docs/ARCHITECTURE_PIVOT.md

# Browser-First Era Archive

This document marks the architectural pivot from **browser-first** (Muse Alpha v0.2) to **board-first** (RefStudio v1.0).

## What was the browser-first approach?
- Main workspace was a web browser with tabs
- Sidebar navigation between Home/Browser/Library/Board/Settings views
- Board was a secondary view accessed from the sidebar
- Image hover overlay injected into browser tabs for saving references
- Ad-blocking engine for browsing comfort

## Why the pivot?
The core use case is **reference organization**, not web browsing. Artists need:
- An infinite canvas as the PRIMARY workspace (like PureRef)
- Browser as a TOOL (embedded panel) to find references, not the main UI
- Zero-friction image capture from browser → canvas
- Always-on-top mode for overlaying references while working in art apps
- Click-through transparency for tracing

## What's preserved from browser-first era?
- Rust adblock engine (`adblock/` module)
- Tauri child webview architecture for embedded browser
- Image download + library persistence (`library.rs`, `persistence.rs`)
- Board item CRUD (`board.rs`)
- SQLite migrations
- Credentials/stronghold setup

## New architecture (board-first / RefStudio)
- Infinite canvas is the main and only workspace
- Browser panel slides in from the right as a capture tool
- Library panel slides in from the left for asset management
- Three.js GPU-accelerated image rendering with shaders
- Annotations (freehand drawing) directly on canvas
- Text notes with rich formatting
- Image cropping, flipping, grouping, desaturate
- Minimap for navigation
- StarterHub for project management
- Always-on-top + click-through + opacity control

## Files archived
The previous `artifacts/musealpha-production.zip` contains the browser-first build.
The `ui-prototype/` directory contains the browser-first prototype.
The source in `src/` and `src-tauri/` is now being replaced with the board-first architecture from `uiprototype2/`.