mznotes/design.md

• CLI API

  • mznotes install : Install a script into the database
  • mznotes show : Show the information about a particular node, by ID

• Database of nodes + code

  • Code

    • Code is all interface-based. Interface implementations give specific ways behaviors are implemented

    • Standard interfaces:

      • Indexed

  • Node definition

    type Node = {
      metadata: KVStore,
      interfaces: Set<InterfaceURI>,
      edges: Set<(EdgeType, Edge)>,
    }
    

    • Within the metadata kv store, keys are namespaced, according to the application name. Application names must be registered ahead of time

    • Nodes implement interfaces, the code of which is fetched from the internet and validated

    • Nodes are namespaced, although namespacing isn't the primary hierarchy protocol.

      • This is needed because the database itself has a privileged namespace
        • The privileged namespace is for keeping track of database state, for example which scripts are trusted

  • Database service:

    • IFTTT Events

      • Local vs. distributed IFTTT events?
        • Local means that ur particular device is repsonsible for running it
        • Distributed means any device can consume the event???
          • is this even a good idea? Maybe just have one dedicated worker device. For example, may not want to run certain automation tasks on phone, while others may only be able to be run on phone

    • Cron tasks

      • Sync protocol:
        • After a modification, the modification gets written to a queue
        • CRDT?

• Other privileged concepts:

  • User: a pub/priv key pair

• Sample apps

  • Content / blob storage

    • Exposed interfaces

      • Content
        • upload() -> Writer
        • get(node_id : NodeId) -> Reader
      • Writer
        • next_chunk(Vec<u8>)
      • Reader
        • next_chunk() -> Vec<u8>

  • Personal journaling (like Logseq)

  • Weight / fitness tracking

  • Calendar app (store events)

  • Git app (store code)

  • File backup

  • Chat / Mail?

  • Photo viewer + indexing using ML models for face detection / keywords

  • Not sure yet:

    • Automatic sharing of database nodes? This seems like a bad idea for multiple reasons. Maybe better to just have a specific app for doing permission models

• Other concerns

  • Local protection using libsecret?

  • Migrations?

    • If an application needs to migrate its data format, should we formalize this?
      • Data migrations that don't need to create / delete nodes, only metadata

  • Have the frontend also shipped with the backend?

    • Subset of React components to typecheck against