xref: /plugin/annotations/DESIGN.md (revision 86c7806d6d41bce7c6d00acbee1316c62845cabb)

# Annotations Plugin — Design & Architecture

A developer reference for the annotations plugin. For installation and end-user
behaviour see [README.md](README.md); for the wider review/environment
conventions see `CLAUDE.md` in the plugins root.

## Concept

Word- and sentence-level annotations on wiki pages, in the spirit of
Hypothes.is and `ep_comments_page`:

- **Out-of-band.** Annotations live in a separate per-page JSON file, never in
  the page text or the wiki changelog. Creating one needs only `AUTH_READ`, so
  a group whose page *edit* access is blocked can still annotate.
- **Text-quote anchored.** Each annotation is tied to the quoted text plus a
  little surrounding context, not to a character position, so it survives minor
  edits and is re-found in the rendered DOM on each page load.
- **Threaded.** Annotations carry replies, and a reply may itself reply to
  another reply (each records a `parentId`), so a discussion nests into a tree.
  Open/resolved status lives at the annotation level.
- **Orphan-aware.** When the quoted text disappears from the page the annotation
  becomes an *orphan* — still stored, surfaced through a counter, and bulk-
  removable by an admin.

## Components

| File | Owns |
|------|------|
| `plugin.info.txt` | Manifest: name, author, version date, description, repository URL. |
| `helper.php` | The per-page store, all CRUD, server-side orphan detection, and the **permission rules as the single source of truth**. Pure logic — permission methods take facts (user, admin flag, ACL level) as parameters and read no globals. |
| `action.php` | Event registration; injecting the page payload into `JSINFO`; the AJAX endpoint and **permission enforcement** (gathers facts from DokuWiki globals, calls the helper). |
| `script.js` | All front-end behaviour: boot/gate, load + re-anchor, highlights, gutter markers, counter, selection→new-annotation flow, thread panels, and AJAX. Plain IIFE, vanilla JS. |
| `style.css` | Styling via DokuWiki theme tokens (`__background__`, `__text__`, …). The amber (open) / green (resolved) highlight hues come from the `--ann-open-rgb` / `--ann-resolved-rgb` custom properties that `action.php` injects from config (with `:root` fallbacks here). |
| `lang/<iso>/lang.php` | The usersettings toggle label/description (PHP side) plus the front-end UI strings under `$lang['js']`, exposed to `script.js` as `LANG.plugins.annotations`. Ships `en`, `de`, `ru`, `ja`. |

Documentation lives in [`README.md`](README.md) (end users) and this file
(developers); the licence is in `LICENSE` (GPL 2).

## Data model & storage

One pretty-printed JSON file per page at `metaFN($id, '.annotations')`
(`data/meta/<namespace>/<page>.annotations`):

```json
{
  "version": 1,
  "annotations": [
    {
      "id": "a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8",
      "anchor": { "exact": "...", "prefix": "...", "suffix": "...", "start": 123 },
      "author": "alice",
      "created": 1716336000,
      "modified": 1716336000,
      "body": "Does this cover remuxes?",
      "status": "open",
      "resolved_by": "",
      "resolved_at": 0,
      "replies": [
        {
          "id": "x1y2z3a4b5c6d7e8",
          "parentId": "",
          "author": "bob",
          "created": 1716336100,
          "modified": 1716336100,
          "body": "Yes, remuxes count."
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

Replies are stored as a **flat** list; `parentId` (empty for a top-level reply,
otherwise the id of the reply being answered) lets the client rebuild the nested
thread (`buildReplyTree`). The `reply`, `edit_reply` and `delete_reply` actions
return the **full updated annotation**, so the panel re-renders the whole thread
in a single round-trip.

Limits and identifiers: `SCHEMA_VERSION = 1` and `MAX_QUOTE = 1000` are
`helper.php` constants; the context-slice length and body cap are now config
(`context_length`, `body_cap`, defaulting to 64 and 10000 via the
`DEFAULT_CONTEXT` / `DEFAULT_BODY` fallbacks). IDs are
`bin2hex(random_bytes(8))` — 16 hex chars. Writes go through `io_lock()` →
modify → `io_saveFile()` → `io_unlock()` (the `mutate()` helper); a modifier
returning `false` aborts the write (used for "target not found").

## Text-quote anchoring

An anchor is `{exact, prefix, suffix, start}`:

- `exact` — the selected text, whitespace-normalised (runs collapsed to one
  space, trimmed). The same normalisation is applied on capture (JS), on
  storage (PHP), and on matching, so client and server agree.
- `prefix` / `suffix` — context on each side to disambiguate a quote that
  appears more than once. Client captures ~30 chars; server caps at 64.
- `start` — a character-offset hint into the page text, used only as a
  tie-breaker.

**Re-anchoring (client, `locate` + `buildRange`)**: collect the content text
with a `TreeWalker`, normalise it once with `normalizeWithMap` — which returns
the normalised string **and** a normalised→raw index map built in lockstep (they
must share the same trimming, or every highlight shifts by a character) — search
for the normalised `exact`, disambiguate repeats with `prefix`/`suffix`,
tie-break with the `start` hint, then map the chosen offset back to a DOM `Range`
and wrap it in a highlight `<span>`. All matches are located first and wrapped
last-to-first, so wrapping (which splits text nodes) never disturbs a
not-yet-wrapped offset. A quote that cannot be located is an orphan (no
highlight, no gutter marker).

## Orphan detection (two layers)

- **Client (live UI).** Anything `findRange` cannot anchor on page load is
  counted as orphaned; the count feeds the counter bar, and the orphaned link
  opens a drawer at the bottom of the content area with those threads.
- **Server (authoritative, `findOrphaned`).** For the admin "clear orphaned"
  action the page is rendered with `p_wiki_xhtml`, block-closing tags are turned
  into spaces, tags/entities are stripped, whitespace normalised, and each
  annotation's `exact` is searched with `mb_strpos`. This re-check is the source
  of truth for deletion, so a stale client can't cause data loss.

## JSINFO injection (important gotcha)

`script.js` needs per-page facts at boot without an extra round-trip, but you
**cannot** add them by writing `$JSINFO` inside `TPL_METAHEADER_OUTPUT`:
`tpl_metaheaders()` calls `jsinfo()` and serialises `$JSINFO` into the inline
`var JSINFO = …;` script **before** firing that event. Instead `handleMetaHeader`
finds that inline `<script>` in `$event->data['script']` and appends a
`JSINFO.annotations = {…};` statement so it runs in the same scope. Injection is
gated to `show` / `export_xhtml` views.

Payload: `{ enabled, pageId, stats, user, isAdmin, token, annotations? }`.
`user`, `isAdmin` and `token` are included because stock `JSINFO` exposes no
user identity and no security token — the script reads them from
`JSINFO.annotations`, not from `JSINFO.userinfo` (which does not exist) or the
`#dw__token` field. UI strings are **not** in this payload: they travel through
DokuWiki's per-plugin JS lang bundle, `LANG.plugins.annotations`, built from
`$lang['js']`.

The optional `annotations` key carries the page's **full annotation list**, so
`script.js` renders on boot with no `load` round-trip (that AJAX call re-boots
DokuWiki — ~300 ms — only to re-read this same file). `handleMetaHeader` reads
the list once and derives `stats` from it via `helper::statsFor()` rather than
re-reading through `getStats()`. The key is omitted when the feature is off for
the user, or when the serialized list exceeds the `embed_max_bytes` config
(default 128 KB; `DEFAULT_EMBED_MAX_BYTES` is the fallback) — in
which case `script.js` falls back to the `load` endpoint. Because the inline
`JSINFO` script is regenerated every request (it is not in the parser page
cache), the embedded list is always current.

## Per-user toggle

Registered with the **usersettings** plugin via `PLUGIN_USERSETTINGS_REGISTER`
(key `annotations_enabled`, checkbox, default on). `isEnabledForUser()` reads the
preference through the usersettings helper; if that plugin is absent, or the
toggle has not been registered yet, the feature defaults to **on**. When a user
turns it off, `boot()` returns early and nothing is rendered (annotations are
still stored).

## Permission model

The rules live in `helper.php` and are pure; `action.php` gathers the facts and
calls them. `isAdmin` is DokuWiki's `auth_isadmin()` (superuser / admin group).

| Action | Rule (helper method) |
|--------|----------------------|
| Create annotation / reply / resolve / reopen | logged in **and** `AUTH_READ` on the page — *not* `AUTH_EDIT` (`canAnnotate`) |
| Edit / delete own annotation | author (`canEditAnnotation`) |
| Edit / delete own reply | author (`canEditReply`) |
| Edit / delete **any** annotation or reply | admin (`canEditAnnotation` / `canEditReply`) |
| Clear resolved / clear orphaned (per page) | admin (`canClear`) |
| Load (read) annotations | `AUTH_READ` on the page |

## Security

- **CSRF.** Every state-changing action requires a valid DokuWiki security
  token. The token is injected into `JSINFO.annotations.token` and sent back as
  `sectok` in the JSON body. `handleAjax` reads it from the parsed body and
  passes it straight to `checkSecurityToken($token)`. The read-only `load`
  action is exempt (GET, no token) but still ACL-checked.
- **ACL.** `auth_quickaclcheck($id)` gates both reading and writing.
- **Output.** Bodies are stored as plain text (newlines kept, length-capped) and
  rendered client-side via `textContent`, so user content is never interpolated
  as HTML.

## AJAX endpoint

`…/lib/exe/ajax.php?call=annotations` (handled on `AJAX_CALL_UNKNOWN`). The
`load` action is a GET with query params; everything else is `POST` with an
`application/json` body. Every response is `{ "success": true, … }` or
`{ "success": false, "error": "…" }`. `load` is now only a **fallback** for the
inline-embedded list (see JSINFO injection above); the mutating actions are the
hot path.

| Action | Method | Token | Extra fields |
|--------|--------|-------|--------------|
| `load` | GET | — | — |
| `create` | POST | ✓ | `anchor`, `body` |
| `reply` | POST | ✓ | `annId`, `body` |
| `edit_annotation` | POST | ✓ | `annId`, `body` |
| `edit_reply` | POST | ✓ | `annId`, `replyId`, `body` |
| `delete_annotation` | POST | ✓ | `annId` |
| `delete_reply` | POST | ✓ | `annId`, `replyId` |
| `resolve` | POST | ✓ | `annId`, `status` (`open`\|`resolved`) |
| `clear_resolved` | POST | ✓ | — |
| `clear_orphaned` | POST | ✓ | — |

All actions also take the page `id`.

## Constraints

- **JS/CSS floor: Firefox 78 ESR.** No `#private` fields, `??=`/`||=`/`&&=`,
  `Array.at`, `structuredClone`, `Object.hasOwn`, native `<dialog>`; no CSS
  `:has()`, selector `:not()`, `aspect-ratio`, container queries, or nesting.
  `async`/`await`, `fetch`, classes, `?.`, `??`, `Map`/`Set` are fine.
- **PHP:** developed against 8.3; requires the `mbstring` extension.

## Resolved (kept here for history)

- **UI localisation — done.** Front-end strings live under `$lang['js']` and are
  read in `script.js` via `LANG.plugins.annotations`, each with an English
  fallback (the `t()` / `fmt()` helpers). `toggle_label` / `toggle_desc` stay
  PHP-side (`getLang`).
- **Translations — done.** `en`, `de`, `ru`, `ja` ship, all carrying the same
  `$lang['js']` keys.
- **Tests — done.** `_test/` has `GeneralTest` (manifest + the
  `default.php`↔`metadata.php` invariant) and `HelperTest` (permission rules,
  CRUD, input cleaning, `findOrphaned` against a rendered page). Run:
  `composer run test -- --group plugin_annotations`.
- **Cleanup — done.** The unused `ann-highlight-orphaned` constant is gone, and
  the panel sets `data-status` so the resolved accent in `style.css` applies.
- **Config — done.** `conf/default.php` + `conf/metadata.php` expose
  `color_open`, `color_resolved`, `embed_max_bytes`, `context_length` and
  `body_cap` (labels in `lang/<iso>/settings.php`). The two colours are injected
  as CSS custom properties (`--ann-open-rgb` / `--ann-resolved-rgb`) by
  `action.php::injectColourVars()`; `style.css` derives every opacity variant
  from them and ships `:root` fallbacks. `GeneralTest::testPluginConf` enforces
  the `default.php`↔`metadata.php` invariant.