Skip to main content
This document captures the topics deliberately set aside from the Layout Manager PRD so they can be addressed in the broader platform PRD.

​
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
This document exists only to keep the Layout Manager PRD focused while preserving the unresolved platform-level concerns for the future platform PRD.
Last modified on April 20, 2026