landed on `main` across commits `729b82c` to `fa93033` (13 feature commits plus one style-fix commit for a comment em-dash). Migration v13 adds `auto_completed` on `tasks`; cascade path in `complete_subtask_and_check_parent` sets it, `uncomplete_task` clears it on both target and reopened parent. New storage fn `list_recent_completions(pool, days)` + Tauri wrapper `list_recent_completions_cmd` expose the fixed-length, oldest-first 7-day series. Frontend has a dedicated `completionStats.svelte.ts` store (listens on `kon:task-completed` / `kon:step-completed` / `kon:task-uncompleted` / `kon:task-deleted` / `focus`), a `CompletionSparkline.svelte` SVG component, and header wiring in `TasksPage.svelte`. Settings toggle `showMomentumSparkline` added (default `true`) in the Rituals section; Phase 9 polish may resection. Acceptance list verified by full suite: 273 Rust tests pass, `cargo clippy --all-targets -D warnings` clean, `cargo fmt --check` clean, `npm run check` 0/0, `npm run build` clean. Manual dogfood walkthrough (Task 12 Step 6) still owes real-app verification when Jake next opens Corbie.

---

## Phase 9 — Polish debt

> **All Phase 9 work is paused until Phase 1 – Phase 8 are closed.** Per Jake's rule: features first, polish second.

**Contents.**
- File-system `.md` save dialog (replace clipboard-only export). Rust `write_text_file` command; platform dialog via `tauri-plugin-dialog`.
- Bulk select + bulk export in History.
- LLM-powered content tags (`topic:*`, `intent:*`). Slot into the existing `kon-llm` stub.
- Settings UX overhaul: bundle high-traffic settings into a "Start here" group; hide advanced behind a disclosure.
- Visual polish pass on all Phase 1 – Phase 8 surfaces: spacing, typography, motion curves, colour, dark-mode parity.
- Accessibility pass: keyboard navigation, screen reader labels, focus order, colour contrast audit against WCAG AA.

**Estimated effort.** 1 – 2 days.

---

## Phase 10 — QC + rename + release — **SPLIT 2026/04/23**

Earlier draft rolled QC, a full codebase rename, an app-data migration shim, and the release ceremony into one day. Review flagged this as unrealistic and split it. The rename sweep in particular crosses every surface in the app; rushing it is how you end up with `kon.db` on half the users' machines and `corbie.db` on the rest.

### Pre-Phase-10: Cargo.lock policy decision — **RESOLVED 2026/04/24**

- `.gitignore` previously excluded `Cargo.lock`. For a Tauri binary workspace this was the wrong default, since CI resolves dependencies fresh each run (the leading theory for the 2026-04-24 CI red-state noted in earlier `HANDOVER.md` revisions).
- **Resolution (Jake's hardening pass, commit `b333c62`):** `Cargo.lock` now committed. Captures the dep set users actually get from release artefacts rather than whatever crates.io happened to resolve at build time.
- No further action before v0.1.0 tagging.

### Phase 10a — QC (estimated half day)

**Prerequisite:** Phase 1 – Phase 9 complete. Cargo.lock committed.

- Full dogfood walkthrough: record a real brain-dump → clean transcript → task extraction → micro-step one task → run a focus timer → tag energy → complete → open evening wind-down → skip morning triage → re-check no re-prompt.
- RB-08 macOS power-assertion verification: **Rachmann runs this offline** on his Mac. `pmset -g assertions` during a live session; expected `PreventSystemSleep` attributed to Corbie's bundle id. On confirmation, close RB-08 and move `docs/issues/power-assertion-macos-objc2.md` to `docs/issues/resolved/`.
- Cross-platform build matrix green across Linux / macOS / Windows.
- Accessibility regression check: keyboard-only traversal of every new Phase 5 – Phase 8 surface.
- Freshly-clean install test on a spare user account: no stray data leaks from dev.

Rachmann's Mac slot runs in parallel; not blocking the rest of 10a.

### Phase 10b — Kon → Corbie rename sweep (estimated half day to 1 day)

Runs **after** Phase 10a QC, **after** Jake has renamed the two repos in GitHub + Gitea web UIs. The rename only starts here, not earlier, so in-flight Phase 1 – Phase 9 work doesn't have to re-learn event names mid-cycle.

- `package.json` → `name: "corbie"`, `description` update. (Version stays at `0.1.0`.)
- Cargo crates: `kon`, `kon-audio`, `kon-storage`, `kon-transcription`, `kon-llm`, `kon-ai-formatting`, `kon-core`, `kon-cloud-providers`, `kon-hotkey`, `kon-mcp` → `corbie-*`. Mass-rename via `Cargo.toml` name field + workspace path references + `use` imports.
- Binary + product names: `src-tauri/tauri.conf.json` (productName, identifier), `.desktop` file, Windows product name, macOS bundle name.
- Install paths: `~/.local/share/kon/` → `~/.local/share/corbie/` (plus the macOS `~/Library/Application Support` and Windows `%APPDATA%` equivalents). **App-data migration shim required** — first-run checks for the old dir, moves contents, writes a sentinel `.migrated-from-kon`. Shim must handle the case where both dirs exist (prefer new, log the duplicate).
- Database filename: `kon.db` → `corbie.db`. Handled by the same shim.
- Window titles, tray tooltip, About-dialog, README body, docs references where they name the product (leave historical brief content talking about "Kon" — it's a historical document).
- Event names: `kon:start-timer`, `kon:task-completed`, `kon:open-wind-down`, `kon:preferences-changed`, `kon:hotkey-pressed`, `kon:llm-download-progress` → `corbie:*`. Single commit; one find-replace; both emitter and listener in the same diff.
- Logs, error messages, user-facing copy (including toast strings that mention "Kon").
- Settings SQLite key: `kon_preferences` → `corbie_preferences`. Migration reads old key on first launch, writes new key, deletes old.
- Remotes: `ssh://git.corbel.consulting:2222/jake/kon.git` + `github.com:jakejars/kon.git` → `…/corbie.git`. `git remote set-url` locally after web-UI renames.

### Phase 10c — Release (estimated half day)

- Version is already `0.1.0` in `Cargo.toml`, `package.json`, and `tauri.conf.json` — no bump needed. Confirm the three match.
- Write `CHANGELOG.md`. Seed from this roadmap's phases. Entries are written to end-users, not engineers — "You can now read transcripts aloud" not "Added tts_speak command".
- Write release notes in plain language: what it does, who it's for, the Kon-data migration note, the Windows notifications caveat (installed app only).
- Tag `v0.1.0` on the head commit.
- Push tag to both remotes. GitHub Actions release workflow auto-builds artefacts for Linux / macOS / Windows.
- Smoke-test at least one artefact per platform (ideally Rachmann covers macOS) before the release is made public.

**Estimated effort (Phase 10 total).** 1 – 2 days across 10a / 10b / 10c plus Rachmann's parallel Mac session.

---

## Totals

- Phase 1 – 8 feature build: **6 – 9 days** of focused work
- Phase 9 polish: **1 – 2 days**
- Phase 10 QC + rename + release (split): **1 – 2 days** + Rachmann's Mac session

**Total to v0.1.0 feature-complete release:** **~8 – 13 days of focused work**, depending on how much polish time Jake wants in Phase 9. Revised downward at the lower end after the Phase 8 grace-day drop and Phase 10 split clarified actual scope.

## Explicit non-goals

- Mobile apps. Corbie is desktop-first; a mobile companion is post-v0.1.
- Cloud sync. Local-first is the floor, not a feature. Sync is out of scope through v0.1.
- Premium voices, paid tiers, subscription. Licensing + monetisation is a separate track tracked in memory `project_marketplace_creem`.
- AI body doubling (low-fi focus rooms) — validated but parked to post-v0.1.
- Temptation bundling — cut (OS-integration impossible cross-platform; replaced by Phase 3 energy-aware sequencing).

## Post-v0.1 ideas (captured, not scheduled)

Ideas worth keeping warm once the v0.1 release is out. Not tracked as phases until the core release is done.

- **Calendar integration.** Read-only first pass could parse a local ICS file (Thunderbird / Evolution export) and surface day events alongside the tasks list — stays local-first. A cloud-sync pass (Google / iCloud / CalDAV) is a v0.2+ conversation because it re-opens credential handling and refresh-token plumbing that v0.1 deliberately avoids.
- **Right-click highlighted text → capture as task.** Two flavours: (a) *In-Corbie* — context menu on a selected transcript range or viewer segment, routes to `create_task_cmd` with the selection as text. Small — lives naturally in Phase 9 polish or a bolt-on. (b) *System-wide* — highlight anywhere (browser, Slack, IDE) and call Corbie. Platform-painful: macOS Services API, Windows shell-extension, Linux desktop-env-specific context menus. Scope as a separate post-v0.1 phase.

## Anchors

- Spec: [docs/brief/feature-set.md](docs/brief/feature-set.md) + [docs/brief/design-principles.md](docs/brief/design-principles.md)
- Current baseline: this session's HANDOVER.md
- Rebrand memory: `~/.claude/projects/-home-jake-Documents-CORBEL-Main/memory/project_corbie_rebrand.md`
- Release-blocker index: [docs/issues/README.md](docs/issues/README.md)

---

*This roadmap is a living document. Update it at the end of each phase with actuals vs estimates and any scope revisions.*
