halkyon/README.md

# Halkyon Learn

Halkyon Learn is for creating, sharing and collaborating on study material. It schedules
flashcards with [FSRS](https://github.com/open-spaced-repetition) to strengthen
retention, and organises study material together with the external references it draws
on. It is offline-first: everything works on the device, without a connection. And the
whole stack is transparent: the app, the server and everything needed to host an
instance are published, so anyone can see how an instance works and run their own.

- **Offline first.** Each device keeps its own database and syncs in the background
  (`serverpod_offline_sync`). Edits made on two devices while offline are never lost:
  card content is stored as append-only revisions, and a side changed differently on two
  devices is shown as a conflict until the person picks a version
  ([ADR 0001](docs/adr/0001-offline-sync.md), [ADR 0003](docs/adr/0003-card-revisions.md)).
- **No sign-up needed.** The app starts with an anonymous account; signing in with GitHub
  later keeps everything. A GitHub sign-in stores only the numeric GitHub ID.
- **No end-to-end encryption.** Content is readable by the operator of the instance, as on
  Mastodon; whoever trusts no operator can run their own
  ([ADR 0002](docs/adr/0002-no-end-to-end-encryption.md)).

Targets: Linux, Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. There is no web build.

## Packages

| Package | What it is | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| `halkyon_learn_server` | The [Serverpod](https://serverpod.dev) server: endpoints, models, migrations | SSPL-1.0 |
| `halkyon_learn_client` | The client, generated from the server's models | AGPL-3.0-or-later |
| `halkyon_learn_flutter` | The app (`app.halkyon.learn`) | AGPL-3.0-or-later |

## Setting up

- **Flutter v3.47.5**, the version CI uses (`FLUTTER_VERSION` in
  `.forgejo/workflows/ci.yaml`). Set up each platform you build for with Flutter's own
  guides: [Linux](https://docs.flutter.dev/platform-integration/linux/setup),
  [Windows](https://docs.flutter.dev/platform-integration/windows/setup),
  [Android](https://docs.flutter.dev/platform-integration/android/setup),
  [macOS](https://docs.flutter.dev/platform-integration/macos/setup),
  [iOS](https://docs.flutter.dev/platform-integration/ios/setup).
- **The Serverpod CLI v4.0.4**: `dart install serverpod_cli@4.0.4`. Pass `--no-analytics`
  to every call; otherwise it reports the commands run to Serverpod.
- **Linux**, on top of Flutter's packages, the libraries of three plugins: WebKitGTK
  (pulled in by the sign-in package), libsecret (keeps the session) and GStreamer
  (plays sounds). On Debian or Ubuntu, Flutter's and these together:

  ```sh
  sudo apt-get install clang cmake ninja-build pkg-config libgtk-3-dev libstdc++-12-dev \
    libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev libsecret-1-dev libgstreamer1.0-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev
  ```

- **Windows** needs Developer Mode (Settings › System › For developers): building makes
  symbolic links, as Flutter links each plugin's native code into the build and the PDF
  engine's build does too, and Windows lets ordinary users make them only in Developer
  Mode.
- **No Docker** for development: `serverpod start` and the server's tests run an embedded
  PostgreSQL. Docker Compose is only for running an instance (below).
- **For the scripts in `tool/`**: Python 3 (`tool/app_icons.py` also needs Pillow,
  `python3-pil`), and for releases what [Releases](#releases) lists.

The rich-text editor comes from our fork of AppFlowy Editor
([project-halkyon/appflowy-editor](https://code.halkyon.app/project-halkyon/appflowy-editor)),
which `flutter pub get` fetches by itself.

## Running it locally

The server's secrets live in `halkyon_learn_server/config/passwords.yaml`, which is never
committed. In a fresh clone, create it with a `development` and a `test` section, each
holding `database`, `serverSideSessionKeyHashPepper` and `serviceSecret` (for example from
`openssl rand -base64 32`). GitHub sign-in is optional: add `githubClientId` and
`githubClientSecret` of your own GitHub OAuth app to `development`, registered with the
callback URLs `app.halkyon.learn://github-callback` and `http://127.0.0.1/github-callback`.

Then start the server, its embedded database and the app:

```sh
cd halkyon_learn_server
serverpod --no-analytics start
```

`serverpod start` applies pending migrations and reloads on changes. The app talks to the
server named by `--dart-define=SERVER_URL=…`, or else to the one in
`halkyon_learn_flutter/assets/config.json` (`http://localhost:8080`). Without
`--no-analytics`, the Serverpod CLI reports usage to Serverpod.

## Tests

```sh
tool/check.sh
```

runs the format check, the analyzer with the strict lints of `leancode_lint`, the server's
tests (against an embedded PostgreSQL, no Docker needed) and the app's tests. To run it
before every push: `ln -s ../../tool/check.sh .git/hooks/pre-push`. CI runs it on every
push too (`.forgejo/workflows/ci.yaml`).

The sync tests need a running server (`serverpod start`); run them in
`halkyon_learn_flutter` with `flutter test -t requires-server`.

## Running an instance

`deploy/` holds a Docker Compose setup: Caddy (HTTPS), the server and PostgreSQL. Copy
`deploy/.env.example` to `deploy/.env` and fill it in; it explains every value. The
licences require offering the source of what the instance runs to the people who use it.
Assistants such as Claude read people's studysets through the instance's MCP connector at
`/mcp` ([ADR 0006](docs/adr/0006-assistant-connector.md)): `webServer` in
`halkyon_learn_server/config/production.yaml` names its public address, as `apiServer`
does for the app.

learn.halkyon.eu itself deploys from `main` once CI is green: `deploy/redeploy.sh`, run by
the CI runner described in `deploy/runner/`, deploys only commits signed by a key in
`deploy/allowed-signers`. It backs up its database every hour, off-site and encrypted;
[`deploy/backups.md`](deploy/backups.md) says how to set that up and how to restore.

## Releases

Releases are published on [code.halkyon.app](https://code.halkyon.app/project-halkyon/halkyon_learn/releases),
with the APK and the snap, and the APK also in the project's F-Droid repository
(`https://halkyon.app/fdroid/repo?fingerprint=E8082788756F6B7E682AA22FCEAD24B53E2A8B0912AD66D65E8C2D4F07BB94B0`,
added in the F-Droid app as a repository). The Snap Store (`halkyon-learn`) follows.
Their builds offer learn.halkyon.eu, the project's instance, at first start; people
may choose another there, and keep accounts on several.

- **Checking a download:** `SHA256SUMS` lists the checksum of every file, signed with the
  maintainer's GPG key (`SHA256SUMS.asc`). The APK is signed with the app's key, whose
  certificate has the SHA-256
  `27:E2:43:FC:BD:C8:26:FF:98:AB:7D:BB:10:43:6C:98:C3:BE:A2:4B:2A:01:5E:94:E4:CF:C7:D1:FC:2A:00:6C`
  (`apksigner verify --print-certs` shows it).
- **Versions** follow [semantic versioning](https://semver.org): `version` in
  `halkyon_learn_flutter/pubspec.yaml`, `<major>.<minor>.<patch>+<build>`. Since the last
  release, a commit typed `feat` raises the minor number, `fix` or `perf` the patch
  number, and a breaking one (`feat!:` or a `BREAKING CHANGE:` line) the major number from
  1.0 on, the minor one before; other commits release nothing by themselves. Every
  release raises the build number: Android only installs a higher one over an older, and
  the server tells apps below the build it supports to update.
- **Making one** is for maintainers, on their own machine and never in CI:
  `tool/release.sh`, or `tool/release.sh minor` (or `major`, `patch`) to choose. It needs
  `main` clean, pushed and green in CI, the app's key, the F-Droid repository's key and
  a Forgejo token; its header says more. It shows the version and its commits and asks
  first, then writes the version into the pubspec in a signed release commit with a
  signed tag, builds the APK and the snap (`snap/snapcraft.yaml`, built in LXD; its icon
  comes from `tool/app_icons.py`), checks both, signs the checksums, pushes, and
  publishes on code.halkyon.app and in the F-Droid repository; the Snap Store once it is
  switched on in the script. Besides Flutter and the Android SDK, it uses snapcraft with
  LXD, a JDK (keytool), GnuPG, curl, jq, unzip, squashfs-tools, rsync and fdroidserver.
  Release builds made without the app's key are signed with the debug key and can't
  update a released app.
- **The F-Droid repository** is kept by `tool/fdroid_repo.sh` (fdroidserver v2.4.5,
  e.g. `pipx install fdroidserver==2.4.5`); its settings and the app's listing are in
  `tool/release/fdroid/`.

## More

- [`AGENTS.md`](AGENTS.md): how the code is organised and the rules it follows.
- [`docs/adr/`](docs/adr/): the architecture decisions and their reasons.
- [`CONTRIBUTING.md`](CONTRIBUTING.md): licences of contributions and the sign-off.
- [`LICENSE.md`](LICENSE.md): which licence covers what.