Story export: generate polished static pages from selected conversations

[MaxGhenis]

Summary

Add an opt-in "story export" flow that turns a selected conversation or message range into a polished static page draft.

This should not be treated as a core inbox feature or an auto-generated/public feature. The right first version is a deliberate export tool for storytelling, demos, and social sharing.

Recommendation

If/when we build this, it should live in the same repo as the app for v1 because it depends directly on:

• the existing local message model
• media handling
• the current design system
• local-first/privacy expectations

But it should stay behind a clean boundary (new export module + dedicated UI flow), not woven through the core messaging surface.

Product framing

Good version:

• select a thread or message range
• click Create story
• review a generated mini-site draft
• edit / redact / anonymize
• export to static HTML or markdown

Bad version:

• automatic website generation from conversations
• auto-publishing
• anything that feels creepy, background-scanned, or anti local-first

Proposed v1

User flow

1. Open a thread.
2. Select messages or choose a range like Last 20.
3. Click Create story.
4. Open a dedicated story composer with:
   • title
   • subtitle
   • theme
   • anonymize toggle
   • include media toggle
   • narrator mode (raw messages, light framing, essay-style)
5. Generate preview.
6. Edit/remove blocks.
7. Export:
   • HTML
   • Markdown
   • maybe Copy as post

Output shape

The output should look like an editorial mini-site, not just a chat transcript clone:

• strong headline
• short framing intro
• selected message excerpts
• narrative interstitials
• media blocks where relevant
• clean ending / takeaway

Privacy guardrails

Default to conservative behavior:

• anonymize names by default
• strip phone numbers by default
• strip exact timestamps by default
• require explicit opt-in for profile photos
• require explicit opt-in for media
• show a pre-export warning that the result may contain private content

Important non-goals:

• no automatic public publishing
• no background suggestion feed from private conversations
• no silent upload behavior

Suggested placement

Do not put this in the main composer.

Better placement:

• thread overflow / context menu: Create story
• or a message-selection toolbar
• exported drafts live in a separate Stories area, not mixed into the inbox UI

Templates for v1

Keep it small:

• Moment
• Timeline
• Portrait

Too many templates early will dilute the feature.

MVP scope

Build only:

• message/range selection
• story generation endpoint
• preview page
• anonymization controls
• HTML export

Defer:

• public hosting
• collaborative editing
• multi-thread mashups
• AI image generation
• automatic social thread generation

Why this is not the next priority

If there were no skeleton for this yet, it should rank below:

1. reliability of send/receive/reconnect/notifications
2. App Store / release admin loop
3. onboarding + pairing clarity
4. search + diagnostics / report issue flow
5. story export

This is best treated as a post-launch creative feature, not a pre-launch core feature.

Success criteria

A good v1 should:

• take under 60 seconds from selection to export
• feel fully user-controlled
• look intentionally designed, not like a raw transcript dump
• preserve trust and the local-first posture