THEORY / ATLAS

A living map of socialist thought — ideas, thinkers, texts, tendencies, debates, and the relationships between them.

This repository holds the public site, a relational content model in which relationships and sources are first-class data, the Atlas Editorial Desk — a multi-user publishing system with roles, review workflow, revisions, rich text, sources and media — and a small set of clearly marked sample records that demonstrate the system. It is built as a machine for holding the theory, not yet as the theory itself.

Quick start

npm install
npm run dev          # migrates + seeds data/atlas.db on first run, then starts http://localhost:3000
npm run corpus -- setup   # optional: load the committed research corpora (Initial Marx Corpus, Guided journeys)

data/*.db is not in Git, so a new checkout starts with the sample records only. npm run corpus -- setup imports the corpora committed under corpus/ into your database, for review in the desk: it applies migrations, imports each corpus that is not there yet (prerequisites first), submits it for review and publishes nothing. It leaves a corpus that is already present untouched, so it is safe to run again. See docs/CORPUS.md.

• Public site: http://localhost:3000
• Editorial desk: http://localhost:3000/admin. In development npm run dev creates four demo accounts, one per role — [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] — all with the password atlas-demo-2026. They are never created in production; create real accounts with npm run user:create.

Command	What it does
npm run dev / build / start	Next.js (each ensures the database exists first)
npm run typecheck	TypeScript, no emit
npm run test:e2e	Playwright suite (public site, editorial workflow, desk, mobile) against a throwaway data/test.db
npm run db:reset	Delete the local database, migrate and re-seed the samples
npm run db:migrate / db:seed / db:reindex	Individual database tasks
npm run corpus -- setup	Import the committed research corpora that this database does not have yet (unpublished, submitted for review)
npm run db:generate	Generate a migration after editing src/lib/db/schema.ts
npm run user:create -- --email … --name … --role admin	Create a desk account (prints a generated password once unless --password is given)
npm run user:list	List desk accounts

Copy .env.example to .env.local to configure the database URL and the media folder.

Deploying

1. Set DATABASE_URL (and DATABASE_AUTH_TOKEN for libSQL/Turso) and MEDIA_DIR (a persistent folder for uploads).
2. npm run build && npm start — migrations run automatically before both.
3. Create the first administrator: npm run user:create -- --email [email protected] --name "Your Name" --role admin. Administrators then manage everyone else from People in the desk.

What's here

Area	Route	Notes
Home	/	What the site is, a prominent search, Guided beside it with other ways in; the collection as a table of contents (every section at equal weight); concepts at three depths; open debates; texts and lives; Guided journeys and learning paths; the Theory Map as a plate; historical moments; method
Library	/explore	Thinkers, concepts, tendencies, debates, texts and periods, each with its own visual treatment
Theory Map	/map	The relationship map as an atlas plate: by time or by affinity, thinkers alone or with concepts or tendencies; a key and the most-connected entries
Geography	/geography	A world map of where the tradition lived and worked: birthplaces, residence, exile, political activity, where texts were written and published, events and regional influence; filters by kind of entry, kind of association and period; select a place, or trace an entry's places in order
Thinkers	/thinkers, /thinkers/[slug]	Lifespan index with tendency filters; entry with ideas, network graph, works, influences, disagreements, legacy, timeline
Concepts	/concepts, /concepts/[slug]	A–Z glossary; entry with a descending depth reader (30 seconds → 5 minutes → deep dive), primary texts, debates, related-concept constellation
Debates	/debates, /debates/[slug]	Positions side by side; compare two or more to see shared and divergent stances; arguments and counterarguments
Timeline	/timeline, /timeline/[slug]	Zoomable (century / half-century / decade) multi-lane timeline with contextual panel; vertical list on phones
Texts, tendencies	/texts…, /tendencies…	Catalogue and traditions
Guided	/guided, /guided/[slug]?step=n	Curated journeys through existing entries, one step at a time: where you are, the idea (with its depth reader), why it matters, a source excerpt, and where it leads; progress and Continue kept in the browser, and a line under the masthead leads back to the route from anywhere else on the site

This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗