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Frontend Architecture Guide for IntentKit

This guide outlines the architecture for the IntentKit frontend, designed for self-hosted, single-user agent management.

1. Technology Stack

We use a modern, "T3-ish" stack optimized for developer experience and AI-assisted coding.

• Framework: Next.js 15+ (App Router)

  • Mode: Static Export (output: 'export'). The frontend is compiled to pure HTML/CSS/JS and served by the FastAPI backend. No Node.js server is required in production.
  • Language: TypeScript.

• UI System: Shadcn/ui + Tailwind CSS

  • Shadcn/ui: Headless components (Radix UI) with Tailwind styling. Components are copied into src/components/ui, allowing full customization.
  • Tailwind CSS: Utility-first CSS framework for rapid styling.
  • Icons: Lucide React.

• State Management:

  • TanStack Query (React Query) v5: Manages server state (fetching agents, chat history, status polling). Handles caching, loading states, and revalidation.
  • Zustand: Manages global client-side UI state (e.g., sidebar toggle, active theme) if necessary.

• Communication:

  • REST API: Standard CRUD operations via fetch or ky.
  • Server-Sent Events (SSE): For real-time streaming of LLM responses from the agent.

2. Directory Structure

frontend/
├── public/             # Static assets
├── src/
│   ├── app/            # Next.js App Router pages
│   │   ├── layout.tsx  # Root layout (providers, sidebar)
│   │   ├── page.tsx    # Dashboard / Agent List
│   │   └── agents/
│   │       └── [id]/   # Agent Detail & Chat Interface
│   ├── components/
│   │   ├── ui/         # Shadcn primitive components (Button, Input, etc.)
│   │   └── features/   # Business logic components (ChatWindow, AgentCard)
│   ├── lib/            # Utilities
│   │   ├── api.ts      # API client configuration
│   │   └── utils.ts    # Helper functions (cn, etc.)
│   ├── hooks/          # Custom React hooks
│   └── types/          # TypeScript definitions
├── next.config.ts      # Next.js configuration
├── tailwind.config.ts  # Tailwind configuration
└── package.json

3. Key Design Patterns

Data Fetching

• Use TanStack Query hooks (useQuery, useMutation) for all API interactions.
• Do not use useEffect for data fetching.
• Define query keys in a centralized factory or consistent pattern (e.g., ['agents', id]) to enable easy invalidation.

Streaming (Chat)

• Use the native fetch API or a lightweight wrapper to handle SSE streams from FastAPI.
• Maintain a local message list state that appends chunks as they arrive.

Component Composition

• Prefer Composition over Inheritance.
• Keep components small and focused.
• Use Shadcn components as building blocks.

4. Development Workflow

1. Prerequisites: Node.js 24+.
2. Setup: npm install.
3. Run: npm run dev.
   • The frontend runs on localhost:3000.
   • API requests to /api/* are proxied to the FastAPI backend running on localhost:8000 (configured in next.config.ts).

5. Deployment (Self-Hosted)

1. Build: npm run build.
   • This generates a static out/ directory.
2. Serve:
   • The FastAPI backend mounts the out/ directory as static files.
   • The backend serves index.html for the root path and handles SPA routing fallback (if necessary, though static export usually relies on hash routing or specific file serving).

6. Rules for AI Agents

• Shadcn First: When asked to create UI, always prefer using existing Shadcn components from src/components/ui. If a component is missing, instruct the user to install it via npx shadcn@latest add <component>.
• Tailwind Only: Do not write custom CSS files or modules. Use Tailwind classes.
• Type Safety: Ensure all props and API responses are strictly typed.