Artifact

Glitch-aesthetic album cover generator. Procedural 3D primitives, emoji and image layers, 30+ GPU shader effects, node-graph composition, seeded randomness, aspect ratio support, and equirectangular environment map export.

Stack

• React Router v7 (SPA mode, ssr: false) + TypeScript + Vite
• HTML5 Canvas 2D — base rendering pipeline
• PixiJS 7 (WebGL) — GPU shader effects per effect layer
• Three.js — 3D primitive rendering (sphere, cube, cylinder)
• React Flow — node-graph composition canvas
• XState v5 — node canvas interaction state machine
• localStorage — active document state and preset system
• IndexedDB — imported image assets, local project snapshots, and recovery drafts

Routes

Path	File	Description
/	apps/web/app/routes/home.tsx	Landing page with animated hero covers
/app	apps/web/app/routes/generator.tsx	Main generator: canvas, layers, export
/examples	apps/web/app/routes/examples.tsx	Curated examples with live previews
/docs/nodes	routes/docs.nodes.tsx	Task-oriented node, source, and effect docs

Layer system

The generator uses a layered CanvasDocument. Each layer is one of eight kinds:

Kind	Description
emoji	Seeded scattered emoji field with density/size/blur
image	Dropped/pasted image — cover/contain/tile/free fit, alpha, blend
text	Free-positioned text with font, size, blend, rotation
fill	Solid colour fill with blend mode
effect	30+ GPU shaders applied as a compositing pass
primitive	3D sphere/cube/cylinder with camera, materials, lighting
noise	Procedural noise texture (value, clouds, cells)
array	Geometric array motif (line, grid, radial)

Layers render bottom-to-top (index 0 is drawn first). Effect layers are non-destructive compositing passes: Canvas 2D effects run first, then a PixiJS GPU pass is applied to the accumulated stack.

Node-graph composition

In addition to the classic layer-stack view, a node canvas lets you wire layers into a directed acyclic graph. Nodes:

• Layer nodes — one per layer, kind-specific preview and controls inline
• Merge nodes — blend two branches with blend mode + opacity
• Color nodes — contrast / brightness / saturation / hue correction
• Repeat nodes — stamp any upstream branch into line, grid, or radial motifs
• Export node — the output that feeds final render and export
• Graph areas — serializable organization metadata shown as node overlays and layer-panel folders; areas do not change render order

The node canvas owns its own interaction state machine (nodeCanvasMachine, XState parallel machine). Regions: selection (idle / nodeSelected / edgeSelected) and overlay (none / contextMenu / gallery).

Rendering pipeline

renderDocument(doc, W, H, imageCache) is exported from apps/web/app/utils/renderer.ts. That file is the public facade; implementation details live under apps/web/app/utils/render/.

1. Choose graph mode or stack mode. Stack mode infers a linear graph from the layer list so both paths share renderer semantics.
2. Draw the document background.
3. Resolve the target branch and apply visible layers, sources, and effects:
   • emoji → seeded scatter, LCG sub-seed per layer
   • text → Canvas 2D text with scale/rotation/blend
   • image → cover / contain / tile / free-fit with alpha
   • fill → full-canvas fillRect with blend mode
   • primitive → Three.js offscreen render via primitiveRenderer.ts
   • noise / array → Canvas procedural sources, with workerized noise where supported
   • effect → Canvas 2D effects and/or PixiJS WebGL filters

Pixel-like parameters scale from a 540px reference size so x1/x2/x3 exports keep the same composition and effect density as preview.

GPU shader passes (apps/web/app/utils/pixiFilters.ts)

Canvas 2D output is blitted to a RenderTexture, then GLSL filters run in order within each effect layer:

Group	Effects
Warp	Mirror, Data Mosh, Interlace, Noise Warp, Liquid Morph, Vortex, Barrel, Chunk Tear
Colour	Pixelate, Posterize, Hue Shift, RGB Split, Duotone, Halftone, Riso Misregistration
Overlay	Bloom, Vignette, Film Burn, Neon Glow, Sepia, Infrared, Bleach Bypass

All shaders use normalized UV coordinates so effects are resolution-independent.

3D primitive rendering (apps/web/app/utils/primitiveScene.ts, apps/web/app/utils/primitiveRenderer.ts)

Geometry, material, lights, and camera are defined once in primitiveScene.ts. Both the live viewport (PrimitiveViewport3D) and the offscreen export renderer call the same scene helper — preventing preview/export drift.

Committed camera state (PrimitiveViewportState) is stored as graph metadata and passed alongside the document as render options. It is not written into primitive layer tilt fields, so export always matches the node/gallery preview.

Aspect ratio and export

Four aspect ratios: 1:1 (1000×1000), 4:5 (1080×1350), 9:16 (1080×1920), 16:9 (1920×1080). Preview scales the longest edge to 540px. Export at ×1/×2/×3 multiplies the base dimensions.

Seeded randomness

LCG RNG (apps/web/app/utils/lcg.ts). Each layer gets an independent sub-seed via XOR constants. The RAND button (randomDocument) generates a full document: random aspect ratio, a seeded emoji layer, and 2–8 randomized preset-based effect layers drawn from focused effect presets, all color-keyed to a shared base hue.

Image persistence

Current (SPA, no server)

Method	Where stored	Shareable
Download (JPEG/PNG)	User's disk	Via file sharing
Active document	localStorage	No
Presets	localStorage	No
Imported image payloads	IndexedDB asset records	Hydrated into .artifact.json or share links when possible
Local projects and recovery drafts	IndexedDB project records	No
.artifact.json	User's disk	Yes, via file sharing
?doc= share links	URL query string	Yes, but large hydrated images can make links heavy

The CanvasDocument JSON is the canonical source of truth. Image layers keep a serializable src; local imports are migrated to artifact-asset://... references when possible so active localStorage documents stay small.

Future (fullstack with DB)

Recommended pattern: store CanvasDocument JSON in Postgres, render + upload a JPEG to object storage, store the CDN URL.

covers (
  id         uuid primary key,
  user_id    uuid references users,
  doc        jsonb,       -- CanvasDocument
  image_url  text,        -- CDN URL of rendered JPEG
  aspect     text,        -- '1:1' | '4:5' | '9:16' | '16:9'
  seed       int,
  created_at timestamptz
)

Stack option	Notes
Supabase (Postgres + Storage + Auth)	Easiest for solo/small team. RLS out of the box.
Neon / PlanetScale + Cloudflare R2	More control, cheap egress.
Cloudflare Workers + R2 + D1	Edge-native, zero cold starts; natural fit for an SSR-less app.

Features

• Eight layer kinds: emoji, image, text, fill, effect, primitive, noise, array
• Node-graph composition with merge, color, repeat, and export nodes, plus graph-area organization overlays
• Photoshop-style layer stack: add, reorder, rename (inline), toggle visibility, duplicate, delete
• Drag-and-drop / paste image import with downscaling and IndexedDB asset storage
• 3D primitives: sphere, cube, cylinder — drag to rotate, wheel to zoom, camera lock
• Free-fit images: move outside canvas, uniform scale via trackpad/scroll, independent X/Y scale sliders
• Focused effect presets: light, signal, texture, warp, tone, and print effects are stacked independently, each with its own controls
• Aspect ratio: 1:1 / 4:5 / 9:16 / 16:9 selector
• Export at ×1 / ×2 / ×3 as JPEG or PNG
• Save/open full editable documents as .artifact.json
• Environment map export — 4096×2048 equirectangular PNG (Blender-ready)
• Preset system: save/load/delete, renderer-backed thumbnails, localStorage (max 20)
• Local project library with IndexedDB snapshots and thumbnails
• Curated example documents, including graph-first examples and layer-first starter recipes
• prefers-reduced-motion respected throughout
• LogoGlyph — animated navbar logo: random emoji with randomly-selected GPU effect variant (CRT glitch, riso, static-to-signal, phosphor bloom, pixel disintegration, or interactive trigger) picked on each page load

Dev

npm install
npm run dev        # React Router dev server for @artifact/web
npm run build      # production build
npm run build:ci   # CI alias for production build
npm run favicon    # optional local bitmap favicon generation
npm run format     # Biome format + import organization
npm run format:check
npm run typecheck  # react-router typegen + tsc
npm run lint       # ESLint
npm test           # web Vitest suite
npm run test:api   # API Vitest suite
npm run test:browser:install # install Playwright Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit
npm run test:browser # focused desktop browser/WebGL tests plus mobile smoke
npm run perf:node-editor # opt-in node editor performance benchmark
npm run check      # format check + lint + web/API typecheck + web/API tests

Deploys to Vercel from the repo root via the @artifact/web workspace: react-router build → apps/web/build/client/.

apps/web/public/favicon.svg is the committed production favicon. apps/web/public/favicon.png is an optional generated local bitmap and remains ignored.

Architecture docs

Document	Purpose
docs/state-model.md	State ownership: what lives where and why
docs/rendering.md	Rendering pipeline: Canvas 2D + PixiJS + Three.js
docs/node-editor.md	Node canvas interaction model and state machine
docs/app-structure-guidelines.md	Component boundaries, state ownership, and refactor rules
docs/effect-development.md	Checklist for effect controls, metadata, renderer, and docs
docs/testing.md	Testing strategy: unit, render parity, GPU smoke tests
docs/performance.md	Node-editor benchmark workflow and render performance notes
docs/improvement-plan.md	Phased quality checklist and exit criteria
docs/roadmap.md	Product and architecture roadmap
docs/version-plans/v0.11.md	v0.11 layer workflow and onboarding acceptance plan
docs/version-plans/v0.12.md	v0.12 examples, recipes, docs, and effect coverage acceptance plan
docs/version-plans/v0.13.md	v0.13 AI generation research and architecture acceptance plan
docs/version-plans/v0.13-backend-contract.md	v0.13 VPS backend API, schema, queue, and storage contract
docs/version-plans/v0.14.md	v0.14 editor beta, layer workflow, onboarding, and local-first reliability acceptance plan
docs/version-plans/v0.15.md	v0.15 visual clarity and cross-browser confidence acceptance plan
docs/version-plans/v0.16.md	v0.16 editor workflow polish, debug hygiene, and visual-system consolidation plan
docs/version-plans/v0.17.md	v0.17 creative controls, shared Add Library, and renderer-backed menu previews plan
docs/production-readiness.md	Release gate, manual QA checklist, and feature intake split

Project structure

apps/
  api/                       # VPS backend scaffold for v0.13 AI generation
    src/
      contracts.ts           # Endpoint paths and backend-facing contract types
      config.ts              # Environment parsing
      server.ts              # API process entry point
      worker.ts              # Worker process entry point
      db/                    # Future migrations/repositories
      providers/             # Future OpenAI/xAI/mock adapters
      storage/               # Future file/object storage adapters
  web/                       # Vercel React Router app workspace
    app/
      root.tsx               # App shell, global nav, fonts
      routes.ts              # Route definitions
      routes/                # Landing, generator, examples, node docs
      components/            # UI and feature components
      hooks/                 # Web app orchestration hooks
      utils/                 # Renderer, graph helpers, persistence, export
      types/                 # CanvasDocument, Layer, graph, factory types
      test-fixtures/         # Render parity fixtures and Canvas 2D pixel tests
    public/                  # Deployed static assets
packages/
  shared/                    # Browser/server-neutral API contract types