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Daniel Boles edited this page Oct 29, 2026 · 1 revision

Mirrored from specs.md (content sha256 766a78bcf633) by scripts/Sync-Wiki.ps1. Edit the source, not this page -- the next sync overwrites it.

BachelorPad+ v1 Master Specification

1. Product definition

BachelorPad+ is a cross-platform Rust-native semantic text-processing appliance for:

  • Windows 10
  • Windows 11
  • Linux

It must remain usable as a very fast plain-text editor when all semantic, notebook, research, clipboard-history, and cloud-connected features are disabled.

Canonical positioning:

BachelorPad+ — Notepad when you want it. More when you need it.

Brand direction: original retro-futurist consumer appliance, drawing from mid-century and 1970s visions of future domestic technology, exaggerated convenience products, industrial labels, status lamps, chunky panels, and deadpan appliance humor. It must not copy names, logos, props, characters, typography, dialogue, fictional companies, or distinctive assets from any existing entertainment property.

2. Default filename grammar

<Semantic Title>_<DDMMMYYYY>.<extension>

Example:

Rust Migration Notes - UE AI Editor Suite_16AUG2026.txt

Rules:

  • date is creation date by default
  • month is uppercase English abbreviation
  • semantic title is human-readable
  • invalid filesystem characters are sanitized
  • collision suffix _02, _03, ...
  • intentional revision suffix _v2, _v3, ...
  • semantic rename and physical move always require explicit user approval

3. Status bar

The status bar can expose:

  • save state
  • last successful disk save time
  • last recovery checkpoint
  • full path
  • format
  • encoding
  • line endings
  • line/column
  • zoom
  • validation state
  • record count
  • semantic-index state
  • security state
  • theme

Example:

✓ Saved 8:05 PM │ Markdown │ UTF-8 │ CRLF │ Ln 42, Col 18 │ Semantic: Current │ G:\Notes\BachelorPad Research_16AUG2026.md

Unsaved:

● Unsaved │ Recovery 12 sec ago │ Last disk save 8:01 PM │ Markdown │ G:\Notes\...

A recovery checkpoint must never be shown as a successful disk save.

4. Core editor

Required:

  • tabs
  • new/open/save/save-as/save-copy/save-all
  • drag-and-drop
  • command-line opening
  • open multiple files in tabs
  • rope or comparable large-text buffer
  • undo/redo
  • structural undo where practical
  • multi-cursor
  • column selection
  • line numbers
  • word wrap
  • folding
  • indentation guides
  • duplicate/move/sort/remove-duplicate lines
  • date/time insertion
  • go-to-line
  • zoom

5. Large files and Rust-specific performance

Required:

  • large-file detection
  • memory-mapped read-only mode
  • streaming search
  • incremental rendering
  • read-only initial handling for very large files
  • parallel multi-file analysis
  • non-blocking background operations
  • high-performance recursive search
  • streaming structured-data processing
  • content-addressed revision history where practical
  • compression for historical/recovery data

6. File safety

Required:

  • atomic save
  • flush and verification path
  • external-change watcher
  • compare/reload/keep-mine/save-copy flow
  • crash-safe edit journal
  • session recovery
  • autosave/recovery checkpoints
  • revision history
  • hashing/integrity verification

7. Formats

First-class support:

  • TXT
  • Markdown
  • YAML/YML
  • JSON
  • JSONL/NDJSON
  • TOML
  • INI
  • CSV/TSV
  • XML
  • HTML/CSS
  • Rust
  • Python
  • PowerShell
  • Shell
  • SQL
  • JavaScript/TypeScript
  • LOG
  • IPYNB

Format profiles:

  • Plain Text
  • Markdown
  • Structured Data
  • Tabular Data
  • Source Code
  • Notebook
  • Log
  • Research Note

8. Markdown

  • source/preview/split
  • outline
  • heading operations
  • links/images/tables/checklists/code blocks
  • citations/footnotes
  • table of contents
  • heading normalization
  • export HTML/PDF

9. Structured data

YAML

  • validate
  • format
  • sort keys
  • duplicate-key detection
  • outline/folding
  • JSON/TOML conversion

JSON

  • raw/tree/split
  • validate
  • pretty/minify
  • sort keys
  • structural selection
  • JSONPath-like copying

JSONL / NDJSON

  • streaming validation
  • record count
  • malformed-record detection
  • field extraction
  • schema inference
  • deduplication
  • statistics
  • filter/sort/query
  • table view
  • JSON/CSV conversion

CSV / TSV

  • delimiter detection
  • table/raw views
  • column typing
  • filtering/sorting
  • statistics
  • missing values
  • duplicate rows
  • JSON/JSONL conversion

10. Semantic layer

Three layers:

  1. deterministic extraction
  2. local statistical/NLP models
  3. optional generative model providers

Capabilities:

  • title generation
  • filename generation
  • document classification
  • topics
  • keywords
  • entities
  • project inference
  • summaries
  • tags
  • related notes
  • duplicate and near-duplicate detection
  • folder suggestions
  • semantic search
  • hybrid lexical + semantic search
  • semantic diff

Semantic features must be optional. The editor may not depend on cloud AI.

11. Organization model

Canonical work model:

project
  -> task
    -> step
      -> prompts/rosettas
        -> artifacts
          -> metadata
            -> database
              -> note

For document organization:

workspace
  -> project
    -> topic
      -> document
        -> section
          -> cell
            -> artifact

Virtual organization must not require moving physical files.

12. Notebook and execution

Required:

  • optional notebook mode
  • plain text, Markdown, Python, Rust, PowerShell, SQL, Shell and Raw cells
  • run selection
  • run cell / all / above / below
  • stop execution
  • split/merge/move/duplicate/collapse cells
  • mixed-language notebooks
  • Jupyter .ipynb import/export
  • raw notebook JSON view
  • output types: text, tables, JSON, HTML, images, charts, errors, files

Security rule: never auto-run an opened or pasted notebook/cell.

13. Rust-aware commands

When applicable:

  • Rust scratchpad
  • cargo check
  • cargo test
  • cargo fmt
  • cargo clippy
  • run current crate
  • open Cargo.toml

BachelorPad+ remains a text appliance, not a full IDE.

14. Clipboard

Context menu includes:

  • Paste
  • Paste Special
  • Clipboard History
  • Windows native clipboard history where available
  • BachelorPad+ local clipboard panel
  • pinned items
  • search
  • type detection
  • format-aware paste transformations

Potential types:

  • plain text
  • Markdown
  • JSON
  • YAML
  • URL
  • path
  • code
  • structured data

Persistent clipboard history is opt-in.

15. Security and cryptography

Required security concepts:

  • .bpadx encrypted file format
  • passphrase protection
  • Argon2id KDF
  • established AEAD encryption implementation
  • platform-neutral encrypted format
  • Windows DPAPI/key protection where appropriate
  • Windows Hello-assisted unlock where supported
  • Linux secret-service/keyring integration where supported
  • per-document security profiles: Standard, Private, Confidential, Maximum, Custom
  • Privacy Mode
  • encrypted recovery
  • encrypted edit journals
  • encrypted revision history
  • secure clipboard
  • timed clipboard clearing
  • secret scanning
  • auto-lock
  • document hashing
  • digital signatures
  • redaction
  • metadata inspector
  • security audit history
  • semantic privacy controls
  • security inspector
  • sensitive-memory wrappers/zeroization where practical

No custom cryptography.

16. Themes

Built-ins:

  • Light
  • Dark
  • Organic
  • Green
  • Follow System

Customizable:

  • editor
  • menus
  • tabs
  • status bar
  • borders
  • accent
  • syntax colors
  • notebook cell colors
  • semantic indicators

Themes should be data-driven and user-editable.

17. Retro-futurist brand

The optional BachelorPad+ personality mode may use original appliance terminology such as:

  • Semantic Filing Apparatus
  • Automatic Document Identification
  • Recall Engine
  • Clipboard Retention Chamber
  • Emergency Recovery System
  • Cryptographic Containment
  • Heavy-Duty Text Intake

A Standard and Minimal personality mode must also exist.

18. Main menus

File
Edit
View
Insert
Format
Data
Note
Notebook
Organize
Research
Run
Security
Tools
Help

Menus are context-sensitive.

19. Default editor integration

Windows 10/11

BachelorPad+ registers supported file types and capabilities and guides the user through supported Windows default-app selection. Do not replace or patch notepad.exe.

Association presets:

  • Notepad Replacement
  • Text + Notes
  • Text + Structured Data
  • Developer
  • Everything Supported
  • Custom

Linux

Register a .desktop application and supported MIME types; use standards-based MIME/default-app mechanisms.

CLI:

bachelorpad file.txt
bachelorpad --line=427 server.log
bachelorpad --help

bp_config::cli::FLAGS is the home for what the command line accepts, and --help renders from it, so this block deliberately shows shapes rather than a list -- a second list is a list that goes stale (ADR-0054).

Two flags this section used to show are gone, and neither was a decision when it was written:

  • --large-file is deleted. ADR-0027 and ADR-0030 make size decide how a document opens, from metadata, before a byte is read; a flag forcing it is either a no-op or a worse answer than the automatic one.
  • --readonly is not a flag. Read-only is a property of a document, not of an invocation -- the huge-document viewer is already read-only and Security > Lock Document already exists. It wants a design pass, and project/WORK_QUEUE.md has it.

The bpad short spelling this block also showed is kept and unbuilt: it is a second name for the same executable, which is something an installer creates rather than something the product does. It belongs to phase 20 with the rest of the artefact, and is listed there rather than here.

20. Cross-platform architecture

Shared Rust core with platform adapters:

  • bp-platform
  • bp-platform-windows
  • bp-platform-linux

Windows-only services must not leak into the portable core.

21. Local metadata

SQLite recommended for:

  • documents
  • versions
  • projects
  • topics
  • entities
  • tags
  • relationships
  • semantic metadata
  • embeddings
  • filename candidates
  • file events
  • recovery sessions
  • clipboard items
  • notebook cells
  • artifacts
  • security events
  • signatures
  • integrity checks
  • settings

Sensitive metadata follows the document security profile.

22. Performance targets

Targets, not guarantees.

Startup is two separately observable events, and conflating them hid a 129 ms window with a 411 ms blank interior behind a single passing number. See ADR-0017.

  • time to window < 150 ms cold — window on screen, themed, titled
  • time to first interaction < 250 ms cold — content drawn, accepting keys
  • warm startup < 75 ms where practical
  • idle RAM < 50 MB target

Measured on the real application by scripts/Measure-Startup.ps1. As of 2026-08-17, with the software renderer: 36 ms to window, 19.2 MB idle. Time to first interaction is not yet measurable under that renderer.

Throughput and responsiveness:

  • 1 MB text: effectively instant
  • 10 MB: near-instant
  • 100 MB: comfortably usable
  • multi-GB: usable in large-file mode
  • typing latency: imperceptible
  • background save: non-blocking
  • core network requirement: none

23. Testing

Required:

  • unit
  • integration
  • property
  • fuzzing
  • security tests
  • performance benchmarks
  • crash/recovery tests
  • malformed parser inputs
  • corrupted ciphertext
  • wrong-passphrase and authentication-failure tests
  • large-file tests
  • default-association integration tests

24. Threat-model categories

  • stolen device
  • malicious files
  • local-user exposure
  • clipboard leakage
  • plaintext recovery
  • cloud transmission
  • secret persistence
  • notebook code execution
  • plugin/integration abuse
  • metadata leakage
  • file corruption
  • external modifications

25. Definition of done

BachelorPad+ v1 is complete when it delivers the features above as a coherent cross-platform product while retaining the simple path:

Open
  -> Type
    -> Ctrl+S
      -> Safe

Generated from dboles99/bachelorpadplus_rust@feat/phase-01-foundation-ui by scripts/Sync-Wiki.ps1. Licence: GPL-3.0-only.

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