marco/PROJECT_STATUS.md

Project Status: Marco

Last Updated: Fri Jan 16 2026

Project Context

We are building Marco, a decentralized maps application using Ember.js (Octane/Polaris edition with GJS/GLIMMER), Vite, and OpenLayers. The core feature is storing place bookmarks in RemoteStorage.js, using a custom module structure.

What We Have Done

1. Map Integration

• Set up OpenLayers in app/components/map.gjs (class-based component).
• Switched tiles to OpenFreeMap Liberty style (supports vector POIs).
• Implemented a hybrid click handler:
  • Detects clicks on visual vector tiles.
  • Falls back to fetching authoritative data from an Overpass API service.
  • Uses a heuristic (distance + type matching) to link visual clicks to API results (handling data desynchronization).

2. RemoteStorage Module (@remotestorage/module-places)

• Created a custom TypeScript module in vendor/remotestorage-module-places/.
• Schema: place object containing id (ULID), title, lat, lon, geohash, osmId, url, etc.
• Storage Path: Nested <2-char>/<2-char>/<id> (based on geohash) for scalability.
• API:
  • getPlaces(prefixes?): efficient partial loading of specific sectors (or full recursive scan if no prefixes provided).
  • Uses getListing for directory traversal and getAll for object retrieval.
  • configured with maxAge: false to ensure data freshness.
• Dependencies: Uses ulid and latlon-geohash internally.

3. App Infrastructure

• Services:
  • storage.js: Initializes RemoteStorage, claims access, enables caching, and sets up the widget. Consumes the new getPlaces API.
  • osm.js: Fetches nearby POIs from Overpass API.
• UI Components:
  • places-sidebar.gjs: Displays a list of nearby POIs. Allows selecting a place to view details and saving it as a bookmark. Links to the OSM website via the node ID.
• Geo Utils: Added app/utils/geo.js for Haversine distance calculations.

Current State

• Repo: The app runs via pnpm start.
• Workflow:
  1. User clicks map -> Sidebar opens.
  2. If a POI is matched heuristically, it opens "Details" directly.
  3. Otherwise, it lists nearby places.
  4. User clicks "Save Bookmark" -> Stores JSON in RemoteStorage.
• Recent Fixes:
  • Refactored RemoteStorage module to use nested directory structures.
  • Fixed getListing usage to correctly parse the items object from the RemoteStorage spec.

Files Currently in Focus

• app/services/osm.js: NEXT TARGET. Needs optimization to handle timeouts.
• vendor/remotestorage-module-places/src/places.ts: Recently refactored.
• app/components/map.gjs: Map rendering and bookmark loading.

Next Steps & Pending Tasks

1. Optimize Overpass API: The current implementation is timing out frequently. We need to optimize the query or fetch strategy.
2. Viewport-based Loading: Implement logic in the map component to calculate visible geohash prefixes and pass them to storage.getPlaces() for efficient partial loading.
3. UI Feedback: Verify the "Save" action gives better visual feedback than alert().

Technical Constraints

• Template Style: Strict Mode GJS (<template>).
• Package Manager: pnpm for the main app, npm for the vendor module.
• Visuals: No Tailwind/Bootstrap; using custom CSS in app/styles/app.css.