docs: add ARCHITECTURE.md with codebase map for contributors
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Nicolas Varrot
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ARCHITECTURE.md
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ARCHITECTURE.md
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# Architecture
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# Architecture
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PinchChat is a single-page React app (~3,600 lines) that connects to an [OpenClaw](https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw) gateway via WebSocket. There is no backend — it's a static build served by any web server (nginx, Caddy, Vite preview, etc.).
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A quick map of the PinchChat codebase for contributors.
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## High-Level Flow
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## Tech Stack
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```
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| Layer | Tech |
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┌─────────────┐ WebSocket ┌──────────────────┐ LLM API ┌──────────┐
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|-------|------|
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│ PinchChat │ ◄────────────► │ OpenClaw Gateway │ ◄──────────► │ Provider │
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| Framework | React 19 + TypeScript |
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│ (Browser) │ JSON msgs │ (Node.js daemon) │ │ (Claude…) │
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| Build | Vite |
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└─────────────┘ └──────────────────┘ └──────────┘
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| Styling | Tailwind CSS v4 + CSS custom properties (theming) |
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```
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| Icons | Lucide React |
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| Markdown | react-markdown + rehype-highlight + remark-gfm |
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| State | React hooks + contexts (no external state library) |
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PinchChat authenticates at runtime (no secrets in the build). The user enters a gateway URL and token on the login screen, which are stored in `sessionStorage`.
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## Directory Layout
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## Directory Structure
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```
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```
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src/
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src/
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├── App.tsx # Root component: routing, layout, keyboard shortcuts
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├── App.tsx # Root: login gate, layout, lazy-loads Chat
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├── main.tsx # Entry point (React 18 createRoot)
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├── main.tsx # Entry point, renders App inside ErrorBoundary
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├── index.css # Global styles (Tailwind v4)
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├── types.ts # Shared TypeScript types (Session, Message, etc.)
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│
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├── components/ # React components (see below)
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├── components/ # UI components
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│ ├── Chat.tsx # Message list, auto-scroll, scroll-to-bottom button
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│ ├── ChatInput.tsx # Textarea with file upload, drafts per session
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│ ├── ChatMessage.tsx # Single message: markdown rendering, blocks dispatch
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│ ├── CodeBlock.tsx # Fenced code blocks with copy button + language label
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│ ├── ConnectionBanner.tsx # Reconnecting/disconnected banner
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│ ├── ErrorBoundary.tsx # React error boundary with retry
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│ ├── Header.tsx # Top bar: agent name, session title, controls
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│ ├── ImageBlock.tsx # Inline image display with lightbox
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│ ├── KeyboardShortcuts.tsx # Keyboard shortcut help modal
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│ ├── LanguageSelector.tsx # EN/FR language switcher
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│ ├── LoginScreen.tsx # Gateway URL + token input form
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│ ├── SessionIcon.tsx # Per-channel icons (Telegram, Discord, cron…)
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│ ├── Sidebar.tsx # Session list, search, pinning, resize, delete
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│ ├── ThinkingBlock.tsx # Collapsible thinking/reasoning block
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│ ├── ToolCall.tsx # Tool call badges with expandable params/results
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│ └── TypingIndicator.tsx # Animated typing dots
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│
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├── hooks/ # Custom React hooks
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├── hooks/ # Custom React hooks
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│ ├── useGateway.ts # Core hook: WebSocket connection, message state, session management
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├── lib/ # Pure utility modules (no React)
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│ ├── useLocale.ts # i18n hook (useT for translations)
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└── contexts/ # React contexts (theme, tool collapse state)
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│ └── useNotifications.ts # Browser notifications + unread badge in document title
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│
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├── lib/ # Pure utilities (no React)
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│ ├── credentials.ts # sessionStorage read/write for gateway URL + token
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│ ├── gateway.ts # WebSocket client: connect, send, reconnect, message parsing
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│ ├── i18n.ts # Translation strings (EN + FR) and locale detection
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│ ├── image.ts # Image URL/base64 helpers
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│ ├── notificationSound.ts # Programmatic notification sound (Web Audio API)
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│ ├── relativeTime.ts # "2m ago", "3h ago" relative timestamp formatting
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│ ├── sessionName.ts # Human-friendly session name from key/label/channel
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│ ├── systemEvent.ts # Detect system events (heartbeats, webhooks, cron triggers)
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│ └── utils.ts # Misc helpers (cn class merger)
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│
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├── types/
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│ └── index.ts # TypeScript interfaces: ChatMessage, Session, MessageBlock, etc.
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│
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└── globals.d.ts # Ambient type declarations
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```
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```
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## Key Concepts
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## Key Components
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### Gateway Communication (`lib/gateway.ts` + `hooks/useGateway.ts`)
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| Component | Purpose |
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|-----------|---------|
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| `LoginScreen` | Gateway URL + token input, credential persistence |
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| `Chat` | Main chat view: messages, input, header, search, split-view |
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| `ChatMessage` | Single message renderer (user/assistant/system events) |
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| `ChatInput` | Message composer with syntax-highlighted textarea + markdown preview |
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| `Sidebar` | Session list with search, pin, drag-reorder, delete, split-view |
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| `Header` | Top bar: agent name/avatar, model badge, token bar, theme/language switchers |
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| `ToolCall` | Expandable tool call card with emoji badges, params, results |
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| `ThinkingBlock` | Collapsible reasoning/thinking content display |
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| `CodeBlock` | Syntax-highlighted code with copy button |
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| `ImageBlock` | Inline image with loading skeleton, error fallback, lightbox |
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| `MessageSearch` | Ctrl+F search overlay with result navigation |
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| `KeyboardShortcuts` | `?` shortcut help dialog |
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The WebSocket client handles:
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## Hooks
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- **Authentication**: sends token on connect
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- **Session listing**: `sessions.list` → populates sidebar
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- **Message history**: `history` → loads past messages for a session
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- **Streaming**: `stream.start` / `stream.delta` / `stream.end` → real-time token display
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- **Sending**: user messages, file uploads (base64)
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- **Reconnection**: exponential backoff with jitter on disconnect
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`useGateway` is the central hook that owns all state: connection status, sessions, messages, active session, and generating flag.
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| Hook | Purpose |
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|------|---------|
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| `useGateway` | Core hook: WebSocket connection, message streaming, session management, sending. This is the brain. |
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| `useSecondarySession` | Split-view: manages a second session's messages independently |
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| `useLocale` | i18n: language state + `t()` translation function |
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| `useTheme` | Theme read/write from ThemeContext |
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| `useToolCollapse` | Global expand/collapse state for tool calls |
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| `useNotifications` | Browser notification permission + sound alerts for new messages |
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### Message Rendering (`ChatMessage.tsx`)
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## Data Flow
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Messages are rendered block-by-block:
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```
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1. **Text blocks** → `ReactMarkdown` with `remark-gfm`, `remark-breaks`, `rehype-highlight`
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OpenClaw Gateway ←—WebSocket—→ useGateway hook
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2. **Thinking blocks** → collapsible `ThinkingBlock`
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│
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3. **Tool use blocks** → `ToolCall` badges (colored by tool name, expandable)
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┌──────────┼──────────┐
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4. **Tool result blocks** → attached to their parent tool use
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▼ ▼ ▼
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5. **Image blocks** → `ImageBlock` with lightbox
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Sidebar Chat Header
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(sessions) (messages) (status)
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System events (heartbeats, webhooks) are detected via heuristics in `lib/systemEvent.ts` and rendered as subtle inline notifications instead of full message bubbles.
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### Session Management
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Sessions are displayed in the sidebar with:
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- **Channel icons** (Telegram, Discord, cron, etc.) via `SessionIcon`
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- **Human-readable names** via `lib/sessionName.ts` (instead of raw UUIDs)
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- **Pinning** (persisted in `localStorage`)
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- **Resizable sidebar** (drag right edge, width persisted)
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- **Search/filter** (`Cmd+K`)
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- **Delete** with confirmation dialog
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- **Per-session input drafts** (preserved when switching sessions)
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- **Recency sorting** with relative timestamps and message previews
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### Styling
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- **Tailwind CSS v4** with a dark zinc-based theme
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- No component library — all custom components
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- Consistent border/glow patterns: `border-white/8`, `bg-zinc-800/50`, cyan accents
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- Responsive: mobile sidebar collapses, viewport-safe on iPhone
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### i18n (`lib/i18n.ts`)
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Simple key-value translation system with EN and FR. Language detected from `localStorage` → `navigator.language` → defaults to EN. Switchable via the header dropdown.
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## Build & Deploy
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```bash
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npm run build # Vite production build → dist/
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```
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```
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Output is a static SPA. The Docker image (`ghcr.io/marlburrow/pinchchat`) uses multi-stage build: Node for compilation, nginx:alpine for serving.
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1. **Connect**: `LoginScreen` collects gateway URL + token → `useGateway` opens a WebSocket
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2. **Sessions**: Gateway pushes session list → stored in hook state → rendered in `Sidebar`
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3. **Messages**: On session select, hook requests history → streamed tokens arrive as `delta` events → accumulated into messages → rendered by `ChatMessage`
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4. **Sending**: `ChatInput` calls `sendMessage()` from the hook → serialized over WebSocket
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5. **Tool calls**: Arrive as structured blocks within assistant messages → rendered by `ToolCall` with collapsible params/results
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CI/CD:
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## Theming
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- **ci.yml** — lint + build on every push/PR
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- **docker.yml** — build + push Docker image on push to main
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Themes use CSS custom properties defined in `ThemeContext`. All components reference `var(--pc-*)` variables (via Tailwind utility classes like `text-pc-text`, `bg-pc-elevated`, etc.) rather than hardcoded colors.
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- **release.yml** — on tag push (v*): Docker image with semver tags + GitHub Release
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- **pages.yml** — deploy landing page from `docs/` to GitHub Pages
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Available themes: **Dark** (default), **Light**, **OLED Black**, **System** (follows OS preference).
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Accent colors: Cyan, Violet, Emerald, Amber, Rose, Blue.
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## Bundle Strategy
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Vite splits the build into chunks via `manualChunks` in `vite.config.ts`:
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| Chunk | Contents |
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|-------|----------|
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| `react-vendor` | React + ReactDOM |
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| `markdown` | react-markdown, remark/rehype plugins, highlight.js |
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| `icons` | lucide-react |
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| `ui` | @radix-ui primitives |
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| `index` | App code |
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`Chat` is lazy-loaded (`React.lazy`) so the markdown chunk only loads after login.
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## Gateway Protocol
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PinchChat communicates with OpenClaw via a WebSocket protocol. Key message types:
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- **Outbound**: `auth`, `subscribe`, `send`, `listSessions`, `loadHistory`, `deleteSession`
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- **Inbound**: `authenticated`, `sessions`, `history`, `delta` (streaming tokens), `message` (complete), `error`
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The protocol is implemented in `src/lib/gateway.ts` (low-level) and `src/hooks/useGateway.ts` (React integration).
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## PWA
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A service worker (`public/sw.js`) caches static assets for offline shell support. The app is installable via the browser's "Add to Home Screen" prompt.
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