tts-workshop/docs/architecture.md

Architecture & Dependencies

Scope: The system's architecture and dependency graph. For implementation details (files, endpoints, build order), see implementation-plan.md. For the rationale behind key decisions, see decisions.md.

Overview

A lightweight, client-only pnpm monorepo that lets a user search the Tabletop Simulator Steam Workshop, fetch full TTS save files, and analyze their contents. It is split into four packages with a strict layering: a thin HTTP proxy on top, a low-level fetcher, an isomorphic analysis layer, and a shared types/validation package.

Design principles

• Client-only & lightweight — no caching layer, no shared server state.
• Fetch vs analyze separation — packages/tts only fetches and parses; packages/extract only analyzes. Neither depends on the other's concerns.
• Isomorphic analysis — packages/extract runs in browser and Node, using only fetch, Blob, and typed arrays (no Buffer, no Node-only packages).
• Thin proxy — the HTTP layer exposes search and fetch only; traversal is intentionally not exposed as endpoints.

Package responsibilities

Package	Role	Runtime
apps/web	React frontend: search + mod pages	Browser
apps/proxy	Hono HTTP server: search + fetch endpoints	Node
packages/tts	Fetch save from Steam, BSON-parse to TTSMod	Node
packages/extract	Analyze a TTSMod: objects, refs, assets	Isomorphic
packages/shared	Shared types + zod schemas	Isomorphic

Dependency graph

apps/web ──► apps/proxy ──► packages/tts ──► packages/shared
      │            │            │
      │            │            └──► (fetchMod → TTSMod)
      │            ▼
      └──► packages/extract ──► packages/shared (types)

Edges

• apps/web → apps/proxy — calls /search, /items/:id, /items/:id/file, and /asset (CORS-safe asset proxy) over HTTP.
• apps/web → packages/extract — uses buildTree / collectRefs to analyze a loaded TTSMod in the browser (tree sidebar + asset refs).
• apps/proxy → packages/tts — calls fetchMod / getFileName to serve item requests.
• apps/proxy → packages/shared — uses shared types and zod schemas for request/response validation.
• packages/tts → packages/shared — consumes TTSMod / TTSObject types.
• packages/extract → packages/tts — reuses traverseMod (traversal logic lives in extract; see note below).
• packages/extract → packages/shared — consumes shared types.

Note on traverseMod: traversal is analysis, so it lives in packages/extract. packages/tts is fetch-only. The graph edge extract → tts reflects that extract imports the traversal helper that was originally authored alongside the fetcher; tts does not depend on extract.

Layering rules

• No upward dependencies — packages/* never import apps/*.
• No sibling coupling beyond the graph above — extract and tts do not depend on each other's analysis/fetch concerns.
• packages/shared is the leaf — everything depends on it; it depends on nothing internal.

External dependencies

Package	Purpose	Used by
hono	HTTP framework	apps/proxy
@hono/node-server	Node adapter for Hono	apps/proxy
@hono/cors	CORS middleware	apps/proxy
bson	BSON deserialization of TTS save files	packages/tts
cheerio	Workshop browse page scraping	apps/proxy
zod	Runtime validation	apps/proxy, packages/shared
three	3D rendering	apps/web
@react-three/fiber	React renderer for three.js	apps/web
@react-three/drei	three.js helpers (controls, textures)	apps/web
@react-three/postprocessing	Post-processing effects	apps/web

Runtime constraints

• cheerio is backend-only — it never appears in packages/extract, which must stay isomorphic.
• bson is Node-only — used by the fetcher, not the analysis layer.
• packages/extract has zero external runtime deps — it relies only on platform fetch / Blob, keeping it portable to a future frontend.

Tooling dependencies

• typescript (strict), tsx (dev runner), eslint, prettier.
• vitest (unit tests), colocated as *.test.ts next to sources.
• vite, @vitejs/plugin-react, tailwindcss, @tailwindcss/vite — frontend build/dev tooling.
• pnpm workspaces for package management.

Deployment / runtime shape

• The proxy runs as a single Node process via @hono/node-server.
• apps/web is a static Vite build served separately; during development it proxies /search, /items, /health, and /asset to the proxy.
• packages/extract is published/consumed as a plain ESM module usable from a browser bundle or Node.
• No shared state between requests; each request fetches fresh.