Canon Garden — Roadmap

Product focus

A calm place to make complex story worlds

Canon Garden helps creators make, connect, remember, review, protect, learn, and safely share detailed fictional worlds.

Creators should face one useful next action, understand the section before using it, and always be able to export, recover, or sign out.

The authoritative build order lives in docs/Roadmap.md. This page is its public visual summary.

Main principle

Many signals, one useful next action

Canon Garden absorbs complexity so the creator only has to face one useful next step.

Trust and safe access first. World truth second. Learning alongside every feature. Advanced guidance later.

Canon Garden is not an RPG or a world simulator.

Private application shell provides My Worlds, Help, Account, and reliable Sign out.
Story Worlds hold Cards, connections, World Details, canon, history, learning, export, and settings.
Canon Garden Learning System teaches each major section before first use.
Predictive Guidance remains completed technical groundwork but its display is deferred until the beta foundation passes.
Publication and export remain explicit, safe, and creator-controlled.

Progress estimates

How far along is Canon Garden?

These are planning estimates rather than calculated engineering metrics. They were reset after security, navigation, learning, layout, and unaided-testing requirements were recognised as private-beta foundations rather than finishing work.

Platform foundation Complete 98% In progress 1% Not done 1%

Private creator system Complete 82% In progress 10% Not done 8%

Core creator product Complete 70% In progress 15% Not done 15%

Learning and first-use system Complete 20% In progress 20% Not done 60%

Account security and lifecycle Complete 38% In progress 22% Not done 40%

Usability and accessibility proof Complete 23% In progress 17% Not done 60%

Full Canon Garden vision Complete 49% In progress 10% Not done 41%

Build phases

Done, current, and later

The trustworthy canon, authoring, publication-safety, Canon Application, Guide, deterministic Predictive Guidance, shared private shell, First World Spark, and CSS authority foundations are built. The current programme is Private Beta Foundation.

Done

Foundation

Storage, validation, deployment, access, ownership, safe routes, and exports.

Done

V1 creator foundation

Cards, relationships, lifecycle, Canon Ledger, knowledge policy, and proofs.

In progress

Private Beta Foundation

Focused Story World structure, three-world capacity, protected account lifecycle, progressive learning, Practice World, testing, and recovery.

Later

Predictive Guidance display

Display and integrate the completed deterministic result only after the product around it is understandable and proven.

Later

V3 World Conversation

Natural-language entry, proposed structure, creator review, and existing canon controls.

Later

V4 story and world use

Story, chronology, continuity, geography, genre, recovery, and controlled connected-world references.

Later

V5 creator-owned world spaces

Richer world homes, permissions, safeguards, interoperability, wider publishing, and post-beta paid capacity.

Done

Completed foundations

What is already built

File-first and authenticated platform foundation.
Cards, type-aware fields, relationships, lifecycle, revisions, and validators.
Append-only Canon Ledger contract, schema, validator, and Card integration rules.
Knowledge and visibility policy, safe public projection, routes, and portable export.
Creator Studio with Create → Save → Edit → Connect.
Guidance Profile, Guidance Exposure, Simplification Engine, Clarity Layer, and Hidden Technical Help.
World Details UI, storage, editing, and gentle validation.
File-first publication preview, decision, preparation, application, persistence, unpublish, and rollback.
Canon Application Foundation through authenticated V2.69 production proof.
Guide V0.6 product-language repair and First-use Journey V0.2 checklist.
V2.70 Predictive Guidance candidate contract, schema, deterministic fixtures, and structural validation.
V2.71 deterministic Predictive Guidance runtime with exact blockers, ranking, staleness, suppression, and empty results.
Shared private shell, reliable Sign out, authenticated private-route smoke proof, and return to protected login.
Static five-step First World Spark with creator-accepted visual reward and final Card preview.
One private CSS authority with generated Clarity CSS and explicit route-derived surface hooks.

Known boundary

Publication bridge

What is not joined yet

File-first publication safety and D1 Canon Application are both proven. A direct D1 accepted-canon to public-projection bridge is not yet proven.

Historical implementation record retained so focused feature validators continue to prove their original roadmap integration without controlling current sequencing.

Built: private creator world index.
Built: generic creator workspace.
Built: Simple, Standard, and Deep views over one projection.
Built: creator-facing read-only Cards surface.
Built: creator-facing read-only Canon Ledger history surface.
Built: creator-facing read-only Story Bridge surface.
Built: creator-controlled Guidance Profile surface.
Built: creator-facing Simplification Engine surface.
Built: creator-facing Hidden Technical Help surface.
Built: creator-facing Preview-before-publication surface.
Built: creator-controlled publication decision surface.
Built: validated creator-controlled publication preparation flow. This is the validated publication preparation boundary.
Built: creator-controlled publication application flow.
Built: safe publication persistence, explicit unpublish, and exact rollback flow.
Built: complete publication safety sequence through preview, decision, preparation, application, persistence, unpublish, and rollback.
Historical V2.41 checkpoint: Prepared projected-card entries remain non-routable until an explicit final application transition reaches applied state.
Historical V2.41 handoff: Next: safe publication persistence and deployment handoff. Completed in V2.42.
Historical authoring-rebalance checkpoint: Current: first real Creator Studio authoring loop.
Historical authoring-rebalance handoff: Next: Create a draft Card, save it, reopen and edit it, connect it to another Card, and show the result back in the workspace.
Built: Creator Studio entry and Create → Save draft Card flow.
Built: creator account foundation with internal account identity, names, and useful creator preferences.
Built: first-time creator onboarding for preferred name, guidance, and timezone.
Built: Name Your World flow through private shell creation, exact ownership binding, and Studio entry.
Built: reopen and edit saved draft Cards while preserving the same Card identity.
Built: connect saved Cards using the existing relationship vocabulary.
Built: Connected Card results in the private creator workspace.
Built: type-aware optional Card fields with atomic private storage, edit prefill, type switching, and structured Studio draft display.
Built: Add to this Card contextual creation for adding a detail or atomically creating a connected Card from existing draft context.
Built: relationship editing with stable identity, exact resource scope, duplicate safety, and production-proven persistence.
Built: validation feedback with private read-only creator feedback and honest partial-state handling.
Built: review-toward-canon flow with exact evidence fingerprints, creator review notes, current readiness, and stale-state detection.
Built: Clarity Layer Foundation with semantic roles, plain-language status translation, progressive-disclosure rules, accessibility requirements, shared presentation primitives, and shared styling contracts.
Built: Clarity Layer Application across My Worlds, Studio, Create Card, Edit Card, Connect Cards, Validation Feedback, and Review toward canon.
Built: Guidance Exposure mode proof with Guided, Assisted, Explorer, and Expert working styles over the same draft Card and save path.
Built: World Details UI inside the existing draft Card edit path.
Built: World Details storage beside the same private draft Card with gentle optional-field validation.
Built: World Details reopen, edit, resave, same-Card identity preservation, and hidden Guided-mode value preservation.
Built: V2.61 gentle advisory World Details validation with non-blocking direction-conflict review and optional weather/effects next question; production proof passed 2026-07-08.
Built: V2.62 Predictive Guidance design review with evidence taxonomy, candidate rules, blocker precedence, uncertainty, staleness, privacy, and creator-authorship boundaries.
Built: V2.63–V2.69 Canon Application Foundation complete through deterministic transition planning, private Ledger write planning, guarded application, creator decision UI, validation proof, accepted-state hardening, and authenticated production proof.
Built: Guide V0.5 as one complete beginner path through Cards, connections, canon, Fragments, World Details, and glossary.
Built: First-use Journey V0.1 near the top of Creator Studio, using existing drafts, World Details, and relationships to show one current step.

Done

Trustworthy creator foundation

V1 proved the path from private world material through checks, lifecycle, Canon Ledger, safe projection, routes, and export.

In progress

Current programme

Private Beta Foundation

Done: product-language reset and Private Beta Foundation authority.
Done: reliable Sign out, shared private navigation, core private-route smoke proof, First World Spark judgement, and private CSS authority.
Current: redesign the Story World home and divide the accumulated Studio page into focused sections.
Next: enforce three real Story Worlds per private-beta account and add non-destructive export.
Next: implement closure delay, protected deletion, recovery, and anti-harvesting controls as separately guarded lanes.
Next: build Foundations, practical readiness checks, Practice World, progressive modules, and exact manual/wiki links.
Then: test desktop, mobile, keyboard, accessibility, security, and recovery.
Then: run an unaided creator usability test and repair all blockers.

Later

After beta foundation

Predictive Guidance display and integration

Display one already-selected deterministic result, teach its evidence and uncertainty, integrate it into one natural Story World location, and preserve the no-mutation boundary.

Later

World Conversation foundation

Natural-language entry, proposed structure, creator review, existing save and Canon Application paths, and no silent canon change.

Later

Deeper story and world-use capabilities

Scene planning, continuity, chronology, travel consequences, Genre Compass, manuscript recovery, project continuity, and controlled connected-world references.

Later

Creator-owned world spaces and interoperability

Richer world homes, public and private doorways, collaboration safeguards, portable formats, wider publishing, and post-beta paid additional world capacity.

Later

Trials and release

Invited private beta and public release preparation

Run the invited beta only after the foundation passes, repair evidence from real use, verify incident response and erasure procedures, decide exact release scope, and resolve the D1 canon/publication bridge decision.

Summary

Build order

Done Build the trustworthy platform and V1 creator foundation.
Done Build the private Creator Studio authoring, review, publication-safety, and Canon Application workflow.
Done Define the V2.70 Predictive Guidance result contract and deterministic runtime through V2.71.
Done Close the product-language reset and Private Beta Foundation authority.
Done Add reliable Sign out, shared navigation, First World Spark proof, private-route smoke proof, and the private CSS authority.
In progress Redesign the Story World home and Studio information architecture.
In progress Add three-world capacity, non-destructive export, and protected account lifecycle lanes.
In progress Build Foundations, Practice World, progressive learning, and exact Help links.
Later Complete desktop, mobile, accessibility, security, and recovery proof.
Later Run an unaided creator test, repair blockers, and begin invited private beta.
Later Display and integrate Predictive Guidance after the beta foundation passes.
Later Add optional action handoff and grounded interpretation only if still justified.
Later Build World Conversation capture, extraction, and creator review.
Later Build deeper story, connected-world, creator-space, interoperability, and broad public-release capabilities.