Joelclaw Web

joelclaw.com Web App

Next.js app at apps/web/ in the joelclaw monorepo (~/Code/joelhooks/joelclaw/). Deployed to Vercel on push to main. Dark theme, minimal, system-y aesthetic.

OPSEC Rules

Never expose real infrastructure details on public pages.

• Node/host names: Use Stephen King universe aliases, never real tailnet hostnames
• Ports: Do not publish port numbers for any service
• Usernames: Strip com.joel. or similar prefixes from service identifiers
• IPs/subnets: Never show real IP addresses or CIDR ranges
• Brands/models of network gear: Generalize (e.g. "NAS" not "Synology DS1821+")
• Tailscale: OK to mention as the mesh VPN product, but no tailnet name or node IPs

Public diagrams use generic role names such as control plane, archive, development client, relay, and router. Do not publish real hostnames disguised as fictional aliases; the private topology boundary still applies.

Content Model (Convex-first)

Canonical runtime content lives in Convex contentResources:

• article:<slug> (type = article)
• adr:<slug> (type = adr)
• discovery:<slug> (type = discovery)

Filesystem content under apps/web/content/ is seed/backfill material, not runtime source.

Runtime read policy:

• apps/web/lib/posts.ts → Convex-first articles (article:*)
• apps/web/lib/adrs.ts → Convex-first ADRs (adr:*)
• apps/web/lib/discoveries.ts → Convex-first discoveries (discovery:*)
• apps/web/lib/convex-api.ts → checked web-facing Convex function contract plus the runtime anyApi proxy
• Never add a link: dependency on the sibling private joelclaw-api checkout. Vercel clones only this repository.
• Optional local escape hatches (non-production only):
  • JOELCLAW_ALLOW_FILESYSTEM_POSTS_FALLBACK=1 (articles)
  • JOELCLAW_ALLOW_FILESYSTEM_CONTENT_FALLBACK=1 (ADRs/discoveries)

Article fields still mirror MDX frontmatter shape:

---
title: "Post Title"
type: "article" | "essay" | "note" | "tutorial"
date: "2026-02-19T11:00:00"        # ISO datetime, NOT just date
updated: "2026-02-19T14:30:00"     # optional, bumps sort position
description: "One-liner for cards and meta"
tags: ["tag1", "tag2"]
draft: true                         # optional, hides from prod
source: "https://..."               # optional, for video-notes
channel: "Channel Name"             # optional, for video-notes
duration: "00:42:02"                # optional, for video-notes
---

Sorting: Posts sort by updated ?? date descending. Use full ISO datetimes (not bare dates) for deterministic ordering. Setting updated bumps a post to the top without changing its original publish date.

Slugs: Derived from fields.slug in Convex (resourceId = article:<slug>).

Hard Trigger Workflow

write article about X

1. Generate slug from title/topic.
2. Upsert contentResources with resourceId = article:<slug>, type = "article", full MDX body in fields.content, and fields.draft = true.
3. Set fields.date to current ISO timestamp.
4. Return slug + draft preview link (/<slug> if draft-visible in dev).

publish article <slug>

1. Read article:<slug> from Convex.
2. Patch/upsert with fields.draft = false and fields.updated = now.
3. Revalidate all affected surfaces via POST /api/revalidate with:
   • tags: post:<slug>, article:<slug>, articles
   • paths: /, /<slug>, /<slug>.md, /<slug>/md, /feed.xml, /sitemap.md
4. Verify /, /<slug>, /<slug>.md, and /feed.xml include the published post.

Media Embeds

Always embed YouTube videos in /cool discoveries and articles when they add context. Use the <YouTube id="VIDEO_ID" /> MDX component (available in both .mdx articles and .md discoveries). Extract the video ID from the URL (youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID). Place embeds near the top of the relevant section, before the prose discussion.

Writing Voice

Use the canonical joel-writing-style skill for prose. Key traits: direct, first-person when the claim is actually Joel's, strategic profanity, short paragraphs, bold emphasis, conversational but technical. Never corporate-speak and never fabricate Joel's beliefs or philosophy.

Design System

• Theme: Dark (bg-[#0a0a0a]), neutral grays, --color-claw: #ff1493 (hot pink accent)
• Fonts: Geist Sans (body), Geist Mono (code/data), Dank Mono (code blocks with ligatures)
• Content width: max-w-2xl (672px) — intentionally narrow for reading
• Header: Single row — claw icon + "JoelClaw" left, nav links + search right. No tagline in header.
• Nav items: Writing (/), Cool (/cool), ADRs (/adrs), Network (/network)
• Active nav: White text vs neutral-500 for inactive, detected via usePathname()
• Search: ⌘K dialog using pagefind, type-based icons/badges
• Mobile: Full-screen overlay nav via MobileNav component
• Code blocks: Catppuccin Macchiato theme, rehype-pretty-code
• Sidenotes: Tufte-style CSS sidenotes (pure CSS, no JS)

Key Files

ADR Display Rules

• ADR runtime source is Convex (contentResources with resourceId = adr:<slug>)
• Vault sync still updates repo snapshots under apps/web/content/adrs/
• Project snapshots into Convex with: bun scripts/seed-adrs-discoveries.ts
• The detail page (app/adrs/[slug]/page.tsx) strips the H1 from markdown content because the page already renders the title with ADR number prefix
• Regex: content.replace(/^#\s+(?:ADR-\d+:\s*)?.*$/m, "").trim()

Adding a New Post

1. Draft in Convex (contentResources.upsert, resourceId = article:<slug>, draft: true).
2. Use ISO datetime in date field.
3. Add images to apps/web/public/images/<slug>/ if needed and reference /images/<slug>/... in MDX.
4. Publish by setting draft: false, then revalidate tags + paths (post:<slug>, article:<slug>, articles, /, /<slug>, /<slug>.md, /<slug>/md, /feed.xml, /sitemap.md).
5. Verify route + markdown twin + homepage + feed consistency.

Backfill scripts:

• scripts/seed-articles.ts for article resources
• scripts/seed-adrs-discoveries.ts for ADR + discovery resources

Network Page

The network page (app/network/page.tsx) shows real infrastructure with aliased names. When updating:

1. Check actual system state (kubectl get pods, tailscale status, launchctl print, etc.)
2. Apply OPSEC rules — alias all hostnames, strip ports/IPs/usernames
3. Keep data arrays at top of file for easy updates
4. Status dots: green (Online) with ping animation, yellow (Idle), gray (Offline)