Centered parents and interactive seed selection

Change request: Centered parents and interactive seed selection STV_CR_006
status: implemented
basis: owner
evidence: docs/change-requests/STV_CR_006_centered-layout-and-interactive-seeds.rst
priority: unassigned
verification_state: not_assessed

Record: STV_CR_006. Sequence follows the originating request.

Owner request and workflow

On 2026-10-18 the owner requested two additions before resuming release work: parents centered above their child nodes, and a seedless overview with five stakeholder requirements per page plus an interactive seed-ID input matching existing Needs. The owner explicitly requested stakeholder clarification first, then automated concept creation, review and implementation of a new MVP for owner inspection. That inspection is now complete; the dated acceptance decision is recorded below.

Confirmed intent

  • A single stakeholder parent connected to five equally spaced system children should align above the middle (third) child, rather than the leftmost child.

  • Seedless stakeholder entry pages should contain at most five stakeholders, replacing the current internal page size of 50.

  • Readers should be able to type a Need ID, receive matching existing Needs, and choose a specific starting object without editing RST and rebuilding.

  • Existing hidden-object exclusion, semantic levels, shared-node identity and the 200-visible-node limit remain applicable unless explicitly amended.

Clarified MVP scope and authority

The owner confirmed child-span centering with collision avoidance and shared nodes retained; initially show the project plus its first five stakeholders; provide the picker in every view, match ID/title and require confirmation of an exact existing Need. Confirmation replaces only its own view; invalid input preserves it. Project overview restores the initial overview. The owner authorized this concept/implementation increment as an MVP for inspection. At that point, the new wording and downstream artifacts remained drafts; confirmation of intent and prototype authority did not constitute acceptance. The earlier round-4 acceptance applies to its historical artifact identities.

Impact and handover

Stakeholder changes affect Start from the project when... (STV_SHR_047) (seedless overview), Initially collapse traced o... (STV_SHR_003) (initial collapse exception), Center parents over their v... (STV_SHR_052) (centering) and Select a starting object in... (STV_SHR_053) (interactive selection). Retain Select the starting object (STV_SHR_002), Select multiple starting ob... (STV_SHR_048), Explore a bounded view of a... (STV_SHR_043) and Explain expansions blocked ... (STV_SHR_044) where their existing scope applies.

Revised software requirements Initialize collapsed state (STV_SWR_003), Provide the artificial proj... (STV_SWR_051) and Page stakeholder entry links (STV_SWR_052) implement the initialization/page change. New requirements Center parent boxes with co... (STV_SWR_056) and Confirm local interactive s... (STV_SWR_057) channel the software-local layout and selection obligations directly, without artificial system requirements. Existing Scope state to view roots (STV_SWR_038) isolation still applies. The responsibilities remain Semantic rank layout (STV_SWE_LAYOUT), Accessible view and viewport (STV_SWE_RENDER) and Exploration state engine (STV_SWE_STATE). Contracts and focused verification are in Internal interfaces and model contract, Implementation concept and handover, Implementation verification plan and STV_ADR_006: Centered layout and interactive overview.

Review checks resolve entry-path interactions: the overview counts its project node toward the 200-node cap; all five entries start with ordinary traces collapsed; the picker catalog excludes hidden objects and synthetic roots; confirmation atomically replaces prior state after successful layout; ordinary page changes restore page exploration while explicit overview return starts fresh. Failed input/layout preserves the previous scene, page and viewport. Shared identity and finite semantic ranks take precedence over exact centering. No new dependency, graph payload, server or supported platform is required.

MVP verification on 2026-10-18

The authorized MVP is implemented. Executed checks against the current worktree passed:

  • node --test frontend/src/*/tests/*.test.js: 16 passed, including five-child centering, shared-child collision avoidance, five-entry page boundaries, atomic reseeding and bounded ID/title matching.

  • pytest tests -q -m 'not browser' --tb=short: 33 passed, 19 deselected. Pytest reported two sandbox cache-write warnings; executable checks passed.

  • Firefox interactive_seed_smoke or project_paging or offline_exploration: 6 passed, 11 deselected, using both file and HTTP transport. Paging traversed all 201 entries in 41 pages; selection covered title matching, keyboard confirmation, invalid-input preservation, independent views and overview return.

  • Firefox documentation_visuals or usability_smoke or control_order_smoke: 5 passed, 12 deselected. Published demo and exported state diagram were also visually inspected; screenshots are generated under docs/_build/browser.

  • Sphinx full HTML rebuild with -E -a -W --keep-going: passed. Shared traceability validation: passed. Source and published diagram links: passed. Strict executable coverage inventory: 67 requirements, 68 cases, no unmapped active requirements or unknown IDs.

Browser checks used the implementation virtual environment, installed Firefox and GeckoDriver 0.37.1. Generated runtime JavaScript was rebuilt with node build.js in frontend. The preview is Explore this project’s traces; these are development checks, not qualification of a new release distribution. Verification fields remain not_assessed pending criterion review and full release validation. Full qualification and release approval remain separate from the completed owner inspection and concept acceptance.

Preserve the complete failed 0.2.0-candidate-1 execution. Its four browser test failures and passing suites remain actual historical evidence, independent of this new feature request. Further full release qualification is deferred.

Owner approval and accepted concept

On 2026-10-18 the owner approved the inspected MVP, explicitly released the current stakeholder requirements and requested completion of concept acceptance. Concept review round 6: accepted centered-layout and seed-selection amendment accepts the four stakeholder revisions, five software revisions, ADR 006 and affected design contracts. The provisional review history above and round 5 are preserved. No verification state is promoted by this acceptance; the failed release record is retained unchanged.