Skip to content

docs: make the README a user-facing page - #653

Closed
Rinat S (rsolmano) wants to merge 2 commits into
mainfrom
readme-user-facing
Closed

Rinat S (rsolmano) wants to merge 2 commits into
mainfrom
readme-user-facing

Conversation

@rsolmano

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Collaborator

Problem

The README opened with a quarter-page of signing, notarization, and packaging caveats before the first
install command, then spent half its length on contributor material. A new visitor had to read past all of
that to find curl ... | bash.

This supersedes #514 by Iaroslav (Rick) Postovalov (@CommanderTvis). His commit keeps its authorship and message; rebasing it onto
main resolved the intro conflict with #643. A separate follow-up commit polishes the result and
addresses the review findings.

Approach

Split the two audiences. The README leads with the pitch and the install commands, keeping only what a
downloader acts on: requirements, per-platform install steps, installer options, platform/signing support,
and the privacy choices. Contributor material moves to CONTRIBUTING.md.

Notable decisions:

  • docs: reposition ThinkRail as the agentic IDE that gets better with use #643 positioning kept verbatim; the worktree paragraph now directly follows the pitch.
  • Website link uses ?utm_source=github&utm_medium=readme rather than docs: make the README a user-facing page #514's jb.gg/osk2n7, which
    resolves to utm_source=blog and would count README visits as blog traffic.
  • Installer options stay in the README, with a copyable bash -s -- form and X.Y.Z placeholders
    instead of concrete versions that go stale. The website's install section links to #install for
    "advanced CLI options" and "native library requirements", and the intro blog post links there for the
    CLI's install, channel, and update options.
  • Privacy keeps every user-decision fact while staying compact: basic events are always on and linked
    by an installation ID; optional sharing is on by default and starts when the first-launch dialog opens;
    --no-analytics is per-run; the one-time blog open and its marketing-cookie condition.
  • CONTRIBUTING links the package map in architecture.md instead of copying a repo tree that had
    already drifted from the packages on disk.

Changes

  • README: pitch → Install (desktop app, command line, platform support) → Analytics & privacy →
    Contributing → License. 250 → 139 lines.
    • Desktop steps per platform, verified against the v0.1.5 and nightly.21 assets: DMG with an
      Applications link; Windows ZIP whose setup executable (ThinkRail-Setup.exe / -canary.exe) needs its
      adjacent .installer payload; Linux tarball with ./installer.
    • Platform table verified: the published DMG passes stapler validate / spctl as Notarized Developer
      ID; the macOS CLI is Developer ID signed.
  • CONTRIBUTING: gains the launcher commands, "Artifact signing" (updated — published DMGs are notarized now;
    local packages are unsigned), a short "Architecture (three rings)", e2e:binary / e2e:desktop, and the
    note that thinkrail update from a checkout installs a published binary.

Verification for this docs-only change: bun run lint → clean; git diff --check origin/main..HEAD → clean;
every relative link and the architecture.md#topology--three-rings anchor resolve.

Screenshots

Not applicable — no frontend changes.

Related issues

Supersedes #514.

Checklist

  • Fast gates pass: bun run lint, bun run typecheck, bun run test — only bun run lint ran (clean); typecheck and unit tests were not run because no code changed
  • E2E suite passes for app-affecting changes (bun run e2e, or bun run e2e:full when touching agent behavior) — not applicable, no app behavior changed
  • Before/after screenshots are included for frontend changes, or marked not applicable
  • Relevant SPEC.md / top-level specs updated to reflect any boundary, contract, or behavior change — not applicable, no boundary/contract/behavior change
  • I have read the Contributing guide and agree to the Code of Conduct

The README opened with a quarter-page of signing, notarization, and
packaging caveats before the first install command, then spent half its
length on contributor material that CONTRIBUTING.md already owned.

Lead with what the app does and the install command; keep only the
platform facts a downloader acts on. Move the launcher commands,
artifact-signing pipeline detail, three rings, and repo layout into
CONTRIBUTING.md, and correct its Bun prerequisite to the pinned 1.4.0.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_012hwFzC3P777NWAVLhGFHJu

@jetbrains-air jetbrains-air Bot left a comment

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Approved — ready to merge.

@rsolmano
Rinat S (rsolmano) deleted the readme-user-facing branch October 6, 2026 07:58
@CommanderTvis

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

I am a bit confused about why this is closed.

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Labels

None yet

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

2 participants