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PRODUCT_SPEC.md

Product name placeholder

Use a neutral working name in code and UI, such as GroupHome. Keep it easy to rename.

Product thesis

Groups remain stuck on WhatsApp-like messengers because switching costs are social, not technical. The product lowers switching costs by making the group itself movable and by making the new home materially better than chat: structured events, files, announcements, member management, tasks, polls, commitments, migration tracking, browser-first access, and no mandatory account on first use.

The product must not become a universal inbox. It must become a command center for group life.

Target users

Primary:

  • sports clubs;
  • school and parent groups;
  • tenant associations;
  • volunteer organizations;
  • local campaigns and civic groups;
  • small professional or nonprofit communities.

Secondary:

  • members who belong to several groups and need a unified action view;
  • admins who want to leave WhatsApp without excluding people.

Positioning

For organizations:

Run your group professionally without forcing members onto WhatsApp.

For members:

See what matters across all your groups without reading every chat.

For admins:

Announcements, events, files, RSVPs, and members in one place.

For anti-lock-in positioning:

Your group should not depend on one company's messenger.

Required product flows

Flow A: Admin creates a group and starts migration

  1. Admin opens app.
  2. Admin creates group with name, description, visibility, and default permissions.
  3. Admin adds seed members manually or imports a simple CSV.
  4. Admin creates invite link.
  5. Admin gets QR-ready URL and WhatsApp reminder copy.
  6. Migration dashboard tracks invited/opened/joined/verified/notification-enabled.
  7. Admin can mark the WhatsApp channel as legacy and set a transition deadline.

Flow B: Member joins without login

  1. Member taps invite link from WhatsApp/email/SMS/QR.
  2. Browser opens join screen.
  3. Member sees group preview and official reason for moving.
  4. Member enters/accepts display name.
  5. Member is assigned a browser session/device.
  6. Member can immediately read official updates and perform one useful action, such as RSVP.
  7. Member is then nudged to save access via recovery email, passkey-ready protection, or browser notifications.

Flow C: Multi-group home

  1. Anna belongs to FC Kreuzberg U12, Class 4B Parents, Tenant Association, and Food Bank Volunteers.
  2. Anna opens Home.
  3. Home shows:
    • missing RSVPs;
    • open votes;
    • tasks assigned to Anna;
    • changed events;
    • important announcements;
    • catch-up summary of chatter.
  4. Anna does not need to open every group chat.

Flow D: Multi-device access

  1. Anna joined on phone.
  2. On PC, Anna opens the app and chooses “Link from existing device.”
  3. PC displays code/QR.
  4. Phone approves the pending device.
  5. PC receives a session.
  6. Anna sees both devices in Me → Devices.
  7. Anna can revoke a device.

Flow E: Self-hosted remote aggregation

  1. Club runs club.example as a group server.
  2. Anna's home server is home.example or the hosted default.
  3. Club server creates a scoped connection token for Anna.
  4. Anna connects club.example to her home server.
  5. Home server syncs structured objects through /api/sync.
  6. Anna's Home dashboard shows club actions alongside other groups.
  7. No group data is replicated peer-to-peer between unrelated servers.

Top-level navigation

Use these nav items:

Home
Calendar
Groups
Files
Me

Chat must not be top-level navigation.

Home screen details

The Home screen must include the following cards/sections:

Needs me

High priority, actionable objects:

  • RSVP required;
  • vote required;
  • task assigned;
  • file requires acknowledgement;
  • direct mention;
  • admin request.

Each card must show:

  • group name;
  • type badge;
  • due date/time if any;
  • primary action button;
  • source server when remote.

Today / Upcoming

Unified agenda with:

  • events;
  • deadlines;
  • changed locations/times;
  • RSVP status;
  • attached file indicators.

Changed since last visit

Examples:

  • event changed;
  • new official announcement;
  • task reassigned;
  • poll result finalized;
  • file uploaded.

Official updates

Announcements and admin posts, separated from discussion chatter.

Catch up

Rule-based summary in MVP:

While you were away:
- 2 official announcements
- 1 event changed
- 3 open actions
- 47 discussion messages

Do not require AI to implement catch-up. AI hooks can be future work.

Group page details

Default group dashboard sections:

Important now
Upcoming
Open actions
Announcements
Files
Discussions
Members/Admin tools

Example for sports team:

FC Kreuzberg U12 Parents
- Match Saturday, RSVP open
- Training moved to Pitch 2
- 3 drivers still needed
- Files: Season schedule, Emergency contacts
- Discussions: Snacks, Carpool

Composer behavior

When creating group content, allow explicit content types:

Announcement
Event
Task
Poll
Question/thread
File
Chat message

MVP can implement simple forms for each type. Later AI can suggest structure from natural language; do not block MVP on that.

Notifications

Implement preferences by type, not only by group.

User settings:

Immediate
- direct mentions
- event changes
- urgent announcements
- tasks assigned to me

Digest
- normal discussions
- new files
- photos/general chatter

Muted
- reactions
- off-topic chatter

UI must make the pitch clear:

Mute the noise, not the group.

Search and files

At MVP level:

  • global file list;
  • by-group filter;
  • simple text search over names/descriptions;
  • upload/download local files;
  • show source server for remote files.

Later enhancements can include full-text search across messages.

Migration kit details

Admin dashboard should show:

31 invited
24 opened
21 joined
14 enabled notifications
4 verified recovery
7 not reached

Generate reminder copy, for example:

23 of 31 people have joined our new group space.
The match schedule, RSVP, and files are now here: {link}
From {date}, official announcements will only be posted there.

WhatsApp export import:

  • accept .txt export;
  • parse basic lines if format is recognized;
  • store as archive items;
  • do not treat imported messages as active verified members;
  • make archive clearly read-only.

Self-hosting and aggregation

Definitions:

  • Group server: canonical owner of one or more groups.
  • Home server: stores a user's personal dashboard config and remote server connections.
  • Remote server connection: scoped link from a home server to a group server.
  • Federation: server-to-server peer network. Explicitly not included.

V2 self-hosting target:

  • A server can be self-hosted by an organization.
  • A user can connect multiple servers to their home profile.
  • A home server aggregates structured objects.
  • Servers expose an open, documented, versioned sync API.
  • Users can export their data/config.

Copy guidelines

Avoid words that create friction:

  • Avoid “register” as first action.
  • Avoid “create account” before value.
  • Avoid “federation” in end-user UI.
  • Avoid “token” in end-user UI.

Use:

  • “Open group”
  • “Join this group”
  • “Save access”
  • “Protect access”
  • “Link another device”
  • “Connect another group server”
  • “Get updates without WhatsApp”

What not to build

  • Do not put chat as the whole product.
  • Do not require the native app.
  • Do not bridge or scrape WhatsApp.
  • Do not make localStorage the source of identity.
  • Do not force all self-hosted servers into one federation.
  • Do not hide important state in chronological messages.