Feature Discussion: CV and Section Reset

[rorar]

Feature Discussion: CV and Section Reset

Context

Users sometimes make extensive edits to their CV that don't work out, or they want to start fresh on a specific section. Currently, recovering a previous state requires:

• Manually undoing changes one by one
• Loading a saved dataset (if one exists)
• Starting completely from scratch

This is time-consuming and frustrating, especially when versioning CVs or import goes wrong (e.g. import JSON parsed from PDF from a external LLM).

Proposed Solution

Add two reset capabilities:

1. Section-Level Reset

Reset a single section to its default/empty state while preserving the rest of the CV.

Use cases:

• Bulk import created duplicate/wrong entries → start fresh on that section only
• CV duplication for a new job application → After duplicating a CV in CV Manager, often only specific sections need to be cleared and rebuilt for the new role. For example:
  • Duplicated CV for a new position → clear and rebuild experience with role-specific highlights
  • Changed career direction → reset summary and experience to tailor messaging
  • Different tech stack required → clear skills to start fresh

Scope: Affects one section (experiences, education, certifications, skills, projects, custom sections).

2. Full CV Reset

Reset the entire CV to the default dataset, discarding all unsaved changes.

Use cases:

• Made too many changes to track
• Want to start completely fresh
• Testing different approaches

Note: This should require explicit confirmation and clearly state it doesn't affect saved datasets.

UX Design

Section Reset

1. User clicks Trash Icon OR section edit button
2. If using edit button: Modal opens - Sees "Reset Section" option with warning icon
3. If using Trash Icon AND/OR over edit button -> Edit Section Modal -> Buttom "Reset Section"; Confirmation modal: "This will clear all [section name]. Continue?"
4. Section resets to empty/default state

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Reset Section                              │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                             │
│  ⚠️ This will clear all experiences.        │
│     This action cannot be undone.           │
│                                             │
│  [Cancel]              [Reset Experiences]  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Full CV Reset

1. User opens CV Manager or Settings or Profile menu
2. Sees "Reset CV" option with danger styling
3. Confirmation modal with explicit checkbox: "I understand this cannot be undone"
4. CV resets to default dataset state

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Reset Entire CV                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                             │
│  ⚠️ This will reset ALL sections:           │
│     • About / Profile                       │
│     • Experience (0 items)                  │
│     • Education (0 items)                   │
│     • Skills (0 items)                      │
│     • ...                                   │
│                                             │
│  ☐ I understand this cannot be undone       │
│                                             │
│  [Cancel]                    [Reset CV]     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Technical Approach

Existing Infrastructure (Verified in Code)

The codebase already has the building blocks for reset functionality:

Pattern	Endpoint	Purpose
Dataset duplication	POST /api/datasets	Copy entire CV as new version
Individual item delete	DELETE /api/experiences/:id	Delete single item (with logo cleanup)
Dataset load	POST /api/datasets/:id/load	Replace current data from saved dataset
Import	POST /api/import	Bulk import with section-level control

Section Reset

Proposed approach (please verify): Use existing POST /api/import endpoint with empty arrays for the target section.

async function resetSection(sectionName) {
    const sectionMap = {
        experiences: 'experiences',
        education: 'education',
        certifications: 'certifications',
        skills: 'skills',
        projects: 'projects',
        customSections: 'customSections'
    };
    
    const payload = { [sectionMap[sectionName]]: [] };
    
    const res = await fetch('/api/import', {
        method: 'POST',
        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
        body: JSON.stringify(payload)
    });
    
    if (res.ok) {
        await refreshUI();
        toast(t('toast.section_reset_success'));
    }
}

Why not DELETE endpoints?

• DELETE /api/experiences/:id requires an ID (individual items only)
• No DELETE /api/experiences (bulk delete) exists
• Import with empty array achieves the same result cleanly

Note: Logo cleanup is handled by the import logic—logos are only deleted when no other items reference them.

Full CV Reset

Proposed approach (please verify): Load the default dataset (which is typically empty or minimal), or use import with all-empty sections.

async function resetFullCV() {
    // Option A: Load default dataset
    const defaultDs = await api('/api/datasets/default');
    if (defaultDs?.id) {
        await fetch(`/api/datasets/${defaultDs.id}/load`, { method: 'POST' });
        location.reload();
    }
}

Or a dedicated endpoint if we want to reset to a true empty state:

app.post('/api/cv/reset', (req, res) => {
    const resetData = db.transaction(() => {
        // Clear user content
        db.prepare('DELETE FROM experiences').run();
        db.prepare('DELETE FROM education').run();
        db.prepare('DELETE FROM certifications').run();
        db.prepare('DELETE FROM skills').run();
        db.prepare('DELETE FROM skill_categories').run();
        db.prepare('DELETE FROM projects').run();
        db.prepare('DELETE FROM custom_section_items').run();
        db.prepare('DELETE FROM custom_sections').run();
        db.prepare("DELETE FROM section_visibility WHERE section_name LIKE 'custom_%'").run();
        
        // Reset profile to empty
        db.prepare(`UPDATE profile SET name = '', title = '', subtitle = '', bio = '', 
                    location = '', linkedin = '', email = '', phone = '', languages = '' 
                    WHERE id = 1`).run();
    });
    
    try {
        resetData();
        res.json({ success: true });
    } catch (err) {
        res.status(500).json({ error: err.message });
    }
});

Preserved on reset:

• saved_datasets (all saved CV versions)
• settings (language, theme, date format)
• Profile picture files

UI Placement

Action	Location
Section Reset	If using Trash Icon AND/OR over edit button -> Edit Section Modal -> Buttom "Reset Section"
Full CV Reset	User opens CV Manager or Settings or Profile menu

Key Decisions

Decision	Rationale
Use existing import endpoint	Avoids creating new API routes; leverages POST /api/import with empty arrays
No undo for resets	Simpler implementation; datasets serve as backup (undo could be a separate feature)
Section-level granularity	More useful than full reset for most cases
Danger styling for full reset	Clear visual warning for destructive action
Preserve settings/datasets	User's language, theme, and saved work should be safe
Logo cleanup handled automatically	Import logic only deletes logos when no items reference them

Out of Scope

• Undo/redo functionality (could be a separate feature)
• Version history (beyond saved datasets)
• Selective item deletion (already exists via edit modal)
• Reset to a specific saved dataset (already possible via datasets panel)
• Partial section resets (e.g., delete every other item)

References

• Import endpoint: src/server.js:2988 (POST /api/import) — handles empty arrays for reset
• Dataset load: src/server.js:2677 (POST /api/datasets/:id/load) — full data replacement
• Individual item delete: src/server.js:2244 (DELETE /api/experiences/:id) — includes logo cleanup
• Dataset duplication: src/server.js:2556 (POST /api/datasets) — version_group param creates new version