Ghost Light

An iOS app that helps an actor find a monologue. See docs/BUILD-SPEC.md.

Status

step	what	state
0	Results spike — dark stage, tilt + scroll spotlights, 20 fixtures	built
1	Onboarding — 3 swipeable screens, silent anon session	built
2	Search home — hero field, stage-direction filter chips	built
3	Live results wired to /api/monologues/search	blocked — search needs auth (see below)
4	Read — light paper canvas, "lights up"	built
5	Auth on first save (Apple / Google)	not started
6	Saves & prep (offline sqlite)	not started
7	Paywall (RevenueCat)	not started — build last

Everything built typechecks (npm run typecheck) and bundles (npx expo export --platform ios). Nothing yet validated on a device — see below.

Two things need you

1. The in-hand feel test (Step 0). The tilt spotlight has no accelerometer in the simulator and 60fps in a sim means nothing. Run on your phone and judge whether the tilt reads as a stage light and the lit-card scroll feels like looking, not scanning. This is the one unproven assumption the whole product rests on. npx expo run:ios --device.
2. Enable anonymous sign-ins on Supabase. Dashboard → project actorrise → Authentication → Sign In / Providers → Anonymous → on. Verified disabled today (anonymous_provider_disabled). Until it's on, the silent session doesn't mint and live search stays 401 — so Step 3 waits on it. The app degrades gracefully in the meantime (runs session-less, results screen shows fixtures).

Run it

npm install
npm run ios      # builds a dev client and launches the simulator

Expo Go will not work — Skia and Reanimated worklets need custom native code, and IAP will need it later regardless.

Judge this on a real device. The tilt spotlight does not exist in the simulator (no accelerometer) and 60fps in a simulator means nothing.

npx expo run:ios --device        # pick your phone from the list

What to look for

• Tilt the phone. Does the light on the back wall read as a lamp in a room, or as a parallax effect? It should feel like the phone is a window, not a gyroscope demo.
• Scroll slowly. The card at the focus point lights; its neighbours fall toward stage dark but stay readable. You should be able to read the two Courier lines of an unlit card without fighting for it.
• Scroll fast, then flick. No stutter, no lag between the scroll and the light.
• The haptic ticks once per card as the light moves. Too much? Too little?
• Turn on Settings → Accessibility → Motion → Reduce Motion. The bulb stops flickering, the spotlight freezes centred, every card is lit. Nothing should feel broken — just still.

What it is not

Not a swipeable card deck. Actors judge a monologue by reading it, so the text is the point and it stays legible. Not a demo of Skia. The light is emphasis; the words are the product.

Next

Step 1 (onboarding) does not start until Step 0 feels good. The build order in spec §5 is deliberate.