Biography Library

A multilingual, open-source platform for writing, preserving, and sharing personal biographies and memoirs. Authors write section-by-section with optional AI assistance; biographies pass through an AI screening and human moderation workflow before publication.

Developed by Biography Library Association, a Swiss non-profit based in Lugano, Ticino. Licensed under AGPL v3 — see LICENSE.

---

Key Features

• Structured or free-flow editor — write by life sections (Early Years, Family, Career…) or as a single narrative
• AI writing assistant — grammar checks, content expansion, and guided memory prompts (Infomaniak / Mistral)
• Voice recording — record and auto-transcribe memories directly in the editor
• Publication workflow — AI pre-screening → human moderation → publish, with revision cycles
• PDF export — professional multi-page PDF with cover photo, dedication, epilogue, and up to 3 draft watermarks
• Multilingual UI — English, Italiano, Français, Deutsch; each biography can be in its own language
• Privacy controls — private / link-only / public visibility with share-token access
• Admin panel — moderation queue, user management, AI usage stats
• PWA — installable on mobile devices

---

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Framework	Next.js 13 (App Router)
Database	Supabase (PostgreSQL + RLS)
Auth	Supabase Auth (email/password)
Serverless	Supabase Edge Functions (Deno)
AI	Infomaniak AI Tools (OpenAI-compatible, Mistral)
Editor	Tiptap
Styling	Tailwind CSS + shadcn/ui
PDF	jsPDF
Deployment	Infomaniak Jelastic (produzione); netlify.toml è legacy, non usato

---

Documentation

Document	Purpose
PRD.md	Product requirements and scope
SPEC.md	Functional spec and work in progress
docs/DESIGN.md	UI/PDF design system
DEPLOYMENT.md	Local setup, env, production deploy
ARCHITECTURE.md	System architecture
TESTING.md	Manual AI feature testing guide
docs/BETA_RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md	Pre-release checklist
.cursor/	Cursor rules, commands, agents, plans (README)

---

Local Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• A Supabase project (free tier is fine)

Steps

# 1. Clone
git clone <repository-url>
cd biography-library

# 2. Install dependencies
npm install

# 3. Configure environment
cp .env.example .env.local
# Edit .env.local with your Supabase and Infomaniak credentials (see .env.example)

# 4. Apply database migrations
# Use the Supabase dashboard → SQL Editor, or the Supabase CLI:
supabase db push

# 5. Start the dev server
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000.

---

Environment Variables

Copy .env.example to .env.local (never commit this file). Next.js loads .env.local automatically in development.

Required for local dev:

• NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL, NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY
• INFOMANIAK_AI_ENDPOINT, INFOMANIAK_AI_TOKEN, INFOMANIAK_AI_MODEL
• NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL, NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_ENV (optional but recommended)

Server-only routes (e.g. /api/review/submit) may also need SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY — see .env.example and DEPLOYMENT.md.

Edge Function secrets (INFOMANIAK_AI_TOKEN etc.) must also be set in the Supabase dashboard so ai-assistant, audio-transcription, and related functions can reach the AI endpoint.

---

Project Structure

app/                    # Next.js pages (App Router)
  biography/[id]/       # Editor and public view
  admin/                # Moderation, users, AI stats
  api/review/submit/    # Publication API route
components/
  editor/               # Section editor, AI panel, export dialogs
  admin/                # Moderation UI
  dashboard/            # Dashboard cards
lib/
  ai/                   # AI client, narrative service, smart follow-up
  i18n/                 # Translation strings and context
  moderation/           # Moderation actions and types
  pdf-export.ts         # PDF generation
supabase/
  functions/            # Edge Functions (ai-assistant, audio-transcription, help-assistant)
  migrations/           # Ordered SQL migrations

---

Useful Scripts

npm run dev         # Start dev server
npm run build       # Production build (run before opening a PR)
npm run typecheck   # TypeScript check without emitting
npm run lint        # ESLint

---

How to Contribute

1. Fork the repository and create a branch from main (day-to-day work may use main-sync — merge to main via PR only).
2. Check existing issues before starting — comment to claim one.
3. Follow conventions — TypeScript strict, no comments unless logic is non-obvious, no new UI libraries. See .cursor/rules/ for persistent Cursor guidance.
4. Database changes must be a new migration file in supabase/migrations/ with a descriptive filename and SQL summary comment. Never use DROP or destructive operations.
5. Run npm run typecheck, npm run build, and npm run lint before pushing.
6. Open a Pull Request to main with a clear description (template in .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md).
7. All contributions are subject to the AGPL v3 license.

Cursor workflow: use Plan mode for multi-file tasks; save plans in .cursor/plans/; slash commands in .cursor/commands/ (e.g. /verify-build, /commit-push-pr).

For questions, open a GitHub issue or contact the maintainers at biographylibrary.org.