Pokémon ROM-Hack Wiki — build spec

A handoff for the session that builds the browsable wiki site. Everything the site needs is already exported to wiki/catalog.json by scripts/build-wiki-data.py (re-run it after any vault edit).

Data source

wiki/catalog.json:

{
  "generated": "2026-06-08",
  "count": 368,
  "image_base": "https://romhacks-files.ginnoir.com",
  "facets": {                       // pre-counted, for filter UI
    "platform": { "GBA": 188, "NDS": 47, "Unknown": 45, "PC": 40, "GBC": 22, "GB": 14, "3DS": 6, "Patch": 6 },
    "base":     { "...": 0 },
    "status":   { "Complete": 0, "Ongoing": 0, "Beta": 0, "Unknown": 0 },
    "type":     { "Expansion": 143, "New Experience": 129, "Difficulty": 105, "QoL": 50, "Vanilla+": 21, "Cosmetic": 11, "Demake": 8, "Roguelite": 5 },
    "play_status": { "Unplayed": 0 }
  },
  "hacks": [
    {
      "stem": "Radical Red",                     // unique id / route slug
      "title": "Pokémon Radical Red",
      "platform": "GBA", "base": "FireRed", "version": "4.1",
      "status": "Complete", "type": ["Difficulty","Expansion"],
      "generation": "Gen 1–9",
      "developer": "Soupercell (Yuuiii) & koala4",
      "release_date": "2024",                     // ISO date or bare year, may be null
      "banner": "https://romhacks-files.ginnoir.com/_meta/<dir>/<file>",  // may be null
      "homepage": "https://...",                  // canonical info page, may be null
      "source": "https://...",                    // download / thread, may be null
      "library_path": "...", "play_status": "Unplayed", "rating": 4,  // rating optional
      "summary": "…2-3 sentence overview…",
      "notability": "…why it stands out (flagship hacks only)…",
      "story": "…plot, when known…",
      "features": ["…", "…"],
      "links": [ { "label": "Download", "url": "…" } ],
      "tags": ["hack","platform/gba","base/firered","type/difficulty"]
    }
  ]
}

Nulls are real: ~45 platform: null (Unknown), some base/version/status null. The UI must degrade gracefully (hide the chip, don't print "null"/"—").

Coverage (what's populated, as of this export)

368 hacks · 327 with banner images · 332 with a rich summary · 200 with feature lists.
~20 flagship hacks (Radical Red, Unbound, Gaia, Infinite Fusion, Reborn, Rejuvenation, Emerald Rogue, Elite Redux, Sacred/Storm, Crystal Clear, Snakewood, Inclement Emerald, …) have hand-verified dev/version/notability.
The long tail is scrape-sourced: good summary + image, sometimes null base/version.

Images

All art is served from Caddy on valhalla:

Scrape art (every hack): https://romhacks-files.ginnoir.com/_meta/<scrape_dir>/<file> (the banner field is already a full URL — just use it).
The site should download banner images at build time into its own public/ and rewrite to local paths — don't hot-link valhalla in production, and provide a placeholder for the ~41 imageless hacks.

Pages

Home / directory — the headline surface.
- Hero with the total count + a few flagship cards.
- A filterable, searchable grid of hack cards. Facets: platform, base, type, status (use facets for counts). Free-text search over title + developer + summary.
- Sort: by name, by release_date, by platform.
Hack detail (/hack/<stem>) — banner, title, the info chips (platform · base · version · status · dev · release), summary, "Why it stands out", story, features list, links, and play-status/rating if set. Cross-link to other hacks sharing base/developer.
Browse by platform / base / type — landing lists (mirror the vault MOCs).
(optional) Play queue — filter by play_status, show rating stars.

Visual direction (per ginnoir's design-quality rules — no generic templates)

Pick an opinionated direction. Suggested: "retro game-cartridge / Pokédex" — a dark, slightly CRT-tinted base with one strong accent per type (Difficulty=red, Expansion=violet, New Experience=teal, QoL=green, Vanilla+=blue, Demake=amber, Roguelite=magenta, Cosmetic=pink). Use the type accent as the card's left border / chip color so the grid reads at a glance.
Cards: banner image with a gradient scrim, title, base+platform chip row, a one-line summary clamp. Hover = lift + accent glow (compositor-only transform/opacity). Real focus-visible states.
Hierarchy through scale: big editorial hero, dense but rhythmic grid.
Typography: a characterful display face for titles + a clean sans for body (two families max). Tabular nums for versions/dates.
Treat the platform/type facets as a designed filter rail, not a stock sidebar.

Tech suggestion

Static, no backend. Astro (content-collection from catalog.json) or a small Vite + vanilla/Preact SPA that fetches catalog.json. Build to static HTML, host on the same Caddy box (add a stack in homelabstack) or any static host. Keep JS budget small (<150 kB) — it's a catalog, not an app.

Regenerating the data

python scripts/build-vault-mocs.py    # refresh in-vault MOC tables (Obsidian)
python scripts/build-wiki-data.py     # refresh wiki/catalog.json (the site)

The vault notes are the single source of truth. To enrich more hacks before building, see ../README.md → "Enrichment pipeline".

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