ROADMAP.md

OpenResume Roadmap

OpenResume is a privacy-first CV and resume builder built for ordinary users: open the site, fill structured modules, preview a professional document, save locally, export a backup, and print to PDF.

The current repository contains a browser-only vanilla MVP. That MVP proved the core workflow, but it is not the long-term implementation. OpenResume is an openElement product and must become a full openElement dogfood application before feature expansion.

Product Vision

OpenResume should become a lightweight, trustworthy alternative to heavyweight resume platforms:

• No account required for the default experience.
• No cloud database required before v1.0.
• User data stays in the browser unless the user explicitly exports or shares it.
• The first screen is the actual editor, not a marketing landing page.
• CVs and resumes are edited through plain-language modules, not source files, JSX, Markdown, or schema objects.
• The printed PDF should be good enough for real academic and professional use.

The first stable release should support three primary users:

• Academic users preparing academic CVs for university roles.
• Teaching-focused candidates preparing teaching CVs.
• General professional users preparing compact industry resumes.

Current State

The current MVP includes:

• A static browser editor.
• A structured JSON document model.
• A left-side editor and right-side A4 preview.
• Module visibility, module ordering, item editing, item ordering, and item deletion.
• Browser-local saving with localStorage.
• JSON import/export.
• Print/PDF output.
• Playwright coverage for load, edit/save/restore, import/export, and print media behavior.

The current implementation is temporary:

• It is written as vanilla HTML/CSS/JS.
• It uses npm only for tests and local serving.
• It is not yet an openElement app.
• It should be replaced directly, not preserved as a legacy implementation.

Non-goals Before v1.0

The following are intentionally out of scope before v1.0:

• Account system.
• Cloud database.
• Multi-user collaboration.
• Server-side editing or server-side CV persistence.
• Paid plans or billing.
• React, Vue, Svelte, or another UI framework.
• Keeping a legacy vanilla app after the openElement rewrite.
• Merging OpenResume into the openElement monorepo.

OpenResume stays an independent repository under open-element, while using openElement as its application framework.

Milestones

v0.1.0 - openElement Rewrite

Goal: replace the temporary vanilla implementation with an openElement app.

Required outcomes:

• Replace the repository structure with Deno, Vite, and openElement: deno.json, vite.config.ts, app/routes, app/islands, app/components, and app/data.
• Implement the editor as an openElement island.
• Implement the print-ready preview as openElement-rendered UI.
• Preserve existing MVP behavior: structured editing, local save, JSON import/export, module management, and print/PDF.
• Remove the vanilla runtime files instead of moving them to legacy/.
• Update Cloudflare Pages instructions to build with deno task build and serve dist.
• Keep the repository independent from the openElement monorepo.

Acceptance criteria:

• deno task build passes.
• deno lint passes.
• deno fmt --check passes.
• Playwright E2E passes for load, edit/save/restore, import/export, and print media behavior.
• The production build can be deployed by Cloudflare Pages from dist.

v0.2.0 - Ordinary-user Editor UX

Goal: make the product usable by non-technical users without reading documentation first.

Required outcomes:

• Replace internal language such as "section", "item", and "schema" with ordinary product language such as "module", "entry", "publication", and "reference".
• Add a first-run template chooser: Academic CV, Teaching CV, and Industry Resume.
• Add a clear edit flow for candidate details, contact details, profile, education, appointments, teaching, publications, awards, service, skills, and references.
• Add plain empty states for every module.
• Add "clear example content", "restore template", and "save now" actions.
• Add visible save state: unsaved, saved, auto-saved timestamp, and imported draft state.
• Add recovery for accidental item deletion, at minimum an undo affordance for the most recent delete.

Acceptance criteria:

• A first-time user can create a usable CV without editing JSON, Markdown, JSX, or any source file.
• Existing E2E coverage still passes.
• New E2E covers template selection and clearing sample content.

v0.3.0 - Print Templates and PDF Quality

Goal: make printed output professionally usable.

Required outcomes:

• Add at least three print templates: Classic Academic, Modern Two-column, and Compact Resume.
• Support A4 and Letter page formats.
• Support basic style controls: accent color, font family, text scale, margin density, and compact mode.
• Add print-only CSS that hides all editor controls and produces stable page dimensions.
• Add print preview warnings for likely issues: visible placeholders, empty required fields, very long contact values, invalid email format, and page overflow risk.
• Ensure long academic content can flow across pages without breaking headings and entries in obviously bad places.

Acceptance criteria:

• Chrome and Edge print preview show only the CV/resume surface.
• A4 output is usable for academic CVs.
• Letter output is usable for industry resumes.
• Playwright verifies print media layout at desktop dimensions.

v0.4.0 - Local Data Reliability and Privacy

Goal: make user data behavior predictable while keeping the product backend-free.

Required outcomes:

• Define .openresume.json as the official exported data format.
• Version the data model.
• Add a migration function for older saved documents.
• Keep localStorage as the default persistence layer.
• Add a clear privacy statement in the app: data is stored in the browser by default and is not uploaded by OpenResume.
• Add import validation for malformed JSON, wrong format, unsupported future versions, and missing required fields.
• Add explicit reset flows: reset current document, reset to selected template, and import from backup.
• Add export reminders for users who have edited significantly without backing up.

Acceptance criteria:

• Importing invalid JSON never corrupts the current CV.
• Saved documents survive page reloads.
• Exported .openresume.json files can restore an equivalent document.
• E2E covers invalid import, reset, and migration from a previous version.

v0.5.0 - Academic CV Depth

Goal: make OpenResume genuinely useful for academic CVs, not just generic resumes with academic labels.

Required outcomes:

• Split publications into academic categories: journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, reports, work in progress, and under-review manuscripts.
• Add dedicated modules for: grants and funding, teaching experience, supervision, academic service, professional memberships, invited talks, public engagement, and research methods.
• Add academic profile fields: ORCID, Google Scholar, institutional profile, research areas, languages, and right-to-work note.
• Add academic CV templates for PhD, postdoc, lecturer, and teaching-focused roles.
• Support moving academic-only modules into the sidebar or main column depending on template.

Acceptance criteria:

• A linguistics PhD can create a credible university-facing academic CV.
• A teaching-focused candidate can create a teaching CV without publication emphasis.
• A postdoc candidate can emphasize publications, methods, grants, and research pipeline.

v0.6.0 - Industry Resume Expansion

Goal: support non-academic resumes without weakening academic CV support.

Required outcomes:

• Add Industry Resume templates.
• Add modules for skills, projects, certifications, work experience, portfolio, and selected achievements.
• Add one-page resume mode.
• Add compact bullet editing.
• Add optional academic-to-industry transformations: publications become selected writing/research outputs, teaching becomes facilitation/training, service becomes leadership or committees.
• Let users hide academic-only modules quickly when switching to an industry resume.

Acceptance criteria:

• One data model can generate both an Academic CV and an Industry Resume.
• The one-page template can produce a credible single-page resume.
• E2E covers switching templates without losing source data.

v0.7.0 - Accessibility and Internationalization

Goal: meet the baseline quality expected of a public web tool.

Required outcomes:

• Support English and Chinese UI.
• Ensure all form fields have accessible labels.
• Ensure all buttons have clear accessible names.
• Ensure keyboard users can complete the primary edit flow.
• Add visible focus states.
• Add screen-reader-friendly status updates for save, import, export, and reset.
• Avoid UI text overlap on common desktop and tablet viewports.
• Add basic accessibility checks to E2E.

Acceptance criteria:

• The main editor can be used with keyboard navigation.
• Language switching does not corrupt saved data.
• The app has no known blocking accessibility issue for core editing and printing flows.

v0.8.0 - Product Polish

Goal: make OpenResume feel like a finished product instead of a technical demo.

Required outcomes:

• Add a small product shell around the editor without turning the first screen into a marketing page.
• Add first-run onboarding: choose template, fill basic profile, enter editor.
• Add a print/export checklist.
• Add better error states for local storage disabled, invalid import, unsupported document version, and failed template load.
• Add in-app help for modules that are often misunderstood: profile, publications, teaching, service, and references.
• Add browser support notes.

Acceptance criteria:

• First-time, returning, and import-from-backup users all have clear flows.
• Error states explain what happened and what the user can do next.
• The app still opens directly into a usable editing experience.

v0.9.0 - Release Candidate Hardening

Goal: freeze v1 scope and remove quality risk.

Required outcomes:

• Freeze data model v1.
• Freeze public routes and deployment shape.
• Add GitHub Actions for format, lint, build, and E2E.
• Test Chrome and Edge as primary browsers.
• Smoke test Firefox for basic editing and print media.
• Document Cloudflare Pages deployment.
• Document data privacy and backup behavior.
• Review all templates for placeholder leakage and professional quality.

Acceptance criteria:

• Two consecutive release candidate runs pass without P0 or P1 issues.
• No known data-loss issue remains.
• No known print-blocking issue remains.
• The repository can be cloned, built, tested, and deployed from documented commands.

v1.0.0 - Public Stable

Goal: release a stable public OpenResume at cv.openelement.org.

Required outcomes:

• The app is implemented with openElement.
• Cloudflare Pages serves the production build.
• Academic CV, Teaching CV, and Industry Resume templates are available.
• Local save, JSON backup, import restore, template switching, and print/PDF are stable.
• Data privacy is explicit and accurate.
• Documentation explains what OpenResume does and does not do.
• Tests cover core editing, persistence, import/export, print, and deployment assumptions.

Acceptance criteria:

• A user can create, save, back up, restore, and print a CV without account creation.
• A user can understand that data stays local by default.
• A maintainer can safely ship patches without breaking the core workflow.

Data Model Roadmap

The document model should remain structured and versioned.

Required model direction:

• version: data model version.
• profile: candidate identity, headline, location, links, and summary.
• contact: editable contact rows.
• documents: one or more generated views, such as academic CV or industry resume.
• modules: reusable source content blocks.
• templates: print and layout selection.
• settings: page size, theme, density, and locale.

Versioning rules:

• v0.1 can preserve the current JSON shape if needed.
• v0.4 must define .openresume.json.
• v0.9 must freeze v1 model semantics.
• Every breaking model change must include a migration path before v1.

UX Roadmap

The editor should be optimized for ordinary users:

• Use domain language instead of implementation language.
• Keep the editor and preview visible together on desktop.
• Use a focused single-column editor on mobile and tablet.
• Treat templates as starting points, not separate products.
• Make destructive actions recoverable or clearly confirmed.
• Keep print and export actions visible.
• Never require users to open source files.

The UX should avoid:

• Raw JSON editing as a primary path.
• Markdown authoring as a primary path.
• JSX or source-code editing.
• Hidden save behavior without status feedback.

Print/PDF Roadmap

Print quality is a core product requirement.

The print system must:

• Hide all editor controls in print media.
• Support A4 and Letter.
• Avoid text clipping and obvious overlap.
• Keep section headings with nearby content where possible.
• Warn users about placeholders and empty fields before printing.
• Support academic multi-page documents and compact one-page resumes.

The product should treat browser print-to-PDF as the default export path before adding any server-side PDF generation.

Testing and Quality Gates

Minimum gates for every release:

• Format check.
• Lint.
• Build.
• E2E for editor load.
• E2E for editing and save/restore.
• E2E for JSON import/export.
• E2E for print media.

Additional gates by maturity:

• v0.3: print template checks.
• v0.4: invalid import and migration checks.
• v0.7: accessibility checks.
• v0.9: GitHub Actions on every PR.
• v1.0: browser smoke matrix.

Deployment Roadmap

Deployment target:

• Repository: open-element/OpenResume
• Production domain: cv.openelement.org
• Hosting: Cloudflare Pages

Current MVP deployment can serve static files from the repository root, but the openElement rewrite changes deployment to:

• Build command: deno task build
• Output directory: dist

Deployment requirements before v1:

• Document Cloudflare Pages settings.
• Add production smoke test after deployment.
• Keep production domain independent from openelement.org main docs.
• Avoid hard-coding production domain into local development.

Project Governance

OpenResume should stay small and disciplined before v1.

Rules:

• Keep OpenResume as an independent repository.
• Use openElement as the application framework.
• Do not introduce another UI framework.
• Do not add backend persistence before v1.
• Do not add account flows before v1.
• Treat data loss and broken print output as high-priority defects.
• Every milestone should ship with tests for persistence and print behavior.

Issue categories:

• ux: ordinary-user editing improvements.
• template: document template and module work.
• print: PDF and print layout work.
• data: local save, import/export, and migration work.
• a11y: accessibility work.
• i18n: localization work.
• dogfood: openElement adoption and framework integration.
• deployment: Cloudflare Pages and production rollout.

v1.0 Acceptance Criteria

OpenResume reaches v1.0 when all of the following are true:

• The implementation is an openElement application.
• cv.openelement.org is deployed from Cloudflare Pages.
• Users can create Academic CV, Teaching CV, and Industry Resume documents.
• Users can save locally, export .openresume.json, import it back, reset, and print to PDF.
• The app clearly explains that data stays in the browser by default.
• The app has no known P0/P1 editing, persistence, import/export, or print defects.
• The repository has documented local development, testing, and deployment commands.
• CI runs format, lint, build, and E2E gates.
• The public product is useful without accounts, cloud storage, or server-side PDF generation.