NomadArch/dev-docs/MVP-PRINCIPLES.md

# MVP Development Principles

## Core Philosophy

**Focus on functionality, NOT performance.**

The MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is about proving the concept and getting feedback. Performance optimization comes later, after we validate the product with real users.

---

## What We Care About in MVP

### ✅ DO Focus On:

1. **Functionality**
   - Does it work?
   - Can users complete their tasks?
   - Are all core features present?

2. **Correctness**
   - Does it produce correct results?
   - Does error handling work?
   - Is data persisted properly?

3. **User Experience**
   - Is the UI intuitive?
   - Are loading states clear?
   - Are error messages helpful?

4. **Stability**
   - Does it crash?
   - Can users recover from errors?
   - Does it lose data?

5. **Code Quality**
   - Is code readable?
   - Are types correct?
   - Is it maintainable?

### ❌ DON'T Focus On:

1. **Performance Optimization**
   - Virtual scrolling
   - Message batching
   - Lazy loading
   - Memory optimization
   - Render optimization

2. **Scalability**
   - Handling 1000+ messages
   - Multiple instances with 100+ sessions
   - Large file attachments
   - Massive search indexes

3. **Advanced Features**
   - Plugins
   - Advanced search
   - Custom themes
   - Workspace management

---

## Specific MVP Guidelines

### Messages & Rendering

**Simple approach:**

```typescript
// Just render everything - no virtual scrolling
<For each={messages()}>
  {(message) => <MessageItem message={message} />}
</For>
```

**Don't worry about:**

- Sessions with 500+ messages
- Re-render performance
- Memory usage
- Scroll performance

**When to optimize:**

- Post-MVP (Phase 8)
- Only if users report issues
- Based on real-world usage data

### State Management

**Simple approach:**

- Use SolidJS signals directly
- No batching
- No debouncing
- No caching layers

**Don't worry about:**

- Update frequency
- Number of reactive dependencies
- State structure optimization

### Process Management

**Simple approach:**

- Spawn servers as needed
- Kill on close
- Basic error handling

**Don't worry about:**

- Resource limits (max processes)
- CPU/memory monitoring
- Restart optimization
- Process pooling

### API Communication

**Simple approach:**

- Direct SDK calls
- Basic error handling
- Simple retry (if at all)

**Don't worry about:**

- Request batching
- Response caching
- Optimistic updates
- Request deduplication

---

## Decision Framework

When implementing any feature, ask:

### Is this optimization needed for MVP?

**NO if:**

- It only helps with large datasets
- It only helps with many instances
- It's about speed, not correctness
- Users won't notice the difference
- It adds significant complexity

**YES if:**

- Users can't complete basic tasks without it
- App is completely unusable without it
- It prevents data loss
- It's a security requirement

### Examples

**Virtual Scrolling:** ❌ NO for MVP

- MVP users won't have 1000+ message sessions
- Simple list rendering works fine for <100 messages
- Add in Phase 8 if needed

**Error Handling:** ✅ YES for MVP

- Users need clear feedback when things fail
- Prevents frustration and data loss
- Core to usability

**Message Batching:** ❌ NO for MVP

- SolidJS handles updates efficiently
- Only matters at very high frequency
- Add later if users report lag

**Session Persistence:** ✅ YES for MVP

- Users expect sessions to persist
- Losing work is unacceptable
- Core functionality

---

## Testing Approach

### MVP Testing Focus

**Test for:**

- ✅ Correctness (does it work?)
- ✅ Error handling (does it fail gracefully?)
- ✅ Data integrity (is data saved?)
- ✅ User flows (can users complete tasks?)

**Don't test for:**

- ❌ Performance benchmarks
- ❌ Load testing
- ❌ Stress testing
- ❌ Scalability limits

### Acceptable Performance

For MVP, these are **acceptable:**

- 100 messages render in 1 second
- UI slightly laggy during heavy streaming
- Memory usage grows with message count
- Multiple instances slow down app

These become **unacceptable** only if:

- Users complain
- App becomes unusable
- Basic tasks can't be completed

---

## When to Optimize

### Post-MVP Triggers

Add optimization when:

1. **User Feedback**
   - Multiple users report slowness
   - Users abandon due to performance
   - Performance prevents usage

2. **Measurable Issues**
   - App freezes for >2 seconds
   - Memory usage causes crashes
   - UI becomes unresponsive

3. **Phase 8 Reached**
   - MVP complete and validated
   - User base established
   - Performance becomes focus

### How to Optimize

When the time comes:

1. **Measure First**
   - Profile actual bottlenecks
   - Use real user data
   - Identify specific problems

2. **Target Fixes**
   - Fix the specific bottleneck
   - Don't over-engineer
   - Measure improvement

3. **Iterate**
   - Optimize one thing at a time
   - Verify with users
   - Stop when "fast enough"

---

## Communication with Users

### During Alpha/Beta

**Be honest about performance:**

- "This is an MVP - expect some slowness with large sessions"
- "We're focused on functionality first"
- "Performance optimization is planned for v1.x"

**Set expectations:**

- Works best with <200 messages per session
- Multiple instances may slow things down
- We'll optimize based on your feedback

### Collecting Feedback

**Ask about:**

- ✅ What features are missing?
- ✅ What's confusing?
- ✅ What doesn't work?
- ✅ Is it too slow to use?

**Don't ask about:**

- ❌ How many milliseconds for X?
- ❌ Memory usage specifics
- ❌ Benchmark comparisons

---

## Summary

### The MVP Mantra

> **Make it work, then make it better, then make it fast.**

For CodeNomad MVP:

- **Phase 1-7:** Make it work, make it better
- **Phase 8+:** Make it fast

### Remember

- Premature optimization is the root of all evil
- Real users provide better optimization guidance than assumptions
- Functionality > Performance for MVP
- You can't optimize what users don't use

---

## Quick Reference

**When in doubt, ask:**

1. Is this feature essential for users to do their job? → Build it
2. Is this optimization essential for the feature to work? → Build it
3. Is this just making it faster/more efficient? → Defer to Phase 8

**MVP = Minimum _Viable_ Product**

- Viable = works and is useful
- Viable ≠ optimized and fast