Purpose
The Layout Manager PRD will focus on the builder itself: visual layout composition, component selection, component properties, data-source binding, AI-guided functionality creation, edit history, preview, testing flow, and publish behavior. The topics below are platform-level concerns that affect how the builder operates inside the larger multi-tenant shell, but they are not part of the builder’s core specification.1. Plugin / Module Lifecycle
These topics belong to the broader platform architecture, not the builder PRD:- Module installation
- Activation and deactivation
- Uninstall behavior
- Upgrade and migration rules
- Dependency handling
- Missing extension-point handling
- Failure recovery when a module is removed or replaced
- Long-term compatibility management
2. Screen Ownership and Editable Zones
These topics define what parts of the shell can be edited by which classes of users:- Shell-owned areas versus module-owned areas
- Super User full-screen edit powers
- Agency Admin edit limits
- Future developer-specific edit rules
- Locked regions, protected regions, and extension-point regions
3. Scope of Change
These topics define where edits apply once published:- Global shell-wide changes
- Module-wide default changes
- Agency-level changes
- Agency-client inherited changes
- Tenant-specific overrides
- Page-instance-specific overrides
- Environment-specific differences
4. Inheritance and Override Model
These topics define how changes trickle down through the platform:- Global defaults
- Module defaults
- Agency-level overrides
- Tenant or client-type overrides
- Page-level overrides
- Resolution order when multiple override layers exist
5. Collaboration and Concurrency
These topics govern how multiple people interact with the same artifacts:- Single-editor versus multi-editor model
- Record locking
- Live presence indicators
- Conflict handling
- Review or approval workflows
- Comments and internal collaboration features
6. Event Model and Platform Observability
These topics belong to the shell and platform telemetry layer:- Runtime module events
- Builder action events for auditing
- Publish events
- Rollback events
- Monitoring and tracing across modules
- Event bus governance and observability standards
7. Security and Governance at the Platform Level
These topics affect the entire shell and should be specified globally:- Sensitive capability access rules
- Secret handling policy
- Permission inheritance rules
- Restricted modules or non-editable system surfaces
- AI prompt exposure and data masking policies
- Approval thresholds for high-risk changes
8. Exportability, Portability, and Reuse Across Environments
These topics apply to the platform’s broader module strategy:- Packaging modules for reuse outside the platform
- Duplicating modules across environments
- Copying layouts across agencies or tenants
- Template packaging and distribution
- Version portability and deployment targets
9. Navigation and Information Architecture Registration
These topics belong to the shell and routing system:- How new pages register in navigation
- Sidebar label control
- Route generation
- Hidden pages and internal pages
- Icon assignment
- Cleanup behavior when pages are deleted or disabled
10. Naming and Object Vocabulary Across the Platform
These topics should be resolved in the broader platform PRD so terminology remains consistent:- Module vs plugin vs app
- Page vs screen vs surface
- Capability vs function vs service
- Data source vs binding vs contract
- Draft vs version vs published release
- Extension point vs slot vs mount point
11. Recovery and Failure UX Outside the Builder Core
These topics concern platform-wide resilience:- What happens when a module is removed
- What happens when a dependency is missing
- How the shell handles broken bindings after upgrades
- How users are notified about missing capabilities
- Recovery options across the broader system
12. Long-Term Platform Policy for External Component Ecosystems
The Layout Manager PRD will assume shadcn/ui is the UI foundation and that broader shadcn-compatible components may be used. The broader platform PRD should later define:- How external component sources are approved
- How component updates are governed across the platform
- Versioning and compatibility policy for imported component packs
- Trust and review workflow for third-party additions
Notes for the Layout Manager PRD
The following items remain in scope for the Layout Manager PRD and should not be moved here:- Source of truth for layouts and functionality bindings
- Builder edit history, undo/redo, draft, preview, publish, rollback behavior
- AI permissions and AI workflow stages inside the builder
- Component registration rules needed specifically for builder compatibility
- Data-source binding UX and AI-guided capability creation inside the component properties flow
- Validation gates required before builder publish
- Builder testing flow
- Builder performance expectations