Okay, this is a great point to think strategically about the future evolution of the Autologos Iterative Process Engine. Based on the existing functionality and the improvements we've discussed (and implemented, like code structure and state management refactoring, and the removal of icons), here's a phased roadmap for additional functionality and enhancements: **Guiding Principles for the Roadmap:** - **User-Centricity:** Prioritize features that deliver the most value and improve the user experience for the core task of iterative content refinement. - **Stability & Performance:** Ensure the application remains robust and performant as new features are added. - **Modularity:** Build new features in a way that they are well-encapsulated and don't unduly complicate existing systems. - **Clarity & Intuitiveness:** Maintain and improve the ease of understanding and using the application, especially as more advanced options are introduced. - **Minimalist UI:** Continue with the text-first, icon-free UI approach unless specific, high-value visual cues are deemed necessary and explicitly requested. --- **Phase 1: Deepening Core Functionality & Usability (Short-Term)** This phase focuses on refining existing features, improving user feedback, and strengthening the foundation. - **Enhanced Global Autonomous Mode Transparency:** - **Goal:** Make the dynamic parameter sweep in Global Mode more understandable. - **Features:** - Display read-only, real-time values of Temperature, Top-P, and Top-K being used by the AI for the current iteration in Global Mode. - Potentially a small textual log in the "AI Process Insight" area indicating parameter changes or stagnation nudges. - **Benefit:** Users gain better insight into how the AI's behavior is being modulated. - **Iterative Plan Editor Usability Boost:** - **Goal:** Make plan creation and management more intuitive. - **Features:** - **Drag-and-Drop Reordering of Plan Stages:** Allow users to easily change the sequence of stages. - **Visual Indication of Fixed Global Parameters:** When a plan is active, clearly disable or visually mark the global Model Configuration sliders (Temp, Top-P, Top-K) and reiterate in a tooltip that their values are fixed from the start of the plan. - **Stage Duplication:** Quickly duplicate an existing stage to make minor modifications. - **Benefit:** Faster and more flexible plan construction. - **Granular Loading & Feedback States:** - **Goal:** Provide more detailed feedback during operations. - **Features:** - **File Upload Progress:** For multiple or large files, show per-file or more detailed overall progress instead of just "Reading...". - **Distinct API Call State:** Visually or textually differentiate when the app is waiting for an API response versus when it's processing data locally (e.g., diffing, updating UI). - **Benefit:** Reduced user uncertainty during waiting periods. - **Accessibility (A11y) Polish:** - **Goal:** Ensure excellent accessibility. - **Features:** - Conduct a thorough review focusing on ARIA attributes for dynamic regions (aria-live, aria-busy), keyboard navigation flow, and focus management. - Ensure all custom controls (like sliders, plan stage inputs) are fully accessible. - **Benefit:** Broader usability. - **Performance Checkpoints for Large Data:** - **Goal:** Maintain UI responsiveness with extensive use. - **Features:** - **Log Display Virtualization (If Needed):** If users generate extremely long iteration histories (e.g., 1000+ entries) and notice slowdowns, implement virtualization for the log list. - **Diff Rendering for Very Large Changes:** Stress-test diff rendering with multi-megabyte text changes and optimize if bottlenecks appear (e.g., paginated diffs, more efficient diffing algorithms for specific views). - **Benefit:** Smooth experience even for power users and complex projects. --- **Phase 2: Advanced AI Control & Deeper Analysis (Mid-Term)** This phase introduces more sophisticated ways to interact with the AI and understand its output. - **Stagnation Nudge Transparency & Control:** - **Goal:** Give users more insight and control over stagnation handling. - **Features:** - **UI Feedback for Nudges:** Clearly indicate in the "AI Process Insight" or iteration log when a stagnation nudge was applied. - **(Optional Advanced):** Allow users to adjust nudge sensitivity or disable it in advanced settings. - **Benefit:** Better understanding of AI behavior modification. - **Advanced Plan Stage Capabilities:** - **Goal:** Enable more fine-grained control within iterative plans. - **Features:** - **Targeted Instructions:** Allow plan stages to include a small free-text field for "Specific focus for this stage" (e.g., "Refine the introduction," "Focus on improving conciseness in this section," "Ensure all technical terms are defined"). This would require careful prompt engineering. - **Conditional Stage Execution (Advanced):** Explore simple conditions for running a stage (e.g., "Run if word count > X," "Run if previous stage was 'paragraph'"). - **Benefit:** More powerful and adaptable automated workflows. - **"Explain This Change" Feature:** - **Goal:** Allow users to understand the AI's rationale for specific changes. - **Features:** - In the iteration log, for a given iteration's diff, allow the user to select a portion of the change and ask the AI (via a new, separate API call) to "Explain why this change was made." - **Benefit:** Deeper insight into the AI's decision-making process, educational value. - **Enhanced Text Analytics in Log:** - **Goal:** Provide more metrics about the product's evolution. - **Features:** - Beyond Flesch Reading Ease, consider adding: - Sentiment analysis scores. - Keyword density tracking for user-specified keywords. - Lexical diversity score. - Display these per iteration in the expanded log view. - **Benefit:** Quantitative insights into how the content is changing. - **Saved "Global Mode" Configurations:** - **Goal:** Allow users to save and quickly load different starting parameter sets for Global Autonomous Mode. - **Features:** - Similar to plan templates, allow users to name and save sets of (Temperature, Top-P, Top-K, Max Iterations) for Global Mode. - **Benefit:** Quick switching between different exploration strategies. --- **Phase 3: Extensibility, Collaboration & Sophisticated AI (Long-Term)** This phase looks towards broader integration, potential multi-user scenarios, and cutting-edge AI interactions. - **Project "Branching" or "Alternative Histories":** - **Goal:** Allow users to explore different refinement paths from a specific iteration. - **Features:** - From a log entry, create a "branch" which essentially duplicates the project state up to that iteration, allowing the user to then apply different settings or plans. - A way to manage and compare these branches. - **Benefit:** Non-destructive exploration of different AI strategies. - **AI-Suggested Plan Stages:** - **Goal:** Leverage AI to help users build effective iterative plans. - **Features:** - Based on the initial prompt or current product, allow the user to ask the AI to "Suggest a plan for refining this content." - The AI would output a series of plan stages (format, length, complexity, iterations) that the user could then adopt or modify. - **Benefit:** Reduces manual effort in plan creation, provides expert guidance. - **Basic Collaboration Hooks (If a Backend is Introduced):** - **Goal:** Lay groundwork for potential team use. - **Features (Requires Backend):** - Saving/Loading projects to a shared cloud location. - Simple commenting on iterations visible to other users with project access. - **Benefit:** Enables team-based review and refinement. (This is a significant step requiring backend infrastructure). - **Extensibility - Custom Prompt Components:** - **Goal:** Allow advanced users to customize AI instructions. - **Features:** - An "Advanced Prompting" section where users could override parts of the system instruction or core user instructions, or add custom pre/post-processing rules for AI inputs/outputs. - **Benefit:** Caters to expert users who want fine-grained control over AI interaction. - **Multi-Model Orchestration in Plans:** - **Goal:** Use the best model for each task within a plan. - **Features:** - Allow each plan stage to specify which AI model to use (if multiple compatible models are available and selectable by the user). - **Benefit:** Optimizes quality and cost by using specialized models for specific refinement tasks. --- This roadmap provides a flexible guide. Priorities can be adjusted based on user feedback and development resources. The implemented refactoring of code structure and state management creates a strong base for these future enhancements.