Tearaway

Every morning, something fun and a little smart waits for your kid on paper.

Tearaway is the parent web app for a kitchen strip (58mm thermal today; US Letter / N80 next). Parents configure a kid profile (name, age band, paper size → slots, print time, weather, watchlist, calendar). Kids never log in — they are profiles, not accounts (COPPA).

This MVP is a local demo: no auth, no Stripe, no secrets, no real printer. Config lives in data/store.json (seeded from data/store.sample.json).

Quick start

cd /workspace/tearaway-app
npm install
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000.

Production build:

npm run build
npm start

Parent UI routes

Path	What
/	Marketing home
/app	Dashboard — live strip/letter preview, Generate new strip, recent preview history, Print now
/app/setup	Create a kid (name + age band + paper size + starter modules)
/app/modules	Paper size → fixed slots; add modules into slots; in-order / random when a slot has 2+
/app/settings	Timezone / print time, weather, watchlist, calendar; tier stub (modulePoolLimit)

Aliases that redirect: /dashboard → /app, /setup → /app/setup, /modules → /app/modules, /settings → /app/settings.

Paper size → slots (per kid)

paperSize and slots live on each kid (not global kitchen settings). Kitchen settings.paperSize is only the default for newly created kids.

Paper size	Slots	Preview
strip58	4	Classic ~384px thermal strip
letter	7	Wider ~612px letter-ish page (2-column body)

Flow on /app/modules:

1. Choose paper size → slot count updates
2. Select a slot → click modules in the library to add
3. If a slot has 2+ modules, pick mode in order or random
4. Each generate / print resolves one module per non-empty slot from that mode

Empty slots are skipped at generate time; save requires at least one filled slot.

Slot resolution

• 0 modules → skip
• 1 module (or mode single) → that module
• many + in_order → moduleIds[cursor % length]; cursor advances after each successful Generate / Print now (persisted in store.json)
• many + random → seeded RNG from date + kid first name + nonce + slotId (reshuffle changes outcome)

Legacy flat kid.modules: ModuleId[] is still written (unique pool across slots) and migrated into slots on read if slots is missing.

Generate new strip

On /app, Generate new strip bumps the per-kid nonce, regenerates the preview (random slots reshuffle; in-order slots use the current cursor then advance), and keeps the last 3–5 previews for comparison. Print now saves a job using the current seed and slot picks, then advances in-order cursors. Refresh preview reloads without bumping the seed or cursors.

Subscription / pool limit (stub only)

settings.modulePoolLimit: number | null — null unlocks all first-party modules (MVP). Later tiers can cap how many unique modules sit in a kid’s pool. No Stripe / payments in this build. Settings shows a short note.

Firmware / print-job contract

The parent UI is not required for printing. Later firmware (ESP32 + Oreilet 58mm) can HTTP-fetch today’s strip.

URL	What
GET /api/render?kid=<id>	HTML of today’s strip (default format=html)
GET /api/render?kid=<id>&format=png	PNG preview (strip width today)
GET /api/render?kid=<id>&format=json	Structured PrintJob (sections + meta; no HTML)
GET /strip/<id>	Same HTML strip in a page (iframe preview)
GET /api/print-jobs/preview	Generate for the active kid (no persist; no cursor advance)
POST /api/print-jobs/reshuffle	Bump nonce + preview + advance in-order cursors
POST /api/print-jobs/print-now	Generate + save queued job + advance in-order cursors
GET /api/print-jobs/latest	Last queued job for the active kid
GET / PUT /api/store	Read / patch JSON store
GET /api/weather	Open-Meteo snapshot (falls back to mock offline)

Query params for /api/render

• kid (required) — profile id, e.g. demo-sam
• date (optional) — YYYY-MM-DD. Default: today in the kid’s timezone
• format (optional) — html | png | json

Example: /api/render?kid=demo-sam&date=2026-09-16&format=png

No ESC/POS yet. No talk to a real printer. HTML/PNG/JSON is the handoff.

Modules (deterministic content)

Content is seeded by date + kid first name + nonce. Same inputs → same strip. Bumping the nonce (Generate new strip) reshuffles without changing the day. Multi-module slots add another layer of pick resolution (above).

Play / puzzles

Module	Notes
Maze	Perfect maze; size by age band
Word Find	Tiny word-search (6×6–8×8) that fits 58mm
Connect the Dots	Funny numbered dots + silly caption (SVG)
Riddle	Question + answer on the strip (think first)
Number Puzzle	4×4 / 6×6 / easy 9×9; parent key on-screen only

Words & language

Module	Notes
Word of the Day	Age-banded definition + example
Poem of the Day	Short printable poem
Breakfast Joke	Age-banded groaners; kid-safe, no mean stuff
Spanish Word	Spanish + phonetic + English + try-it line

Curious facts

Module	Notes
This Day in History	Kid-appropriate local catalog
Fun Fact	Curated sample copy

Kid-friendly news (static banks, not live scrapes)

Wonder + discovery tone. No violence / politics anxiety. City news is generic “hometown” style (no geo API yet).

Module	Notes
World News	Animals, space, discoveries
National News	Parks, science fairs, kindness
Hometown News	Library, playground, neighbors
Tech News	Robots, code, gadgets
Gamer News	Games, makers, fair play

Today’s world

Module	Notes
Weather	Open-Meteo + Zippopotam (no API key); mock if offline
Stock Watchlist	Mocked prices — not live market data
Calendar	Local events you edit in Settings

Create

Module	Notes
Tiny Doodle	30-second drawing prompt for the strip margin
Would You Rather	Two choices + a tiny debate nudge

Demo kid (data/store.sample.json): strip58 with four slots — word · joke/riddle (in order) · doodle/wyr/poem (random) · maze/spanish (in order).

Marketplace (coming soon — not built)

Space Week, Scorecard, Gratitude Note, Tongue Twister — shown in the modules UI as “coming soon.” First-party modules above are not duplicated here. No payments or pack install yet.

Persistence

• Runtime store: data/store.json (gitignored)
• Seed / sample: data/store.sample.json (committed)
• No env vars required

Store shape (slots)

kid.paperSize: "strip58" | "letter"
kid.slots: Array<{
  id: string
  moduleIds: ModuleId[]
  mode: "single" | "in_order" | "random"
  cursor?: number  // in_order only
}>
settings.modulePoolLimit: number | null  // null = all unlocked

Stack

Next.js (App Router) · TypeScript · Tailwind CSS · local JSON store

What’s not in this MVP

• Auth / OAuth / Stripe
• Real thermal printer / ESP32 firmware / ESC/POS
• Scheduled cloud print worker
• Live stock quotes
• Marketplace packs / payments / AI review pipeline

License

Private prototype — dad + kid project.

Credits

All animal line art is from OpenMoji, © OpenMoji contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. See src/lib/puzzles/animal-art.ts.