recoll-modern/PRODUCT.md

Product

Stub, not an interview. Every fact below is taken verbatim from the project brief that opened this repository, or marked as undecided. Nothing here was confirmed in an /impeccable init interview. Run /impeccable init before the first UI work and let it replace this file.

Platform

web

Stack

The backend stack was confirmed during the 001 design and implemented: Python + FastAPI, managed with uv, because Recoll provides native Python bindings. The frontend stack remains undecided, and no web UI has been built. See docs/DECISIONS.md for the decision and AGENTS.md for installed toolchains.

Users

Undecided — not yet interviewed. From the brief, the product is self-hosted on a server the user controls, which implies a technical operator running it for themselves or a small group. Confirm before designing around it.

Product Purpose

A layer on top of Recoll, a Linux desktop full-text search and indexing tool. It exists to give Recoll a modern, sleek interface, to run as a hosted service rather than a desktop app, and to hold several independent document collections at once (stated examples: techbooks, cookbooks).

Positioning

Recoll's own interfaces are a desktop GUI and a basic bundled web UI, both single-index and single-machine. This product's stated difference is a hosted, multi-collection service with a modern interface and an MCP server, so the same index is usable by a person in a browser and by an AI agent.

Operating Context

• Deployed with Docker on a server; used through a browser.
• Collections map to bodies of documents the user keeps, named by subject.
• A second consumer is an MCP client (an AI agent), searching the same collections programmatically.
• After the hosted product through spec 004 is delivered, a cross-platform installable desktop form is a product goal. It should reuse the web UI and API rather than create a second product surface.

Capabilities and Constraints

Confirmed from the brief:

• Full-text search and indexing, provided by Recoll.
• Multiple named collections, managed independently.
• Web UI, served from a Docker deployment.
• MCP server exposing the same search capability.

Spec 001 settled authentication, cross-collection search, indexing triggers, and API result fields. UI presentation and filter coverage beyond the shipped container remain undecided. See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for the implemented shape.

Brand Commitments

Working name: recoll-modern. No logo, palette, typography, or voice has been established. "Modern and sleek" is the only stated aesthetic constraint — recorded as-is, not expanded.

Evidence on Hand

None. No screenshots, copy, sample collections, user research, or existing interface exist in this repository. Future work must not fabricate any.

Product Principles

Undecided — these are derived from a confirmed interview, which has not happened. Leaving this section empty is deliberate; do not invent principles to fill it.